Personal Reflection on Jehovah Tsidkenu

One of my favorite parts of the book, "16 Names of God: a Strong Tower to Run to" is the personal reflections. Each of the 16 chapters in the book contains a personal reflection written by a different girl.

These personal reflections are moving! They challenge us. They are thought-provoking and we are better off having read them.

​I want to share one of these with you so that you can get just a bite-sized sample of what to expect when you read "16 Names of God."

I appreciate Peggy's reminder to us that, "Only through Jehovah Tsidkenu, the LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS, do [we] have power by the indwelling Spirit to daily live a life pleasing to God..." 

It's the indwelling of the Holy Spirit we need!

"​Our trip to Israel was everything I hoped it would be. What a thrill to stand where familiar Bible events occurred! The Scriptures seemed to come alive before me. During our visit, we found that many Jews in Israel still keep Sabbath observances and dietary laws. At one lunch stop, I pulled a yogurt cup from my bag. Suddenly, our tour guide escorted me quickly out of the cafe. He explained the restaurant would lose its Kosher status if I ate a dairy product where meat was served. Later that evening, as we walked along a scenic trail overlooking the Sea of Galilee, I gathered a few wildflowers growing along the path. Near the end of our stroll, a sign stated, “Illegal to remove natural materials from protected parkland.” I had broken both the Religious Code and the Civil Law of Israel in one day! I had twice confirmed my unrighteousness before God in the very land of Israel!
 
Although this anecdote may seem comical or trivial, the hard truth is we are all unrighteous sinners before a holy God. We daily offend in thoughts, actions, and words. Romans 3:10-19 paints a bleak picture, condemning “all the world . . . guilty before God.” The just punishment for the guilty sinner is death, eternal separation from a righteous God: “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23a).

How then can anyone be right with God and escape this condemnation? The Jews we observed in Israel “have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God” (Romans 10:2-3). Perhaps you too are trying to earn God’s forgiveness by doing worthy acts or displaying good character, relying on the merits of your own righteousness to satisfy God’s justice. Even as a believer, I am often trapped by this same legalism and prideful self-righteousness as a means of seeking God’s favor and acceptance. “So if I teach this class, or memorize that passage, God will love me more, right?”
 
Of ourselves, we cannot attain God’s standard of holiness. All our righteous acts “are as filthy rags” before Him (Isaiah 64:6), and we all fall “short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). This is why we so desperately need Jehovah Tsidkenu, the LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. Our heart bows to worship God Who Himself is righteous, holy, pure, and separate from sin. But it is nearly beyond comprehension that this God is also OUR righteousness! The name Jehovah Tsidkenu holds the promise of the coming Savior for mankind. In salvation, God offers the exchange of our sordid sinfulness for His perfect righteousness through faith in Christ’s death on the cross. “For He hath made Him to be sin for us Who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians 5:21). A gift of faith, not works!
 
Only through Jehovah Tsidkenu, the LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS, do I have power by the indwelling Spirit to daily live a life pleasing to God: “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending His own Son, in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit” (Rom. 8:2-4). I’m done with “doing,” for the LORD is MY RIGHTEOUSNESS!" —Peggy

Share your personal reflection on the name of God Jehovah Tsidkenu​​ in the comments.

Read more: Jehovah Tsidkenu: The Lord Our Righteousness

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