Continuing my 2020 Lenten Journey- with personal thoughts and commentary by Martha McDuff Wiggins on the book “Lord I Want To Know You” by Kay Arthur.
Day 37-38
Jehovah-tsidkenu, The LORD Our Righteousness
“Blessed are they who do hunger and thirst for righteousness; for they shall be filled” (Matthew 5:6).
The LORD made His Covenant with Abraham—that his descendants would be fruitful and multiply; they would become many nations and would bear great kings. He kept His Covenant—for His promises endure forever.
The LORD delivered His people of Israel from their bondages of slavery in Egypt, even parting the Red Sea for their safe passage, all with the intention of leading them to the ‘promised land of milk and honey’, Canaan.
However, as they journeyed many fell away into the depths of sin and idolatry, eventually becoming more and more corrupt in their evil ways. Because of their evil hearts and their refusal to listen to God’s words to them, He left them wandering in the wilderness for forty years. He could no longer accept them as His people and nothing less than repentance and a return to righteousness would restore them to Him.
He sent His prophet Jeremiah to warn them of His impending judgment. Even when presented with a path back to holiness and sanctification, they declared themselves hopeless, saying they would continue to follow their own ways according to the stubbornness of their own evil hearts.
A lost cause if you ever heard one, right?
Through His prophet Jeremiah the LORD chastised them:
“The heart is devious above all else; it is perverse—who can understand it? I the Lord test the mind and search the heart, to give to all according to their ways, according to the fruit of their doings” (Jeremiah 17:9-10).
“The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land (Jeremiah 23:5).
So, His original Covenant was being threatened by the unholy ways of His own people. And yet, He was Jehovah-raah, The LORD My Shepherd! These were still His Sheep. And as we learned previously, He searches out and tries to bring home His lost sheep.
As Jehovah-Jireh, their Provider, and in order to fulfill His Covenant with Abraham and His Promise to David, of a King and a kingdom that would endure forever, He established a righteous Branch—One who would reign as king, and seated at the right hand of God, The Father, judge the righteousness of the deeds and the hearts of every created being, when on that final day of judgment each would stand naked before Him.
His name is Jehovah-tsidkenu, The LORD Our Righteousness!
Through this righteous Branch comes the fulfillment of the LORD’s promise to David, and with it the promise of a New Covenant to replace the old. A New Covenant of Grace.
Because of this New Covenant, none of us are a lost cause. You might want to read that again… NONE, Not one, not even YOU, are a lost cause. No matter how far away you have wandered; no matter how many times you ignored Him calling to you; no matter how many times you refused His attempts to bring you home; no matter what evil deeds you have committed, He waits patiently, with ever-loving arms open wide to welcome you back. He Promises, and His Promises are forever.
How is this even possible? And Why?
The why is the easiest to answer, as it is because He loves us with an Everlasting Love. As Elohim, Our Creator, He made us by His Love, In His Love, and for His Love, and in His own image and likeness. Because of that deep abiding love, He is willing to give us as many do-overs as it takes, up until the day He calls us home and has to decide where we will live out our eternity: in the Grace of Everlasting Life with Him in Heaven, or enslaved with Satan in the fires of Eternal Hell.
As to how it is possible—
He leaves the choice to us, and yet, in His Merciful Forgiveness, provides the path to Sanctification and Holiness (Remember Jehovah-mekoddishkem, The Lord Sanctifies You?). It is through the Branch of Righteousness, His only begotten Son, The Lord, Jesus Christ, The Good Shepherd Who lays down His Life for us, that we are given the Holy Gift of The New Covenant—a New Life.
Here, again we see how all the names we have studied are coming together as a never ending circle ⭕️ of Life. Through His names all is worked to the good of all His children.
So, the name is Jehovah-tsidkenu, The LORD Our Righteousness! It is a name to call upon when you have succumbed to your own evil ways, a name through which righteousness can be restored, no matter how wretched a sinner you are.
Mental action to facilitate your Lenten Journey:
Do you wish you had a reset button, a do-over, for certain areas of you life? You do, but you must go through (call upon His name) Jehovah-tsidkenu, The LORD Our Righteousness. Ask him to point out any and all areas in which you need to be made righteous. Then seek His unending Mercy and unbinding Forgiveness. Then, in thankful praise, give Him your firm commitment to do and be better. It’s a process that must be often repeated, but a necessary one to be made Sanctified and Holy.🙏🏻💖
Further action if so inclined:
Are there sheep you may be leading astray through your words and actions? Or maybe through words left unsaid and in-actions?
Search your heart on this very important point, for the LORD says,
“Woe to the shepherds who are destroying and scattering the sheep of My pasture! (Jeremiah 23:1)
We are not only accountable to Jehovah-tsidkenu, The LORD Our Righteousness, for our own actions (sins) but also for the sins we lead others to commit. That’s one of those hard to hear declarations. One none of us likes to think about.
If you search your heart and find areas that need action or correction, call upon both Jehovah-tsidkenu, The LORD Our Righteousness, AND Jehovah-nissi, The Lord Is My Banner, to lead you to right solution, to the one that is for the good of all.
🙏🏻😇
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