Jehovah Tsidkenu – The Lord Our Righteousness

“Behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord,
“When I will raise up for David a righteous Branch;
And He will reign as king and act wisely
And do justice and righteousness in the land.
“In His days Judah will be saved,
And Israel will dwell securely;
And this is His name by which He will be called,
‘The Lord our righteousness.’

Jeremiah 23:5-6 (NASB)

I start today’s post on one of the names of God by admitting Jehovah Tsidkenu is not one I have been familiar with; but I suspect I am not alone in this. Having said that, what a beautiful name it is! I am honoured beyond all this life can offer to be able to declare that the Lord is my Righteousness, hallelujah.

Looking in the Old Testament at the name, “Jehovah” clearly is God and “Tsidkenu” is Hebrew (from Tsedeq) meaning righteous. In the New Testament the Greek for righteousness is dikaiosūne which comes from dikaios (righteous); meaning innocent, holy, right. In this is the Divine Godly standard of what is truly right, which as children of God, we should reach for daily.

Jeremiah was one of the prophets during the Babylonian exile, bringing God’s message of promised renewal of the kingdom of Israel. These men of God brought God’s message of hope to a people in the pit of despair and far from home. The Almighty promises return to their homeland, rebuilding of Jerusalem and the Temple. But further, He promises a Messiah to save His people from the royal lineage of King David. Jesus Christ was the fullfillment of that promise for Israel and all humanity saved by Him at Calvary – He is our Righteousness.

He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
2 Corinthians 5:21

Dear Reader, what a message of hope we find in God’s Word regarding this name. Almighty God promises to redeem Israel His children and raise them “a righteous Branch” to rule over them. Glory to God, He had a greater plan than what men expected! He raised a Messiah to save all humanity, a Lord and Saviour. In and through Him, we surpass our humanity, attaining His Righteousness in our life each day.

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
1 John 1:9