Baruch Ha Shem Adonai!
(Blessed be the Name of the Lord!)
(Blessed be the Name of the Lord!)
This is the twelfth and final entry in The CRIB's presentation of the Twelve Jewels of God ... a look at the wonderful, powerful, inspirational names of God.
The name before us is Jehovah Tsidkenu, "The Lord Our Righteousness"; there are only two occurrences of this glorious name, the first in Jeremiah 23:6b [23:5-6]...
It is a fact we've no righteousness of our own; the Scriptures tell us ..
The simple consideration of this fact is daunting and falls on our mien like a water-soaked blanket; a sense of hopelessness comes over us. But, are we indeed without hope? Again the scripture tells us ...
Israel had sinned horribly in the sight of God and knew she would be punished. Thus says the LORD to this people,
The people knew judgment was coming; they knew it for certain ... they just didn't know when, from what direction, or how. Israel's sins had saturated everything with darkness, decay, and death ... nothing was exempt.
The nation's people were offered an alternative by God's spokesman Jeremiah [repentance and turning from their wicked ways, Jeremiah 18:5-11] but they said ...
Though it is true that ...
Listen to Paul when it comes to hope ...
Our hope is anchored to Christ the Rock ...
I am convinced the fear of God was absent from the heart's of the people in Jeremiah's day, and in Paul's day as well; for between the references mentioned above, Paul inserts verse 18 ... "THERE IS NO FEAR OF GOD BEFORE THEIR EYES."
So the heart of the people is sick beyond degree, they live with a sense hopelessness, and they do not fear God; what they need is a heart transplant ... right? Yes! Are they too far gone to reach God's forgiveness? No! Is His arm short like yours and unable to find and deliver?
And the prophet Ezekiel [36:26-27] says ...
The so-called Wild West of early America was full of optical illusions and mirages appeared constantly on the heated and distant horizon. A story is told that one of General Custer's young officers was sure he saw a party of Indians a mile away. As the soldiers charged, the Indians looked plainer each moment they rode. But, arriving on the scene, there were no Indians at all - only buffalo carcasses.
Other travelers have seen ships skimming across the plains in full sail, railroad tracks on elevated pilings, and colorfully plumed birds sitting quietly for all to see. These illusions occur when light rays pass through the atmosphere and are bent or distorted.
But no optical illusions in nature exceed the illusions which are created by our own hearts. By diagnosis, man's spiritual heart is "beyond cure." Unaided by God, the response of each of us toward knowing his or her own heart is inner despair: "Who can know it?" [Jeremiah 17:9]. No one can fathom the darkness or evil of one's own heart; this is especially true at the point of the question about whom we trust - here again, man's heart will fool him.
But there is hope. It rests in this: God knows your heart [Jeremiah 17:10]. He culls, scans, explores, and, implores each human heart; and He tests and examines human emotions to find those are seeking Him.
This is our hope; this is Jehovah Tsidkenu, "The Lord [is] Our Righteousness." When we get to know God, we get to know our own heart; you do not know your own heart by examining it yourself; you know your heart by getting to know God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
The name before us is Jehovah Tsidkenu, "The Lord Our Righteousness"; there are only two occurrences of this glorious name, the first in Jeremiah 23:6b [23:5-6]...
And this is His name by which He will be called,
'The LORD our righteousness.'
'The LORD our righteousness.'
It is a fact we've no righteousness of our own; the Scriptures tell us ..
For all of us have become like one who is unclean,So man has a deep need for righteousness but his own won't suffice ... he has none. So the need for a surrogate source of righteousness is paramount. The LORD is our righteousness!
And all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment ...Isaiah 64:6a
The simple consideration of this fact is daunting and falls on our mien like a water-soaked blanket; a sense of hopelessness comes over us. But, are we indeed without hope? Again the scripture tells us ...
Why are you downcast, O my soul?If candles had feelings and you were a candle, you might want to light your wick but couldn't without help. If no one offered to help and you knew no one would, you would have the sense of hopelessness I'm referring to ...
Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
for I will yet praise him,
my Savior and my God.Psalm 42:11
Israel had sinned horribly in the sight of God and knew she would be punished. Thus says the LORD to this people,
Even so they have loved to wander; they have not kept their feet in check. Therefore the LORD does not accept them; now He will remember their iniquity and call their sins to account.She had sold herself into harlotry with other gods ... all but a remnant. She was cut off from God and a foreboding sense of hopelessness had come over her people. When I think of their plight I imagine a slave ship's cargo on its way to market; I imagine they had this sense of hopelessness ... dehumanized, without assurance for their future. Such was the state of Israel.Jeremiah 14:10
The people knew judgment was coming; they knew it for certain ... they just didn't know when, from what direction, or how. Israel's sins had saturated everything with darkness, decay, and death ... nothing was exempt.
The nation's people were offered an alternative by God's spokesman Jeremiah [repentance and turning from their wicked ways, Jeremiah 18:5-11] but they said ...
... "It's hopeless! For we are going to follow our own plans, and each of us will act according to the stubbornness of his evil heart."I could take my wife to Hawaii again, if I had five dollars for everyone I've heard say "It's too late for me; I've been too evil to be forgiven."Jeremiah 18:12
Though it is true that ...
The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it?We need not fear, for God is with us [Isaiah 8:10]! And He will not depart from us [Matthew 28:20b]!Jeremiah 17:9
Listen to Paul when it comes to hope ...
There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.If there's only one God and one hope, then rejecting God is to reject our only hope. One our favorite old hymns has this as its first line ... "My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness." [The Solid Rock; Edward Mote, 1797-1874]Ephesians 4:4-6
Our hope is anchored to Christ the Rock ...
This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil ...God's word challenges us to live righteously by right doing, but warns Jew and Gentile alike that "there are none righteous, no not one" [Romans 3:10]. For, Paul says, "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" [Romans 3:23].Hebrews 6:19
I am convinced the fear of God was absent from the heart's of the people in Jeremiah's day, and in Paul's day as well; for between the references mentioned above, Paul inserts verse 18 ... "THERE IS NO FEAR OF GOD BEFORE THEIR EYES."
So the heart of the people is sick beyond degree, they live with a sense hopelessness, and they do not fear God; what they need is a heart transplant ... right? Yes! Are they too far gone to reach God's forgiveness? No! Is His arm short like yours and unable to find and deliver?
And the prophet Ezekiel [36:26-27] says ...
Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances.Can we learn to be righteous? Not in our lifetimes, at any rate! But we don't need to wait; receive His righteous as your own, now; receive the new heart God has waiting for you, now. Live now by His righteousness in order to be healed, to be made new, and so live forever, ages without end! [1 Peter 2:24]
The so-called Wild West of early America was full of optical illusions and mirages appeared constantly on the heated and distant horizon. A story is told that one of General Custer's young officers was sure he saw a party of Indians a mile away. As the soldiers charged, the Indians looked plainer each moment they rode. But, arriving on the scene, there were no Indians at all - only buffalo carcasses.
Other travelers have seen ships skimming across the plains in full sail, railroad tracks on elevated pilings, and colorfully plumed birds sitting quietly for all to see. These illusions occur when light rays pass through the atmosphere and are bent or distorted.
But no optical illusions in nature exceed the illusions which are created by our own hearts. By diagnosis, man's spiritual heart is "beyond cure." Unaided by God, the response of each of us toward knowing his or her own heart is inner despair: "Who can know it?" [Jeremiah 17:9]. No one can fathom the darkness or evil of one's own heart; this is especially true at the point of the question about whom we trust - here again, man's heart will fool him.
But there is hope. It rests in this: God knows your heart [Jeremiah 17:10]. He culls, scans, explores, and, implores each human heart; and He tests and examines human emotions to find those are seeking Him.
This is our hope; this is Jehovah Tsidkenu, "The Lord [is] Our Righteousness." When we get to know God, we get to know our own heart; you do not know your own heart by examining it yourself; you know your heart by getting to know God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Posts
