Jehovah Tsidkenu - The Lord Is Our Righteousness

Does anybody know, I know this might be an unfair question, does anybody know what the connection is between Jeremiah 23 and Jeremiah 33? There's something that happens in both of those chapters that doesn't happen anywhere else in the Bible. Okay, I knew it was an unfair question. After today, you're going to know what the connection is. Let's read from both of these portions. Jeremiah 23. Verse 1, Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture, declares the Lord. Therefore, thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who care for my people, you have scattered my flock and have driven them away, and you've not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for your evil deeds, declares the Lord. Then I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply. I will set shepherds over them who will care for them, and they shall fear no more nor be dismayed. Neither shall any be missing, declares the Lord. Now here it is. Behold, the days are coming, declares 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. In his days, Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called. The Lord is our righteousness. Now, jump over to Jeremiah 33. Jeremiah 33. Here, like chapter 23, we have something that only in these two places takes place. Verse 14, Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah. In those days and at that time, I will cause a righteous branch to spring up for David, and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In those days, Judah will be saved, and Jerusalem will dwell securely. And here it is again. And this is the name by which it... the ESV says it because it's referring to the branch. A righteous branch. I think the KJV says he. The name by which this righteous branch will be called, the Lord is our righteousness. Now in the original, there's three words here. Lord, our, righteousness. Now I know, the way scholars go today, Jehovah's not so much the accepted pronunciation of the tetragrammaton. Typically, people speak Yahweh. But there was a day when Jehovah Rafa, who knows what that means? Healer. Or Jehovah Jireh. Provider. Jehovah Nisai. Banner. Like victorious banner. Who knows what this one is? McShane wrote a poem. Probably it was a song as well. Jehovah Tzikinu. Jehovah Tzikinu. Jehovah, our righteousness. Jehovah. This is His name. There it is. That's what the branch is going to be called. Look, read it for yourself. Who is Jesus? This is His name. This is His title. Who is He? He is Jehovah. He is the Almighty. He is the Everlasting. You can see that right there. Words mean nothing. Scripture means nothing. Unless we take Him for what He is. He's the Almighty God. Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous branch. He shall reign as King and deal wisely. Do you believe He's reigning now? Do you believe He's taken His throne and sat down? I hope you do. At the right hand of majesty. He executes justice. Oh, there is some place we read He executes justice for the Gentiles. Righteousness in the land. In His days, Judah will be saved. Israel will dwell secure. This is the name by which He will be called. The Lord is our righteousness. He who has nowhere to lay His head. He who was persecuted and despised and spit on and had His beard plucked out. This is none other than the great Jehovah. The great Yahweh. This is Him, the ever-existent One. The One that laid there in the garden and sweating as it were great drops of blood. This is Him. The One that cried out, My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? This is God Almighty. How can that be? There are mysteries about this. God said to God. You read texts like that. This is the name. Brethren, in those days, Judah will be saved. Jerusalem will dwell securely. This is the name by which this branch will be called. The Lord is our righteousness. And if there isn't a most precious doctrine that leaps right off the page of that title, the Lord is our righteousness. Do you get the feel of a doctrine in that? The doctrine of federal headship? Our righteousness. Do you see Him that way as we think about Him and we're going to remember Him right now? Jehovah Zekinu. That is Him seated on that throne. He is the Lord our righteousness. Oh, do you feel it? Paul, enamored with this, said that by the obedience of One, the many are made righteous. Oh, that is the glory. Brethren, I would just say this, let us call Him by that name. The Lord our righteousness. If that's His name, then let us call Him by that great name. Come on. Say it. That's His name. The Lord my righteousness. We're thinking right now about remembering the Lord. We can pass out the elements, brethren. The Lord my righteousness. You that are here. You've been struggling with assurance. Can you say that? The Lord my righteousness. This is the name by which He's called. You had a hard week. You're sitting there under the weight of sin. Say that. The Lord my righteousness. Maybe you can't say it with boldness. Maybe it's just a whisper. Maybe that's what comes off your lips. Can you say it? Listen, the Lord my righteousness. Those who believe in that will never be put to shame. They will never be confounded. They will never be cast away. The Lord my righteousness. You've fallen flat on your face? You had difficulty? He lived to fulfill all righteousness. As He died, He died to pay for our sins, but He lived to fulfill all righteousness. The Lord my righteousness. Brethren, brothers and sisters, you know what? You can stand at the foot of Sinai. You know what that law says? Do me! Do me and live. Do you remember the lightning? Do you remember the thunder? Do you remember that not even one of their cattle should go over and touch the threshold of that mountain? That place thundered. That place was fearful. You can go there now. You can stand at the foot of Sinai with its ten booming cannons thundering. And you know what? You know what we can say, brethren, in light of all those laws? Take all 613 of the Mosaic laws. Take loving God with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength and loving our neighbor as ourselves. Brethren, the glory is this. In light of all that, I don't stand in God's presence on that basis. I can go to the foot of Sinai and say the Lord is my righteousness. He's mine. Brethren, you need that. That is at the heart and soul of the Gospel. Brethren, you've got to know this. This can't just be in theory something you read off the pages of a systematic theology. Our Christianity's got to be experiential. You've got to be able to know this. Whether you can say it boldly, sing it, and proclaim it loud. The Lord is my righteousness! Or whether you feel like you can barely crawl, but you just feel like there's been defeat. We heard this morning, if you've been being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, sometimes that just penetrates home. You just feel like, Lord, depart from me. I'm a sinful man. But you know what? At the end of the day, here it is. This is a truth you can live on. This is a truth you can eat. This is a truth you can believe. What is it? Oh, brethren, I hope you have a firm conviction. The Lord is my righteousness. Jehovah said, can you? Listen to this. This is Robert Murray McCain. He lived from 1813 to 1843. Yes, you do the numbers. He was 30 years old when he died. He wrote this, I once was a stranger to grace and God. I knew not my danger and felt not my load. Though friends spoke in rapture of Christ on the tree, Jehovah said, can you? It was nothing to me. I oft read pleasure to soothe or engage Isaiah's wild measure and John's simple page. But even when they pictured the blood-sprinkled tree, Jehovah said, can you? It seemed nothing to me. Like tears from the daughters of Zion that roll, I wept when the waters went over His soul, yet thought not that my sins had nailed to the tree. Jehovah said, can you? It was nothing to me. When free grace awoke me by light from on high, then legal fears shook me. I trembled to die. No refuge, no safety and self could I see. Jehovah said, can you? My Savior must be. My terrors all vanished before the sweet name. My guilty fears banished. With boldness, I came to drink at the fountain, life-giving and free. Jehovah said, can you? It's all things to me. Jehovah said, can you? My treasure and boast. Jehovah said, can you? I never can be lost. In Thee I shall conquer by flood and by field my cable, my anchor, my breastplate and shield. In treading the valley, the shadow of death, this watchword shall rally my faltering breath. For while from life's fever, my God sets me free. Jehovah said, can you? My death song shall be. Now that is worth shouting about. That's worth remembering something for. Lord, our righteousness. Lord, my righteousness. We gladly remember You. We gladly remember that name. What a name! A name to build our life on. A name to build our death on. A name to build our hope on. We just thank You. Oh, we thank You that we have such a hope. We thank You that we have such a righteous branch. Jehovah said, can you? Amen.