"In that day Judah will be saved, and Jerusalem will live in safety. And this will be its name: 'The LORD Is Our Righteousness.' "

Jeremiah 33:16

Jeremiah 33 begins with bad news for Jerusalem: the Babylonians will soon defeat and destroy the city because of the wickedness of its inhabitants. But the chapter progresses quickly from bad to good news. In time, the Lord "will heal Jerusalem's wounds and give it prosperity and true peace" (33:6). When that occurs, there will be “joy and laughter" in Jerusalem (33:11). Moreover, God will raise up a ruler from the line of King David: "He will do what is just and right throughout the land" (33:15). "In that day Judah will be saved, and Jerusalem will live in safety. And this will be its name: 'The LORD Is Our Righteousness’ " (33:16).

Interestingly enough, this same title, yahweh tzidqenu in Hebrew, appears in Jeremiah 23 as the name for the Davidic king who does what is right and just (23:6). This duplication has perplexed some commentators, but it need not do so. The point of the name "The Lord Is Our Righteousness," whether applied to the king or the city, is to underscore the fact that Israel will be redeemed and restored only through the Lord and his power. Moreover, God's people will live in right relationship with God and with each other only as they rely upon him each day.

This is just as true for us as it was for the children of Israel. "The Lord Is Our Righteousness" could just as well be our name too. We are declared to be righteous, we are brought into right relationship with God, we are enabled to live rightly with each other, only in the Lord. He alone can break down the walls that separate us from him and each other (see Ephesians 2).

The good news is that this is exactly what God desires for and what he has made possible through Christ. As it says in 2 Corinthians 5:21: ''For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.” Because of Christ, the Lord is our righteousness!

QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION: In what ways is the Lord your righteousness? How do you experience this truth in your daily life? How do you rely on God to help you live rightly each day?

PRAYER:

My hope is built on nothing less

Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness;

I dare not trust the sweetest frame,

But wholly lean on Jesus’ name.

    On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;

    All other ground is sinking sand,

    All other ground is sinking sand.

When darkness seems to hide his face,

I rest on his unchanging grace;

In ev’ry high and stormy gale,

My anchor holds within the veil.

    On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;

    All other ground is sinking sand,

    All other ground is sinking sand.

His oath, his covenant, his blood

Support me in the whelming flood;

When all around my soul gives way,

He then is all my hope and stay.

    On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;

    All other ground is sinking sand,

    All other ground is sinking sand.

When he shall come with trumpet sound,

Oh, may I then in him be found;

Dressed in his righteousness alone,

Faultless to stand before the throne.

    On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;

    All other ground is sinking sand,

    All other ground is sinking sand.

Amen.

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“My Hope Is Built” by Edward Mote (1834)