A Hymn Of Grace: Jehovah Tsidkenu (The Lord Our Righteousness)

I once was a stranger to grace and to God,
I knew not my danger, and felt not my load;
Though friends spoke in rapture of Christ on the tree,
Jehovah Tsidkenu was nothing to me.

I oft read with pleasure, to soothe or engage,
Isaiah’s wild measure and John’s simple page;
But e’en when they pictured the blood-sprinkled tree,
Jehovah Tsidkenu 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 Tsidkenu—’twas 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 in self could I see—
Jehovah Tsidkenu my Saviour 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 Tsidkenu is all things to me.

Jehovah Tsidkenu! my treasure and boast,
Jehovah Tsidkenu! I ne’er can be lost;
In Thee I shall conquer by flood and by field—
My cable, my anchor, my breastplate and shield!

Even 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 Tsidkenu my death-song shall be.

—Robert Murray McCheyne

The title of this fine hymn is one of the OT Hebrew compound names of God, [1] which were better known in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It means “Jehovah (or Yahweh) Our Righteousness.” Based on Jer 23:6, the title speaks of God’s putting His own righteousness onto the believer’s account.

The author’s birth and death dates (1813–1843) would suggest that he reached the age of 30; actually he didn’t even reach his 30th birthday.

The progression from no interest in the Lord at all (“nothing to me” in stanza 1) to complete commitment to Christ (“all things to me” in the fifth stanza) mirrors McCheyne’s spiritual growth. It was because of his total enrapturement with Christ that he was able to greatly influence first, his own congregation, St. Peter’s Church, Dundee, then all of Scotland, then, through Bonar’s Memoirs of this beloved minister, much of evangelical Protestantism.

It is a shame that few hymnals today contain this work. [2]

Most of us tend to like hymns because of their tunes, because we heard them often in youth or in a certain church or Christian organization that we like, or because of our doctrinal predilections.

This reviewer has only heard and sung this hymn two or three times, once when I gave it out at a little congregation in St. Andrews, Scotland. Since this hymn proved to be a spiritual experience to this reviewer upon the first hearing, I hope that this personal recounting will prove a blessing to some. [3]

As a freshman at Emmaus Bible School in Oak Park, Illinois [4] many years ago I sometimes attended a congregation that rented the school gymnasium while they were constructing their new chapel. [5] It was a large, somewhat chilly gym in the cold Chicagoland winter months, and while the assembly was not small, it only filled a portion of the gym. One Sunday morning the heat in the gymnasium wouldn’t work, so the meetings were held in the second-story library. We were now crowded into a cozy room, overlooking the park across the street. Outside, the World War I statue and the trees were getting covered with heavy snow. Many in this assembly were from Great Britain and knew the old Scottish and English tunes well, which were sung a capella and, to a certain extent, in parts.

When one of the brethren gave out McCheyne’s hymn, and the tune was raised, at least one young freshman got goosebumps as stanza after stanza was sung. Seldom have I been so moved by a hymn. Excellent words and an impressive melody can speak deeply to the Christian’s spirit and soul.

If any people who read this article are compiling a hymnal or slides for congregations where the Scriptures are loved and good literary style is appreciated, I trust Robert Murray McCheyne’s hymn will be seriously considered. [6]

—Arthur L. Farstad (Editor,  Journal of the Grace Evangelical Society, Dallas, Texas)

Notes

1. The others are: Jehovah Jireh (The-LORD-will-provide-Gen 22:13, 14); Jehovah-Ropheka (The LORD, your Healer-Ex 15:26); Jehovah-Nissi (The LORD, my banner-Ex 17:3–15); Jehovah-Shalom (The-LORD-is-peace Judg 6:24); Jehovah-Ro’i (The LORD, my shepherd-Ps 23:1); and Jehovah-Shammah (The LORD is There-Ezek 48:35).
2. McCheyne’s hymn, “When This Passing World Is Done,” is much better known. He gives all the glory to God, ending each stanza with the words “how much I owe.”
3. See Frances Mosher’s “Grace in the Arts” article in this issue of JOTGES for a discussion of the subjective aspects of Christian hymns.
4. Now Emmaus Bible College of Dubuque, IA.
5. This is today Woodside Bible Chapel of Maywood, IL.
6. This hymn was traditionally sung to a tune called “Jehovah Tsidkenu.” A much better-known and easier melody, Clarendon Street, is generally used (“My Jesus, I Love Thee”), by A. J. Gordon.