"Blessed are the humble (meek), for they will inherit the earth. Matthew 5:5 (CSB)
We can find a basis for this teaching of Jesus’ in the Old
Testament. Look at Psalm 37: 5-11. It is almost certain that this beatitude is
a quotation or allusion to Psalm 37:11. It says, "But the meek shall
inherit the earth." In the Greek Old Testament the Septuagint) the words
of Psalm 37:11 are almost identical with Matthew 5:5.
Notice
the parallel between verse 11 and verse 9 in the Psalm. Verse 11 says, "But
the meek shall inherit the earth." Verse 9b says, "But those who wait
on the LORD, They shall inherit the earth." So I would conclude first that
the meek are people who wait for the Lord.
But
what does it mean to wait for the Lord? We get a picture of those who wait for
the Lord, that is, the meek if we read verses 5-8 of the Psalm. What are these
people like who, according to verse 11 are meek and according to verse 9, wait
for the Lord?
Well,
verse 5 says they commit their way to the Lord and trust in the Lord. Verse 7
says they are quiet or still before the Lord and do not fret over others who
prosper. And verse 8 says they refrain from anger and forsake wrath.
So
let's try to put all this together into a portrait of the meek.
Meek
people begin by trusting God (verse 5b). They believe that he will work for
them and vindicate them when others oppose them. Biblical meekness is rooted in
the deep confidence that God is for you and not against you.
Next,
meek people commit their way to the Lord (verse 5a). The Hebrew word for
"commit" means literally to "roll." Meek people have
discovered that God is trustworthy, and so they roll their "way" --
their business, their problems, their relationships, their health, their fears,
their frustrations -- they roll all this onto the Lord. They admit that they
are insufficient to cope with the complexities and pressures and obstacles of
life, and they trust that God is able and willing to sustain them and guide them
and protect them.
Next,
according to verse 7a, meek people are quiet or still before the Lord and wait
patiently for him. First, they discover that God can be trusted. Then, second,
they commit their way to him. And then, third, they wait patiently in stillness
for the work of God in their lives.
This
doesn't mean they become lazy. It means that they're free of frenzy. They have
a kind of steady calm that comes from knowing that God is omnipotent, that he
has their affairs under his control, and that he is gracious and will work
things out for the best. Meek people have a quiet steadiness about their lives
in the midst of upheaval.
And
so the fourth thing about them (in verse 7b) is that they don't fret themselves
over the wicked that prosper in their way. Or, as verse 8 says, they refrain
from anger. Their family and work and life are in God's sovereign hands; they
trust him; they wait patiently and quietly to see how his power and goodness
will work things out, and so the setbacks and obstacles and opponents of life
do not produce the kind of bitterness and anger and fretfulness that is so
common among men.
So
the portrait we have of meekness so far, based on the closest Biblical parallel
(in Psalm 37:11) to the third beatitude, is that it begins by trusting God.
Then it commits its way to the Lord in the confidence that he will use his
power and mercy to do good for us. Then it waits patiently and quietly for the
outcome. And, finally, it does not give way to anger and fretfulness when faced
with opposition and setbacks.
Test
time – think back over the last week, according to these concepts from Psalm
37, would someone watching you say you were a meek person?
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