Blessed Are The Meek

Psalm 37:11 “But the meek will inherit the land and enjoy peace and prosperity.” Matthew 5:5 “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.”

At church today, the sermon “The Strength of Meekness,” based on the Beatitude in Matthew 5:5, was delivered by Reverend Camper Mundy to an early service crowd on the 1st day of Daylight Savings Time. Despite the loss of one hour of sleep (theoretically) and the early hour of 8:30 a.m., I enjoyed the fireworks in my soul that happen when God brings several truths together in apparent collision with His perfect timing.

The intersection happened when Camper mentioned that the “blessed are the meek” beatitude in Jesus’s sermon was a reference to the earlier scripture found in my beloved Psalm 37 (fret not), verse 11. (Camper didn’t know it was my most treasured Psalm, but God knew.)

A misunderstanding of the word “meek” exists whenever you ask anyone to define the term. Meekness shouldn’t be vague, but somehow it is. While it is not timidity, weakness, or lack of guts, it most certainly is a divine “determined gentleness” as Reverend Mundy explained. This gentleness is expressed in our acknowledgement of our sin problem. This gentleness is also expressed in the overflow of our genuine love for Christ and others. There is a dying to self involved that requires humility. I have always thought the rule of thumb in the selection of a spouse should be kindness. Other attributes don’t even come close to kindness in my thinking. But, maybe a stronger word would actually be “meekness” as it conjures up the idea of humility, gentleness, patience and no ego.

I love it when God brings His Word to confluence in what might otherwise seem coincidental! He never wastes a moment in cementing truths that we need to apprehend at any given time. For me, a couple listens to Tim Keller’s recently recommended sermon “Abraham and the Torch” (http://www.GospelinLife.com, audio podcast, Redeemer Presbyterian Church, NY, 2-18-15, Genesis 15:1-21), my own musings on Psalm 37, and today’s sermon on meekness as “determined gentleness” – these reminded me that God is emphatically whispering something He wants me to comprehend.

Definitely, how I can know peace and joy in a broken and sinful world? The sparkling convergence of these scriptural messages simply boils down to holding onto the deep Anchor, the Solid Rock, Jesus Christ my Savior and Lord. When my anchor is gripped by the solid rocks beneath the turbulent waters of life’s circumstances, I can fully entrust myself to Jesus. When my anchor is locked securely in the trusted place, nothing can disturb it. In this great hope I am freed to reflect the meekness of Christ and to enjoy the inheritance God has promised in Matthew 5. The One person – the Anchor of my soul, makes the other thing – meekness, possible. It is never about what happens in life, but all in the way we respond to what happens – with that divine “determined gentleness” of our Lord.