August 15 – The Meek (Psalm 37:1-11)

“The meek will inherit the land and enjoy great peace.”
(Psalm 37:11)

IN WORD:
When a wild horse is trained for service, he is ridden until his will is broken. It may take great patience, but if the rider can persevere longer than the horse can buck, the victory is won. The will is broken and the horse is compliant, ready for useful service.
When Jesus told the meek they were blessed, He implied a gentleness, a humility, a submission that an untamed will does not know. He also invoked Psalm 37. It was a promise that those whose will is ruled by God — in other words, those who have been broken — will come into His inheritance. It applies to Israel’s kingdom and the ever-elusive Promised Land, as this verse may have originally intended. It also applies to anyone who knows good things come from God. We are His children and He will bless us with a lavish inheritance. We are suitable for it if we are meek.
Why is meekness so valued by God? Because it defers to Him. It does not take matters into one’s own hands, but acknowledges the ability of the One on whom we depend. God is honored by such deference. It allows Him to work in our lives without onlookers confusing His work with our self-efforts. It does not accomplish its own agenda to the negligence of Kingdom concerns. It’s the appropriate way for a flawed and finite human being to relate to a holy and infinite God. It lets Him accomplish His will.

IN DEED:
Where are you on the meekness scale? No, God is not asking you to be timid and weak. He is, however, asking you to be gentle and unassuming, compliant and broken. He does not honor an untamed will. He honors those who rely on Him to accomplish His purposes in their obedient lives. Eternal fruit can grow from such a life. And eternal fruit is a greater inheritance than we can imagine.

“Meekness is the mark of a man who has been mastered by God.” -Geoffrey B. Wilson-