The Gospel
of Matthew
Lesson 7
The King’s Emphasis
Blessed are the Meek, for they shall inherit the Earth.
Matthew 5:5
This is the third beatitude which underscores and highlights the Lord’s heart and emphasis. Happiness belongs to those who allow meekness to rule their souls. Are you happy, smiling and cheerful? As a slight digression, did you know your face has about fifty muscles? It uses 20 of these to produce a smile and around 40 to frown deeply! God actually created us in such a way that we use less energy in smiling than frowning. It is easier anatomically to smile than to frown…wow!!
Blessed are the meek…the Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary of Current English defines meekness as; quiet, gentle and always ready to do what other people want without expressing own opinion.
The Strong’s Greek Dictionary aligns meekness with lowly (PRAUS); a humility that is considerate, unassuming, gentle, mild and meek. Humble wisdom and penetrating love. Therefore, Meekness is not weakness but great authority and power under perfect control.
Jesus was quoting Psalm 37:11, but the meek shall inherit the earth and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.
The Hebrew word for meekness denotes… Smallness before God.
This attitude of becoming little before God is a thing of the heart. When the Lord steps into a matter you bow. Once the Word appears in any situation you kneel in submission in your heart. When you see yourself as a little child before God, no matter how achieved, successful or brilliant you are, then you are on the road to real GREATNESS.
At that time the disciples came to Jesus saying “who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” (They had been disputing who was the most successful, achieved or greatest amongst
themselves). Then Jesus called a little child to Him, set him in the midst of them, and said, assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 18: 1-5
CASE STUDY – King Saul
- In 1 Samuel 9: 15-21 we see the Lord calling and appointing Saul as King through Samuel
- Saul reaction in verse 21 shows his humility…am I not a Benjamite of the smallest of the tribes of
- During his coronation, Saul ran away and hid himself! 1 Samuel 10: 21
- Five chapters later the story of his heart had changed 1 Samuel 15:11
- The core issue was the state of his heart in following God 1 Sam 15: 17, 23
Practical Signs that you need help in meekness
- When things don’t go your way, you flare up and let out a tirade of verbal outbursts
- When your friend or spouse offend, you sulk until they have to literally beg you to talk
- The people in your department who report to you at work or church are afraid of you and wouldn’t dare talk back even when you are wrong.
- You sense a nudge of your conscience telling you to apologise or make up but you ignore it because the other person was so wrong!
- You are watching TV or are online and you feel a Holy Spirit urge to pray or call someone and you procrastinate and then forget.
- You are in conversation and you are about to cross the line in saying something your heart says don’t go there but you go anyway…all the way!!
Practical ways of helping yourself
- Memorise and meditate the Word of God concerning Humility and Meekness Psalm 119:11
- Humble yourself with Fasting on at least a weekly basis Psalm 35:13
- Practice humbling your flesh e.g. kneel down before your friend or spouse and ask forgiveness. Kneel your will. Kneel in church to God during worship or prayer and don’t care who sees or looks at you! One of the greatest cures for the pride of the flesh is casting off the care of what other people think or feel. 2 Samuel 6: 14, 20-22
- Pray and ask the Holy Spirit to help you with your weakness. Keep a short account and ask for God’s forgiveness on a daily basis as the Holy Spirit and your heart remind you about what you did wrong that day. Matthew 6:11-12
When you bite the fruit of pride you lose the juice of humility
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