The Blessed Life of the Meek
After completing his exposition of the mourning heart, Rev. Sang Ho Bae turned his study on the beatitudes about the meaning of biblical meekness.
The blessing of the meek is the third blessing among the Beatitudes. The meekness that the Bible speaks of does not mean a person’s innate personality or temperament. Some people may originally have a gentle and quiet personality, but biblical meekness is essentially different from simple personality-level mildness. The meekness that the Bible speaks of is a spiritual character that the Holy Spirit shapes within the new life, and, as Galatians 5:22 says, it is a fruit of the Spirit. This shows that meekness is not something produced by human effort or moral discipline but a character from above that appears when the Holy Spirit governs the heart. Therefore, meekness is the result of a supernatural transformation that goes beyond human natural tendencies, and it is an inner strength formed within one’s relationship with God.
Biblical meekness is not weakness or indecisiveness, but the restraint of strength that holds a strong will within gentleness. Scripture testifies that Moses was “more meek than all the people on the face of the earth” (Num. 12:3), yet he was a leader more bold and decisive than anyone. He boldly proclaimed God’s word before Pharaoh, and he led millions of people in the wilderness, making decisions amid countless crises. Stephen also showed meekness by forgiving those who stoned him, yet at the same time he boldly proclaimed God’s truth before his enemies. Jesus said, “I am gentle and humble in heart” (Matt. 11:29), yet He overturned the tables in the temple and rebuked those who defiled God’s house, and He fearlessly exposed the hypocrisy of the Pharisees. The early church father Chrysostom explained meekness as “not a state of having lost strength, but a state of knowing how to use strength rightly.” In other words, meekness is not the absence of strength, but the ability to entrust strength to God and restrain it.
A meek person embraces the mistakes and shortcomings of others and sometimes even bears their burdens in their place. This arises from knowing that one is also a sinner who needs grace. A person who knows that he lives by God’s mercy does not easily condemn the weaknesses of others. On the other hand, a proud person easily feels insulted even by trivial words that could be overlooked, and because of the stumbling blocks within himself, he shows the appearance of tripping over even small matters.
A proud person’s countenance quickly changes even at small provocations, but a meek person is not easily shaken by most things. A meek person is more concerned with how God sees him than with the evaluations of others. A person who pays attention to what others say does not have peace in his heart. The Lord said, “I am gentle and humble in heart; take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, and you will find rest for your souls.” Meekness and humility bring peace and rest to the heart.
Meekness comes from faith that trusts God. Because one knows that no one can hinder what God blesses, one can choose to yield even in situations entangled with interests. Abraham yielded the good land to his nephew Lot, but God instead made him prosper even more. Isaac did not quarrel even when his wells were taken, but in the end God made him prosper. Meekness is the courage of faith that can lay down one’s rights, and it comes from the trust that God takes responsibility for one’s life. Peter testifies of Jesus, saying, “When He was reviled, He did not revile in return… but entrusted Himself to Him who judges justly” (1 Pet. 2:22–23). Jesus endured blows, scourging, and mockery, and Moses also remained silent before the criticism of Miriam and Aaron and entrusted the matter to God. Believers must learn the way of entrusting things to God. When one handles matters by oneself, it becomes retaliation, and one loses the peace of the heart, but when one entrusts them to God, things that seemed like loss turn into benefit. To entrust something to God is to believe that He judges righteously and to lift one’s grievance up to Him.
Jesus said, “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth” (Matt. 5:5). In ancient society, land was a symbol of wealth, stability, and inheritance, so this promise signifies not merely physical territory but the ultimate prosperity and peace that God gives. Psalm 37 gives the same promise that “the meek shall inherit the land,” and it appears that Jesus quoted this psalm when proclaiming the Beatitudes. The context of Psalm 37 is a message telling the righteous not to be anxious when the wicked seem to prosper, but to trust in God. Thus, meekness is an attitude of life that trusts God, and it is faith that holds onto the promise that God will exalt the righteous at the time He has appointed. In the end, meekness reveals the paradoxical truth that a way of life that seems like loss in the eyes of people is actually the path that leads to greater blessing.