A Message of Hope

“Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.  Matthew 5: 5
            Who are the meek and why are they going to inherit the earth?  Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount relates to the people by quoting David in the Psalms.  In Psalms 37:11, David writes that “the meek will inherit the land.”  Jesus returns to this passage to reinforce the blessings for the people in his audience.  But why?
            The idea that the meek will inherit the earth is not new.  Jesus reiterated the promise in the form of a blessing in the Sermon on the Mount.  In Psalm 37, David is making a contrast with those that are evil and good people.  In fact, in verse 9, he writes that the evil will be cut off and those who “hope in the Lord will inherit the land.”  In verse 10, he indicates the wicked will be no more prior to saying the meek will inherit the earth.  Notice that David is reassuring the people that God will bring His righteous judgment and those who are patient will ultimately triumph.
            But who really wants to be meek?  We often hear the word meek and think timid or mousey.  Good Texicans aren’t meek.  We stand up for ourselves and others.  Meekness is not in our DNA…or is it?  David uses several descriptive terms to identify who the meek are.  In verse 1, he tells us the meek are not envious of the evil people.  God’s people do good and trust God (vs 3).  The  meek delight in the Lord and are blessed (vs 4).  The meek commit to God while we wait patiently for him (vs 5,7).  We refrain from anger, wrath, and fretting because that only leads us to evil (vs .  The meek inherit the earth because they are God’s people.
            Meekness is a trait of Godly people.  Sometimes that is one of the changes that occur in our lives as we begin to seek God.  We understand that we need to transform ourselves by the renewing of our minds as Paul tells us in Romans 12:2.  We become new creations in Christ that yearn to draw near God as we read about in 2 Corinthians 5:17.  Meekness doesn’t mean that we are subservient to other people.  It means we choose to serve God and not ourselves.  That is the change that makes us God’s meek people who inherit everything.  Meekness is Christian DNA.
Scripture:  Matthew 5: 3-12