The Majesty of Meekness

[The Lord] knows the true nature of things; he knows that moderation,
not a fierce defense, beats back a fierce attack.
—JOHN CHRYSOSTOM

Warm-up: Romans 12:9–20

Meekness is not lowliness or humility. It’s rather an attitude taken against critics and detractors—not retaliating or returning evil for evil, but bowing in silence and submission before those who do us wrong. It’s the opposite of self-assertiveness, but it’s also the opposite of weakness. Meekness, as Ray Stedman used to say, is “strength under control.” It’s stronger than any passion in the world.

Oswald Chambers writes, “To bear with unfailing meekness the spiteful attacks of malice and envy; not to be overcome by evil, but to overcome evil with good; to suffer wrong; to possess one’s soul in patience; to keep the mouth with a bridle when the wicked is before us; to pass unruffled and composed through a cyclone of unkindness and misrepresentations—these are those who bear themselves as heroes in the fight.”

In biblical terms the meek are those who rely on God’s wisdom and power rather than their own. They know that God isn’t trying to settle the world’s hash and set everything right these days. They know he’s permitting evil men and women to have their way and do their worst, waiting patiently for them to come to repentance. They know that in his good time he will vindicate his elect.

I have myself found great comfort in Psalm 37. I turn to it again and again when I’m fretting over the harm someone has done to me:

Do not fret because of evil men
or be envious of those who do wrong;
for like the grass they will soon wither,
like green plants they will soon die away.
Trust in the Lord and do good;
dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.
Delight yourself in the Lord
and he will give you the desires of your heart.
Commit your way to the Lord;
trust in him and he will do this:
He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn,
the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.
Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him;
do not fret when men succeed in their ways,
when they carry out their wicked schemes.
Refrain from anger and turn from wrath;
do not fret—it leads only to evil.
For evil men will be cut off,
but those who hope in the Lord will inherit the land.
A little while, and the wicked will be no more;
though you look for them, they will not be found.
But the meek will inherit the land and enjoy great peace
(Psalm 37:1–11).

Meekness is the wisdom that inspired and permeated Jesus’ life. He was “gentle and riding on a donkey” (Matthew 21:5). He ministered in “meekness and gentleness” (2 Corinthians 10:1). In the end, he offered himself up “like a lamb to the slaughter; and as a sheep before her shearers is silent” (Isaiah 53:7).

Meekness is also the means by which he overcame his opponents: “By meekness and defeat he won the mead and crown. Trod all his foes beneath his feet, by being trodden down” (Samuel Gandy).

John Chrysostom, a fifth-century Christian, has written:

As long as we are sheep, we overcome and, though surrounded by countless wolves, we emerge victorious; but if we turn into wolves, we are overcome, for we lose the shepherd’s help. He, after all, feeds the sheep not wolves, and will abandon you if you do not let him show his power in you.

What he says is this: “Do not be upset that, as I send you out among the wolves, I bid you be as sheep and doves. I could have managed things quite differently and sent you, not to suffer evil nor to yield like sheep to the wolves, but to be fiercer than lions. But the way I have chosen is right. It will bring you greater praise and at the same time manifest my power.” That is what he told Paul: My grace is enough for you, for in weakness my power is made perfect. “I intend,” he says, “to deal in the same way with you.” For, when he says, “I am sending you out like sheep,” he implies: “But do not therefore lose heart, for I know and am certain that no one will be able to overcome you.”

“Meekness ain’t natural,” a friend of mine said recently, “Rambo, not Jesus, is lord.” Indeed meekness isn’t natural, not here in Idaho or any other place on the earth, but our Lord asks nothing of us that he was not prepared  to do and he asks nothing of us that he is not prepared to give. Meekness, like every other virtue,  is a gift, the work of God’s Holy Spirit and not the human will (Ephesians 4:2–6). He will give it to us if we will ask him for it.

We should pray, as George MacDonald prayed, “Make me into a rock which swallows up the waves of wrong in its great caverns and never throws them back to swell the commotion of the angry sea from whence they came.”

God never forsakes the one who earnestly seeks his face. Meekness may not come at once, but it will surely come if we will wait for it.

God describes Moses as a “very humble [meek] man, more humble [meek] than anyone else on the face of the earth” (Numbers 12:3). You can’t do better than that.

On one occasion, when some folks gathered in rebellion against Moses’ leadership, indicting his motives in the process, Moses said absolutely nothing, but simply “fell on his face” (Numbers 16:4).

This is the majesty of meekness and the mark of a man of God—to keep falling on our faces again and again, entrusting our cause to him who judges justly (see 1 Peter 2:23). Those who insist on their rights, who justify and defend themselves, are in constant turmoil. But the meek find rest.

They also find joy. Isaiah insists that the meek “will rejoice in the LORD” (Isaiah 29:19). When we meet unkindness with courtesy and when the injury has passed over us, we will know pure joy—joy because God himself has comforted us; joy because we have acted righteously; joy because we may have turned another away from an evil purpose; joy because God’s deliverance is so much better than anything we could do for ourselves. As James has said, “He gives a [greater] grace”—greater than anything we could get for ourselves (4:6).

The meek will eventually get what’s coming to them, even what others have taken away. “Blessed are the meek,” Jesus said, for they alone shall inherit the earth.

Taken from In Quietness and Confidence, ©1999 by David Roper. Used by permission of Discovery House Publishers, Box 3566 Grand Rapids, MI 49501. All rights reserved.