Meekness and humility are closely related, but not identical. You cannot have one without the other, but they are not precisely the same thing. Meekness is not weakness. It takes a strong person (in the Lord) to be meek. Thomas Watson’s description of meekness, in my opinion, is as clear an expression of this as you will find – meekness is a disposition, granted by God’s grace, that allows us to receive evil, bear it, forgive it, and return good for it (see Psalm 37 below for biblical precedent for this definition). Here’s how he puts it:
Meekness is a grace whereby we are enabled by the Spirit of God to moderate our angry passions…First, meekness consists in the bearing of injuries…The second branch of meekness is in forgiving injuries…The third branch of meekness is in recompensing good for evil… (Thomas Watson, An Exposition of Mat. 5:1-12).
Add to that the Doctor’s description:
The meek man is not proud of himself, he does not in any sense glory in himself. He feels that there is nothing in himself of which he can boast. It also means that he does not assert himself. You see, it is a negation of the popular psychology of the day which says ‘assert yourself,’ ‘express your personality.’ The man who is meek does not want to do so; he is so ashamed of it. The meek man likewise does not demand anything for himself. He does not take all his rights as a claim. He does not make demands for his position, his privileges, his possessions, his status of life…the man who is meek is not even sensitive about himself. He is not always watching himself and his own interests. He is not always on the defensive…The man who is truly meek is the one who is amazed that God and man can think of him as well as they do and treat him as well as they do’ (Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, pp. 57-58).
How do we learn to be meek?
The example of Christ: Your king comes unto you meek’ (Matthew 21:5). Christ was the exemplar and pattern of meekness. ‘When he was reviled, he reviled not again’ (1 Peter 2:23). His enemies’ words were more bitter than the gall they gave him—but Christ’s words were smoother than oil. He prayed and wept for his enemies. He calls us to learn of him: ‘Learn of me, for I am meek’ (Matthew 11:29). Christ does not bid us (says Augustine) learn of him to work miracles, to open the eyes of the blind, to raise the dead—but he would have us learn of him to be meek (Thomas Watson, Ibid).
From the example of Christ we learn that the valley is the place of vision:
Lord, high and holy, meek and lowly, Thou hast brought me to the valley of vision, where I live in the depths but see Thee in the heights; hemmed in by mountains of sin I behold Thy glory. Let me learn by paradox that the way down is the way up, that to be low is to be high, that the broken heart is the healed heart, that the contrite spirit is the rejoicing spirit, that the repenting soul is the victorious soul, that to have nothing is to possess all, that to bear the cross is to wear the crown, that to give is to receive, that the valley is the place of vision (from the Valley of Vision).
- Matthew 11:29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
- Matthew 5:5 “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
- Psalm 37:7 Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices! 8 Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath! Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil. 9 For the evildoers shall be cut off, but those who wait for the LORD shall inherit the land. 10 In just a little while, the wicked will be no more; though you look carefully at his place, he will not be there. 11 But the meek shall inherit the land and delight themselves in abundant peace.
