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00:00:01 “The meek will possess the earth.” 00:00:05 We’re all familiar 00:00:06 with those words, aren’t we, 00:00:07 from Psalm 37:11? 00:00:10 No doubt, we’ve used them in the ministry 00:00:12 to help others have a hope for the future. 00:00:16 But what does it really mean for someone to be meek? 00:00:21 Well, we get help with regard to the definition 00:00:24 if we turn to the words of our Lord Jesus, 00:00:27 as recorded at Matthew 5:5. 00:00:31 So Matthew 5:5, 00:00:35 and here Jesus is recorded as saying: 00:00:39 “Happy are the mild-tempered, since they will inherit the earth.” 00:00:45 You’ll notice there’s a slightly different expression 00:00:48 that Jesus used here as recorded in Greek 00:00:51 and that is being mild-tempered. 00:00:54 If we look at the study note, we’ll notice a very interesting comment. 00:00:58 It says: “The Greek term 00:01:01 “does not imply cowardice or weakness. 00:01:04 “In the Septuagint, the word was used 00:01:06 “as an equivalent for a Hebrew word 00:01:09 that can be translated ‘meek’ or ‘humble.’” 00:01:13 So we see that because even though Jesus spoke in Hebrew 00:01:17 but it was recorded in Greek, 00:01:19 this translation of the word “mild-tempered” is there in the text. 00:01:24 And “mild-tempered” helps us a little to understand the word “meek.” 00:01:28 Mild-tempered means not hot-tempered 00:01:31 and doesn’t mean saying someone is cold either. 00:01:34 It just means that they’re balanced 00:01:37 with how they handle their reaction to things. 00:01:40 The Insight volume makes the comment 00:01:43 that being meek or mild-tempered 00:01:45 ‘enables a person to endure injury with patience, 00:01:50 ‘without irritation, without resentment, 00:01:53 or vindictive retaliation.’ 00:01:56 So that’s what’s involved with being meek. 00:02:01 The Watchtower from which the comments are taken 00:02:04 reminds us that no one in this sinful world 00:02:08 is born with meekness. 00:02:10 It’s something that we need to develop, 00:02:13 and it’s something that we need to keep on working on. 00:02:16 For example, our text refers to Moses. 00:02:20 Now, you notice there in the Scripture 00:02:22 that it doesn’t just say: “Moses was meek.” 00:02:26 It doesn’t just say: 00:02:29 “Moses was the meekest man.” 00:02:32 What does it say? 00:02:34 He “was by far the meekest” man. 00:02:39 Now, that’s very interesting. 00:02:41 We’d all like to have that said of us, wouldn’t we? 00:02:45 But when we look at what happened 00:02:47 just toward the end of the 40 years in the wilderness, 00:02:51 we see that Moses reacted badly. 00:02:55 And what was it that caused him to do so? 00:02:58 It was because of his reaction 00:03:01 to persons who frustrated him, irritated him, 00:03:05 those who, it seemed, always rejected the word of Jehovah. 00:03:10 So, what’s the lesson in this for us today? 00:03:14 Well, our meekness too 00:03:16 can be challenged in a similar way. 00:03:19 It can be the frustrations of dealing with others. 00:03:24 Or even in these difficult times in which we’re living now 00:03:27 in seeing shortages of food and medicine. 00:03:31 And perhaps seeing persons with their shopping trolleys 00:03:35 full of items that we know they shouldn’t have got 00:03:38 —so many things— but here they are, 00:03:40 getting away with all this produce, and so on. 00:03:45 And yet here we are, we don’t have enough. 00:03:48 Well, that can be a test of meekness. 00:03:51 Looking at television programs 00:03:53 and seeing what the world leaders are saying, 00:03:56 what politicians are arguing about, 00:03:58 can also be a test of meekness. 00:04:01 Seeing prejudice and unfairness in our lives, 00:04:05 all these things 00:04:07 can be just like the situation with Moses. 00:04:11 We can be tested with regard to our meekness. 00:04:15 So now, here’s the question: 00:04:17 What will help us to remain meek? 00:04:21 What will help us to develop meekness? 00:04:24 Well, the first thing we’d like to mention is a very important thing, 00:04:29 and that is for us to strengthen our trust in Jehovah 00:04:33 and to put our hope in him. 00:04:36 So let’s go back to the words that we mentioned in the beginning 00:04:40 taken from Psalm 37. 00:04:43 Let’s read the context, 00:04:45 thinking of what we just discussed 00:04:48 about the tests that we may face now 00:04:51 or even in the future 00:04:53 that might test our meekness. 00:04:56 So in Psalm 37, 00:04:58 let’s read verses 7-11: 00:05:03 “Keep silent before Jehovah 00:05:06 and wait expectantly for him.” 00:05:10 Do we see the key to maintaining meekness? 00:05:14 Yes, waiting on Jehovah. 00:05:17 Then he goes on to say: “Do not be upset by the man 00:05:21 “who succeeds in carrying out his schemes. 00:05:24 “Let go of anger and abandon rage; 00:05:29 “do not become upset and turn to doing evil. 00:05:33 “For evil men will be done away with, 00:05:36 “but those hoping in Jehovah 00:05:40 “will possess the earth. 00:05:42 “Just a little while longer, and the wicked will be no more; 00:05:47 “you will look at where they were, and they will not be there. 00:05:51 “But the meek will possess the earth, 00:05:54 “and they will find exquisite delight 00:05:58 in the abundance of peace.” 00:06:01 When we read these words, 00:06:04 particularly at this time in which we’re living now, 00:06:06 don’t they take on deeper meaning for us? 00:06:10 Yes, for us to show meekness, 00:06:13 we have to trust fully in Jehovah, our God. 00:06:17 We have to leave things to him. 00:06:19 Some things we know will only be corrected 00:06:22 by what Jehovah does in the near future. 00:06:26 So with that in mind, let’s look at the book of Romans. 00:06:30 If we turn there together to Romans chapter 12, 00:06:34 we notice that a similar thought 00:06:36 to the one described in Psalm 37 00:06:40 is also here in Romans chapter 12, 00:06:44 and let’s read together verses 17-19: 00:06:50 “Return evil for evil to no one. 00:06:55 “Take into consideration what is fine 00:06:58 “from the viewpoint of all men. 00:07:01 “If possible, as far as it depends on you, 00:07:05 “be peaceable with all men. 00:07:08 “Do not avenge yourselves, beloved, 00:07:12 “but yield place to the wrath; 00:07:16 “for it is written: ‘Vengeance is mine; 00:07:20 I will repay,’ says Jehovah.” 00:07:25 Now, when it says “yield place to the wrath,” what does that mean? 00:07:30 Well, we know that The Watchtower 00:07:32 has helped us to see that that’s Jehovah’s wrath. 00:07:35 In other words, it’s his right 00:07:39 to rectify all these bad things that are happening. 00:07:44 So rather than presumptuously trying to jump in and right the wrong 00:07:49 and try to react in a negative way 00:07:52 to all these bad things that are happening around us, 00:07:55 some things we realize we have to leave to Jehovah 00:07:59 and allow him to correct the situation. 00:08:03 So that’s the first point: 00:08:05 Strengthen our trust in Jehovah. 00:08:09 Yes, make sure our hope is in him. 00:08:13 The second point is 00:08:15 that we need to actively develop humility. 00:08:19 Now, later, if you check the book 00:08:21 of Zephaniah 2:3, 00:08:25 it mentions there that we need to “seek meekness,” 00:08:28 and it mentions “meek ones of the earth.” 00:08:31 But the footnote to that verse 00:08:33 mentions “humility,” the “humble ones.” 00:08:38 So obviously, then, humility is also connected 00:08:42 with having a mild temper and being meek. 00:08:46 How so? 00:08:47 Well, humility means we respect others. 00:08:51 And of course, included in that is our respect of Jehovah, 00:08:54 allowing him to do what he needs to do 00:08:57 rather than us presumptuously stepping in. 00:09:01 And our final thought we can find in Proverbs chapter 6. 00:09:06 At Proverbs 6:1-3, 00:09:11 here it describes a person who is in a difficult situation. 00:09:16 In this case, they ‘have put up a security for [their] neighbor,’ 00:09:20 and now it hasn’t worked out well. 00:09:23 But what does it say to do in verse 3? 00:09:26 “Do this, my son, and free yourself, 00:09:29 for you have fallen into the hand of your neighbor.” 00:09:32 Now, how should we react in a situation like that? 00:09:36 It says: “Go and humble yourself 00:09:40 and urgently plead with your neighbor.” 00:09:43 Now, interestingly, the Hebrew expression here, 00:09:46 “humble yourself,” literally means “stamp yourself down.” 00:09:51 So do we see the lesson? 00:09:53 When we’re faced with a test like Moses was faced with, 00:09:57 what should we do? 00:09:59 Stamp ourselves down! 00:10:01 Yes, hold off that hot temper. 00:10:04 Yes, have full trust and hope in Jehovah, 00:10:08 and in that way, we can be sure 00:10:10 that he will view us as a meek person.
00:00:01 “The meek will possess the earth.” 00:00:05 We’re all familiar 00:00:06 with those words, aren’t we, 00:00:07 from Psalm 37:11? 00:00:10 No doubt, we’ve used them in the ministry 00:00:12 to help others have a hope for the future. 00:00:16 But what does it really mean for someone to be meek? 00:00:21 Well, we get help with regard to the definition 00:00:24 if we turn to the words of our Lord Jesus, 00:00:27 as recorded at Matthew 5:5. 00:00:31 So Matthew 5:5, 00:00:35 and here Jesus is recorded as saying: 00:00:39 “Happy are the mild-tempered, since they will inherit the earth.” 00:00:45 You’ll notice there’s a slightly different expression 00:00:48 that Jesus used here as recorded in Greek 00:00:51 and that is being mild-tempered. 00:00:54 If we look at the study note, we’ll notice a very interesting comment. 00:00:58 It says: “The Greek term 00:01:01 “does not imply cowardice or weakness. 00:01:04 “In the Septuagint, the word was used 00:01:06 “as an equivalent for a Hebrew word 00:01:09 that can be translated ‘meek’ or ‘humble.’” 00:01:13 So we see that because even though Jesus spoke in Hebrew 00:01:17 but it was recorded in Greek, 00:01:19 this translation of the word “mild-tempered” is there in the text. 00:01:24 And “mild-tempered” helps us a little to understand the word “meek.” 00:01:28 Mild-tempered means not hot-tempered 00:01:31 and doesn’t mean saying someone is cold either. 00:01:34 It just means that they’re balanced 00:01:37 with how they handle their reaction to things. 00:01:40 The Insight volume makes the comment 00:01:43 that being meek or mild-tempered 00:01:45 ‘enables a person to endure injury with patience, 00:01:50 ‘without irritation, without resentment, 00:01:53 or vindictive retaliation.’ 00:01:56 So that’s what’s involved with being meek. 00:02:01 The Watchtower from which the comments are taken 00:02:04 reminds us that no one in this sinful world 00:02:08 is born with meekness. 00:02:10 It’s something that we need to develop, 00:02:13 and it’s something that we need to keep on working on. 00:02:16 For example, our text refers to Moses. 00:02:20 Now, you notice there in the Scripture 00:02:22 that it doesn’t just say: “Moses was meek.” 00:02:26 It doesn’t just say: 00:02:29 “Moses was the meekest man.” 00:02:32 What does it say? 00:02:34 He “was by far the meekest” man. 00:02:39 Now, that’s very interesting. 00:02:41 We’d all like to have that said of us, wouldn’t we? 00:02:45 But when we look at what happened 00:02:47 just toward the end of the 40 years in the wilderness, 00:02:51 we see that Moses reacted badly. 00:02:55 And what was it that caused him to do so? 00:02:58 It was because of his reaction 00:03:01 to persons who frustrated him, irritated him, 00:03:05 those who, it seemed, always rejected the word of Jehovah. 00:03:10 So, what’s the lesson in this for us today? 00:03:14 Well, our meekness too 00:03:16 can be challenged in a similar way. 00:03:19 It can be the frustrations of dealing with others. 00:03:24 Or even in these difficult times in which we’re living now 00:03:27 in seeing shortages of food and medicine. 00:03:31 And perhaps seeing persons with their shopping trolleys 00:03:35 full of items that we know they shouldn’t have got 00:03:38 —so many things— but here they are, 00:03:40 getting away with all this produce, and so on. 00:03:45 And yet here we are, we don’t have enough. 00:03:48 Well, that can be a test of meekness. 00:03:51 Looking at television programs 00:03:53 and seeing what the world leaders are saying, 00:03:56 what politicians are arguing about, 00:03:58 can also be a test of meekness. 00:04:01 Seeing prejudice and unfairness in our lives, 00:04:05 all these things 00:04:07 can be just like the situation with Moses. 00:04:11 We can be tested with regard to our meekness. 00:04:15 So now, here’s the question: 00:04:17 What will help us to remain meek? 00:04:21 What will help us to develop meekness? 00:04:24 Well, the first thing we’d like to mention is a very important thing, 00:04:29 and that is for us to strengthen our trust in Jehovah 00:04:33 and to put our hope in him. 00:04:36 So let’s go back to the words that we mentioned in the beginning 00:04:40 taken from Psalm 37. 00:04:43 Let’s read the context, 00:04:45 thinking of what we just discussed 00:04:48 about the tests that we may face now 00:04:51 or even in the future 00:04:53 that might test our meekness. 00:04:56 So in Psalm 37, 00:04:58 let’s read verses 7-11: 00:05:03 “Keep silent before Jehovah 00:05:06 and wait expectantly for him.” 00:05:10 Do we see the key to maintaining meekness? 00:05:14 Yes, waiting on Jehovah. 00:05:17 Then he goes on to say: “Do not be upset by the man 00:05:21 “who succeeds in carrying out his schemes. 00:05:24 “Let go of anger and abandon rage; 00:05:29 “do not become upset and turn to doing evil. 00:05:33 “For evil men will be done away with, 00:05:36 “but those hoping in Jehovah 00:05:40 “will possess the earth. 00:05:42 “Just a little while longer, and the wicked will be no more; 00:05:47 “you will look at where they were, and they will not be there. 00:05:51 “But the meek will possess the earth, 00:05:54 “and they will find exquisite delight 00:05:58 in the abundance of peace.” 00:06:01 When we read these words, 00:06:04 particularly at this time in which we’re living now, 00:06:06 don’t they take on deeper meaning for us? 00:06:10 Yes, for us to show meekness, 00:06:13 we have to trust fully in Jehovah, our God. 00:06:17 We have to leave things to him. 00:06:19 Some things we know will only be corrected 00:06:22 by what Jehovah does in the near future. 00:06:26 So with that in mind, let’s look at the book of Romans. 00:06:30 If we turn there together to Romans chapter 12, 00:06:34 we notice that a similar thought 00:06:36 to the one described in Psalm 37 00:06:40 is also here in Romans chapter 12, 00:06:44 and let’s read together verses 17-19: 00:06:50 “Return evil for evil to no one. 00:06:55 “Take into consideration what is fine 00:06:58 “from the viewpoint of all men. 00:07:01 “If possible, as far as it depends on you, 00:07:05 “be peaceable with all men. 00:07:08 “Do not avenge yourselves, beloved, 00:07:12 “but yield place to the wrath; 00:07:16 “for it is written: ‘Vengeance is mine; 00:07:20 I will repay,’ says Jehovah.” 00:07:25 Now, when it says “yield place to the wrath,” what does that mean? 00:07:30 Well, we know that The Watchtower 00:07:32 has helped us to see that that’s Jehovah’s wrath. 00:07:35 In other words, it’s his right 00:07:39 to rectify all these bad things that are happening. 00:07:44 So rather than presumptuously trying to jump in and right the wrong 00:07:49 and try to react in a negative way 00:07:52 to all these bad things that are happening around us, 00:07:55 some things we realize we have to leave to Jehovah 00:07:59 and allow him to correct the situation. 00:08:03 So that’s the first point: 00:08:05 Strengthen our trust in Jehovah. 00:08:09 Yes, make sure our hope is in him. 00:08:13 The second point is 00:08:15 that we need to actively develop humility. 00:08:19 Now, later, if you check the book 00:08:21 of Zephaniah 2:3, 00:08:25 it mentions there that we need to “seek meekness,” 00:08:28 and it mentions “meek ones of the earth.” 00:08:31 But the footnote to that verse 00:08:33 mentions “humility,” the “humble ones.” 00:08:38 So obviously, then, humility is also connected 00:08:42 with having a mild temper and being meek. 00:08:46 How so? 00:08:47 Well, humility means we respect others. 00:08:51 And of course, included in that is our respect of Jehovah, 00:08:54 allowing him to do what he needs to do 00:08:57 rather than us presumptuously stepping in. 00:09:01 And our final thought we can find in Proverbs chapter 6. 00:09:06 At Proverbs 6:1-3, 00:09:11 here it describes a person who is in a difficult situation. 00:09:16 In this case, they ‘have put up a security for [their] neighbor,’ 00:09:20 and now it hasn’t worked out well. 00:09:23 But what does it say to do in verse 3? 00:09:26 “Do this, my son, and free yourself, 00:09:29 for you have fallen into the hand of your neighbor.” 00:09:32 Now, how should we react in a situation like that? 00:09:36 It says: “Go and humble yourself 00:09:40 and urgently plead with your neighbor.” 00:09:43 Now, interestingly, the Hebrew expression here, 00:09:46 “humble yourself,” literally means “stamp yourself down.” 00:09:51 So do we see the lesson? 00:09:53 When we’re faced with a test like Moses was faced with, 00:09:57 what should we do? 00:09:59 Stamp ourselves down! 00:10:01 Yes, hold off that hot temper. 00:10:04 Yes, have full trust and hope in Jehovah, 00:10:08 and in that way, we can be sure 00:10:10 that he will view us as a meek person.
