Turn to the Word of God this afternoon to Psalm 37. As we've been doing for our applicatory sermons and going through the Beatitudes of Matthew chapter five, and that is the text, Matthew chapter five, verse 5. Let's read that first. Matthew 5 verse 5, blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth. Now in that connection let's read Psalm 37 and pay attention to that theme as you find it here in Psalm 37 about the meek and inheriting the earth. Psalm 37, fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity, for they shall soon be cut down like the grass and wither as the green herb. Trust in the Lord and do good, so shalt thou dwell in the land and verily thou shalt be fed. Delight thyself also in the Lord, and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Commit thy way unto the Lord. Trust also in him, and he shall bring it to pass. And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday. Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him. Fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass. Cease from anger and forsake wrath. Fret not thyself in any wise to do evil, for evildoers shall be cut off, but those that wait upon the Lord, they shall inherit the earth. For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be, Yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it shall not be. But the meek shall inherit the earth, and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace. The wicked plotteth against the just, and gnasheth upon him with his teeth. The Lord shall laugh at him, for he seeth that his day is coming. The wicked have drawn out the sword and have bent their bow to cast down the poor and needy and to slay such as be of upright conversation. Their sword shall enter into their own heart and their bows shall be broken. A little that a righteous man hath is better than the riches of many wicked. For the arms of the wicked shall be broken, but the Lord upholdeth the righteous. The Lord knoweth the days of the upright, and their inheritance shall be forever. They shall not be ashamed in the evil time, and in the days of famine they shall be satisfied. But the wicked shall perish, and the enemies of the Lord shall be as the fat of lambs, they shall consume, and to smoke shall they consume away. The wicked borroweth and payeth not again, but the righteous showeth mercy and giveth. For such as be blessed of him shall inherit the earth, and they that be cursed of him shall be cut off. The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and he delighteth in his way. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down, for the Lord upholdeth him with his hand. I have been young and now am old. Yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread. He is ever merciful and lendeth, and his seed is blessed. Depart from evil and do good and dwell forevermore. For the Lord loveth judgment and forsaketh not his saints. They are preserved forever. but the seed of the wicked shall be cut off. The righteous shall inherit the land and dwell therein forever. The mouth of the righteous speaketh wisdom and his tongue talketh of judgment. The law of his God is in his heart. None of his steps shall slide. The wicked watcheth the righteous and seeketh to slay him. The Lord will not leave him in his hand nor condemn him when he is judged. Wait on the Lord and keep his way, and he shall exalt thee to inherit the land. When the wicked are cut off, thou shalt see it. I have seen the wicked in great power and spreading himself like a green bay tree. Yet he passed away, and lo, he was not. Yea, I sought him, but he could not be found. Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright, for the end of that man is peace. But the transgressors shall be destroyed together, the end of the wicked shall be cut off. But the salvation of the righteous is of the Lord. He is their strength in the time of trouble, and the Lord shall help them and deliver them, he shall deliver them from the wicked and save them because they trust in him." Thus far we read God's holy and inspired word and the text is that third beatitude Matthew 5 verse 5, blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth. Beloved congregation in our Lord Jesus Christ, the third beatitude Jesus preaches, blessed are the meek. for they shall inherit the earth. And Psalm 37 is such an appropriate and fitting Bible passage to read in connection with that beatitude because Psalm 37 uses the very same language. And you notice that as we read through Psalm 37 in verse 11 of Psalm 37, but the meek shall inherit the earth. and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace. And you have more of that inheriting the earth. In verse 22, for such as be blessed of him shall inherit the earth. Again, verse 29, the righteous shall inherit the land and dwell therein forever. And verse 44 as well, wait on the Lord and keep his way and he shall exalt thee to inherit the land. And this shows to us the, among other things, it shows to us the unity among the Old Testament and the New Testament so that as Jesus preaches to the people on the side of the mountain there in Matthew chapter five, Jesus isn't teaching them something entirely new. He's not setting forth an altogether novel doctrine that had never been heard before But when Jesus preaches, the meek shall inherit the earth, it's the very same thing that the Bible has been proclaiming all along, even in the Old Testament. But now the similarity between Jesus' words in Matthew 5 and Psalm 37 is more than simply a few similarly sounding verses. Matthew 5 verse 5, the meek shall inherit the earth, isn't just in a few verses of Psalm 37, but it's really written all over Psalm 37. Because Psalm 37 is all about the prosperity of the wicked and the difficulty that this causes the child of God. The temptation for God's people is to worry and to fret and to be anxious, why is God blessing them? Why is God not blessing me? Why is God giving them so much? And to me, he gives so little. And David answers those fears by declaring, trust in the Lord. You will be fed. You will be given the desires of your heart. The wicked will be cut off. God will deal with them and they will have no portion whatsoever, but know this, that God will give you everything. You shall inherit the earth and your inheritance will be something that you enjoy forever. But in both contexts, Psalm 37 and in Matthew 5, what we as God's people need to understand is this. Do you desire happiness? Do you desire to be filled? Do you desire the land and do you desire to be the heir of great riches and great possessions? And the answer given in both the Old Testament and the New Testament is this, blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth. and a very fitting text for our applicatory sermon because this morning we have been fed this morning we have been assured that the sacrifice of Jesus Christ covers the multitude of all my sins and it's not because of anything that I've done or will do but it's all due to the Lord Jesus Christ and his sacrifice for me and that knowledge makes us very humble. And that knowledge makes us very meek. And to you who are mild and meek and lowly, the Word of God comes and states, the meek shall inherit the earth and they are the blessed of God. I call your attention to the text, the blessed meek. Let's note first that this marks God's children, in the second place that this is displayed in their lives, and finally receiving great blessing. Blessed are the meek. What does it mean to be meek? Jesus is speaking of a special kind of meekness, which means that there's a false show of meekness. Just as with the first beatitude, there is a special kind of poverty, and then of those who mourn, there is a special kind of mourning. And sometimes it's helpful to identify something by noting its opposite. Meekness, well, the opposite of meekness is pride. And you think of a person filled with pride, someone who is filled with righteous self-confidence, a man who has a very high opinion of himself and of his own person, of his own abilities, and the common thread with regard to anybody who manifests pride is this. Me, me, me. Always thinking of himself, never thinking of other people. I am right, usually everybody else is wrong, and if anybody else thinks that they are right, they are doing a great disservice to me. That's one of the marks of pride. So that that proud man or woman is very selfish, always looking out for different ways to exalt me, always looking for that opportunity to prove myself right, to be vindicated in my cause, to stand up for myself and to put my interests first. That's pride. That's a proud man, a proud woman. Meekness is the opposite of pride and self. The word that Jesus uses, blessed are the meek, that word meek means to be humble. It's a virtual synonym for humility. It adds more to it, not only to be humble, but to be gentle. to be kind, to be compassionate, to be considerate of others, to be modest and careful in the way that we speak, in the way that we conduct ourselves, in the way that we behave ourselves around others. Meekness speaks of a surrender and submission to the will of God. So that meekness doesn't soon lash out, doesn't soon become angry. And you, in this regard, consider Moses. Would you consider Moses to be a meek man? Well, you better, because the Bible says that Moses is a very meek man, above all men that were upon the face of the earth. Maybe at times we think of Moses having to lead the Israelites in the wilderness as having a very gruff personality, having to deal with those miserable Israelites, always complaining, always murmuring under their breath, always looking for the next time that they could even take up stones to kill Moses. And yes, there were times when Moses had his weak moments and he got angry and he struck the rock, but the Bible does say in Numbers 12, verse three, that Moses was meek above all men that were upon the face of the earth. And it's important to note the context there in Numbers 12 of Moses being declared to be so meek In Numbers chapter 12, Aaron and Miriam were jealous of the authority that God gave to Moses. They were jealous how high a place Moses had in Israel. Miriam and Aaron thought that, who's this Moses? And who are we? Aren't we entitled to have the same high level of authority and reputation that Moses has? And Aaron and Miriam were looking for any reason to express their dissatisfaction, and finally they raised their voice. Hath the Lord indeed spoken only by Moses? Hath he not spoken also by us? Which was an act of rebellion on the part of Aaron and Miriam. How did Moses handle that? Moses handled that as a meek, mild servant of Jehovah God. Moses didn't lash out in anger Moses didn't assert himself in his authority in a high-handed and tyrannical way. He didn't puff himself up in pride and put Aaron and Miriam in their place, but Moses was calm, he was humble, and he left this attack to God, knowing that God would deal justly when the servant of Jehovah is opposed. And in this instance, for Miriam at least, Miriam became a leper. for seven days. But you see, in all this, Moses demonstrated great meekness, even when he was so violently opposed. What a grand Christian virtue to be meek and lowly of heart. But now let's not misunderstand this meekness. Meekness is not a weakness. in character because the world's understanding of meekness is something that's altogether different. The world says you're meek. Well, that's not necessarily a good thing. More than likely, you're not going to amount to a whole lot because a meek person in the eyes of the world is someone who isn't confident, Someone who's a pushover, can't stand up for himself, doesn't have any backbone, someone who's weak. If you're meek, then the world says you're weak and you're vulnerable and people will walk all over you. And that's how the world views meekness. But meekness, according to Jesus, is one of the strongest Christian virtues that we want. Meekness doesn't cringe and sneak out the back door quietly when pride enters the room, but meekness stands up to pride. Meekness is a grand Christian virtue that puts sinful pride in its place and shows it the door so that humility and gentleness and consideration may rule. Meekness stands up against all unrighteous anger, even as that unrighteous anger will appear in our lives meekness conquers and subdues that anger so that the meek man does not become soon angry even as Moses did not become soon angry so meekness is not a weakness quite the contrary meekness is a great strength one of the most preeminent Christian virtues We love meekness. We want meekness. How do we get this Christian virtue of being meek? Well, this meekness is not naturally in the heart of man. We're not born with it. Man by nature is not meek. On the contrary, man is a rebel by nature. By nature, sinful man, you and I. are rebels against God. Man thinks that he thinks for himself and lives for himself and man in and of himself is not under the blessing of God but under the curse of God so that this Christian virtue of meekness is entirely a gift of grace, is entirely a gift of Jehovah God. And it's the Lord who gives this blessing and cultivates this blessing and causes this blessing to grow and to flourish in the hearts of his people so that whether we're thinking of poverty of spirit or mourning over our sins, the second beatitude, or the meekness now in Matthew five, verse five, it's a work of grace. And it's not something that we have naturally. If man in his natural unregenerate state is to find true blessing and happiness, then the Lord must work it. And the Lord must give it. And it's here where we come to see that there's no meekness. There's no meekness apart from the Lord Jesus Christ and His Spirit. In Jesus and in Him alone do we see this meekness and therefore from Him do we seek meekness. So that the Bible declares of Jesus, Zechariah 9, which is quoted in the Gospel accounts when Jesus is riding into Jerusalem. Thy King cometh, meek and sitting upon the colt of an ass. The same word that's used in Matthew chapter 5 verse 5. And then Jesus in Matthew chapter 11, very familiar words. Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me. And what are we to learn of Jesus? Jesus continues, and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart. And then we say, how did Jesus show that meekness and lowliness of heart? Well, he showed it with his disciples. in so many different ways, but at least in this way, when he made very clear to him the things that must shortly come to pass, that he must go to Jerusalem, that he must suffer and die, and that he must be raised again the third day. But the disciples didn't understand. They didn't get it when Jesus was so clear with them. But Jesus didn't lash out in anger. He was meek, he was gentle, he was considerate of the weakness of his disciples, even when they were so slow to understand, even when Peter would rise up in his pride and rebuke Jesus and say, Lord, this won't be so. But Jesus showed himself meek. Consider Jesus there in the garden of Gethsemane the night before he was crucified, when he prays to his heavenly father, not my will, but thy will be done. Jesus showed his meekness in him not asserting and demanding that his will be done. But in meekness, Jesus submitted himself to God's will, because that's what meekness does. Meekness realizes that my will is not, if it's not the same as God's will, then I submit my will to the Lord's will. And that's the climax of meekness, absolute surrender and submission to the good will of God. And now Jesus says, blessed are the meek, Matthew 5 verse 5. He might very well have said, blessed are those who are like me. Blessed are those who have learned of me. Because only in Christ Jesus is there that meekness and that lowliness of heart. And he gives that meekness unto us when he unites us to himself by a true and living faith. When Christ dwells in our hearts by his spirit. Then, and only then, is there this virtue of meekness. And this meekness then is an outstanding Christian virtue, marking God's people. And what an astounding virtue this is. To point out a few Bible passages, Jesus says in Matthew 18 verse 4, Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. So now there you have those similar concepts, humility and lowliness and meekness. Those are the ones who will be great in the kingdom of heaven. Not the proud and the high and the mighty, but the meek and the lowly. Psalm 149 verse four. For the Lord taketh pleasure in his people. He will beautify the meek with salvation. And you see the parallel. The Lord takes pleasure in his people and he beautifies the meek with salvation. His people are those who are meek. And then even in Colossians 3 verse 12, and there meekness is an evidence of our election. Colossians 3.12, put on therefore as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, long-suffering, forbearing one another and forgiving one another. And so what a blessed Christian virtue. That we are the most happy people on the earth when we are meek because we know therein that we are the children of God and that the Spirit of Jesus Christ is at work in me. Now, how does this Christian grace display itself in our lives? Well, it displays itself in our lives, our being meek, in our relationship to God, and in our relationship to one another. But in the first place, meekness shows itself in our relationship to God. When we are meek before God, we humbly bend the knee. We submit ourselves. We listen. We recognize that we are under the authority of Almighty God. Meekness confesses that all of God's ways are good. Meekness acknowledges that God is sovereign, that he is the master, and that he doeth all things well. Without exception. Meekness understands that. Meekness submits to that. In that regard, think of Job. Job was meek before God after all of the things that happened to Job, all of those afflictions, everything taken away from him, virtually his whole life. Job showed himself to be a meek man. He did not sin. He did not charge God foolishly. Meekness then is bowing unto the sovereign purposes of God regarding my life. And whatever it pleases the Lord to send my way, to put in my life, I will receive it as from the hand of the Lord, knowing that this is the perfect, holy, good, acceptable will of my heavenly Father. And that's the spirit of meekness in relationship to God. But there's more. Meekness doesn't question God's plan of salvation. Meekness receives the gospel. What does the word of God say? The word of God says that by nature I am proud and selfish. God's word says that in and of myself, I deserve nothing but wrath and condemnation. And then the meek man receives that word. doesn't agitate against it. God's word says you cannot save yourself. Salvation is not of him that willeth nor of him that runneth, but of God who shows mercy. Meekness is amen. I will submit myself to the word of God. And in all of the word of God to us in the 10 commandments, The meek man, woman, and child says, I receive those words. This is the will of my heavenly Father for me. These are good laws and good commandments, and I will walk therein. So that meekness receives the word of God without question. That's what the Bible states in the book of James, in James chapter one, verse 21. Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness and receive with meekness the engrafted word which is able to save your souls. That's why I said it earlier. What does meekness do? Meekness receives the word of God, loves the word of God. It doesn't agitate against the Word of God, but receives that Word of God even when the Word of God comes in the form of rebuke and admonishment and very hard things to hear. That old man of sin doesn't want to always hear that Word of God, but meekness loves that Word and says, I want more of it. I need it. This is the Word that's able to save my soul. From Psalm 37, we see that meekness before God is our submitting our way unto Him. The life of the child of God in this world is not easy. There are trials. There are afflictions. David experiences that, inspired by the Spirit. He writes of that in Psalm 37. In Psalm 37, David looks around himself and he sees the prosperity of the wicked. Everything seems to be going their way. He notices that the wicked man is flourishing in life. Verse 35, I have seen the wicked in great power and spreading himself like a green bay tree. But what irritates David the most is that it appears, it appears as if God is sitting back and doing nothing. The wicked are increasing, the wicked are prospering, but what are God's people doing? Well, they're not increasing, they're not prospering. It appears that they are withering away. The answer that God gives to David, though, is this, don't take matters into your own hand. Don't form your conclusion by the things that you see with the eye of the body, but you be meek and submit to my good way and my goodwill for your life. So that we have in verse one, fret not thyself because of evildoers. Verse five, commit thy way unto the Lord, trust also in him and he shall bring it to pass. Verse seven, rest in the Lord and wait patiently for him. And then in contrast to all the apparent prosperous ways of the wicked, We read in verse 11, but the meek shall inherit the earth. The meek who rest in God. The meek who wait patiently for Him. They will be fed, they will prosper, and they will receive great blessing. And in all of the above ways, we show our meekness in relationship to God. That meekness also manifests itself in our relationship to one another in the body of Jesus Christ. Meekness means that I'll think of myself as lower than others. It means that I will give of myself to be kind and compassionate and gentle to others. Meekness now very similar to humility means that I will look around in the congregation And this family or that family, this individual, that individual, and that we make the same assessment as the Apostle Paul made. I'm the lowliest of all. And I need to hear the good words of others. And I need them, and they need me, but I sure need them. and I will listen to others, and I will receive the good word of others. Meekness is that we say of ourselves the very same thing the Apostle Paul says of himself in Ephesians chapter three, that I am the least of all the saints. And that's quite something that the Apostle Paul would say that, that who am I? The Apostle Paul says, who am I? God has given me such a wonderful calling to preach the unsearchable riches of the gospel to the Gentiles, and who am I? Who am I that God has given that privilege and grace? But to me, I am less than the least of all the saints. Meekness means also that we will submit one to another. Meekness especially loves the fifth commandment of God's law, honor thy father and thy mother and all in authority over you. Meekness receives the words of the office bearers in the church of Jesus Christ as good words, not words that I become hostile with and instantly angry with, but meekness receives the word and submits. and obeys. Meekness is putting on the mind of Jesus Christ who was lowly and became servant to others. And so that meekness, which is the gift of God, That's how it's displayed in our relationship to God, in our relationship to one another. There comes the warning now, beware of the opposite of meekness, beware of pride, and beware of thinking too highly of yourself. The Word of God states in 1 Peter 5 verse 5, for God resisteth the proud, That's a very sobering text of scripture, that first part, God resisteth the proud, and that word resist means to stand against, to stand as an adversary, and the last one you want standing as your adversary in the way is the almighty, powerful God of heaven and of earth, who will not cater to any pride, who will not tolerate the least amount of haughtiness in his people or among anyone. And so the calling comes to us, put away that pride, put away that haughtiness. God resisteth the proud. but he giveth grace to the humble. He giveth grace to the meek, and to the meek he shall give the earth. And that finally, this afternoon, blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth. What a great blessing that Jehovah God gives. to His people, to the meek, He will give them the earth. The earth will become the portion of the meek. Now here again to the world that those are only words of foolishness. The world says don't expect to receive anything if you are meek. The meek are those who aren't able to accomplish great things. Meek people don't amount to anything. Meek people do not prosper. They do not flourish. They will never become successful. But God says those who are meek, with the meekness of Jesus Christ, will become the most prosperous and renowned people in the world. They shall inherit the earth. But don't imagine the earth as it now is. This isn't the earth that we're going to inherit. The earth that Jesus has in mind is not going to be some post-millennial paradise. And this is one of the favorite texts, Matthew 5 verse 5 now. This becomes one of the favorite texts of those who envision an earthly paradise, a heaven upon earth kind of a thing. Don't you know they say that you're going to inherit the earth? Word of God says it. Well, yes it does, but what they have in mind is only a carnal earthly kingdom. We don't have our mind on that. We don't have our hopes pinned on earthly prosperity and many earthly possessions. But we shall inherit the new heavens and the new earth. That's the earth that's ultimately being spoken of. We shall inherit the earth. And that will be our home. And then you'll be able to say, this is where I live, that this is my home, this is my family, all things have become mine. And we will work glorify God with all that we have for time and eternity. And so a great blessing now because now as we sojourn on this earth, we who are the meek, are the despised, the lowly, the despised of the world, the object of ridicule and scorn, and the world says, you have nothing, you will never get anything, but in the day of Jesus Christ, the cause of God will become manifest. In Matthew 5, verse 5, it will become clear to the world, and the meek shall inherit the earth. What a great blessing also because of what Matthew 5 verse 5 says, Jesus teaches us that this is something that becomes our, it's an inheritance. Receiving the earth is an inheritance. That speaks of a blessing of God. It speaks that this is a free gift of Jehovah God because when parents have an estate and when they die, they leave an inheritance to the children. What do the children have to do to earn that inheritance? Do they work for it? Do they earn it? No, that very word inheritance means that it's a gift. And likewise for us, we shall inherit the earth. Not because of our meekness, because the earth that we shall inherit is a free gift of God, just as the meekness is in the first place, because what explains our meekness, what explains the inheritance? It's all a gift, entirely a free gift of God's grace. But what a blessing, a blessing that we become the heirs of all that God has in store for us, and therefore joint heirs with Jesus Christ. As we take our leave of the Lord's table, let us go forth in meekness. Meekness in our relationship to God Almighty. Meekness in our relationship to one another. In meekness, receiving the Word of God. Receiving the Word of God every single Sunday. submitting to that Word of God. As we hear that Word, and in whatever capacity that Word is brought unto us, and as we sojourn as meek pilgrims, we have the sure promise that we shall inherit all that God has in store for us. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Amen. Let us pray. Our Father, which art in heaven, we are thankful for thy word. Give unto us meekness, lowliness of mind, gentleness, consideration for others, submission to thy will. in meekness cause that we receive thy word without questioning it, without agitating against it, thy word which is good for our souls and good for our salvation. We thank thee for Jesus Christ, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the shame and the reproach. and suffered in our place as the meek and mild, lowly servant of Jehovah God. Give us to walk in his footsteps, bearing his reproach among men. Bless us in this Sabbath day. May we keep this day holy in the remaining hours of this day, holy to the glory of thy name, our God and our Father. In Jesus' name we ask all these things, amen. We sing Psalter number 48. Psalter number 48, we sing in stanza four. For all the meek thou wilt provide, they shall be fed and satisfied. All they that seek the Lord shall live and never ending praises give. Let's sing stanzas one through four and then seven and eight. One through four, and then seven and eight, psalter number 48. He still takes away. He still takes away. God save the Queen. I see. ever ending praises sing. All the rich and poor, both blind and free, The Lord bless thee and keep thee. The Lord make his face shine upon thee and be gracious unto thee. The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee and give thee peace. Amen.