“Gentle Jesus, meek and mild, Look upon a little child; Pity my simplicity, Suffer me to come to Thee.” Charles Wesley SASB#583
The words of Charles Wesley’s Hymn of Childhood quoted above are the first conscious prayer I ever remember uttering.
At about age eighteen months my nightly ritual before being tucked in for sleep was to recite these words followed by a list of people I asked the Lord to bless, beginning with mommy and daddy.
Although intellectually and spiritually I have matured beyond this simplest of prayers, just saying or reading the words transports me mentally to knelling at that bedside. Unfortunately, the words don’t mean what our current language would have us believe.
Similarly with the words of Jesus:
“Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth” Matthew 5:5 KJV
And King David:
“Soon the wicked will disappear. Though you look for them, they will be gone. The lowly [“meek”] will possess the land and will live in peace and prosperity.” Psalm 37:1–11 NLT
And the prophet Zephanaiah:
“Those who are left will be the lowly [“meek”] and humble, for it is they who trust in the name of the Lord.” Zephanaiah 3:12 NLT
To our dictionaries! One internet dictionary defines “meekness” as “docile, overly compliant, spiritless, yielding or tame”. Merriam-Webster defines it as “mild, deficient in courage, submissive and weak”.
By those definitions the only way Jesus’ assertion could be true is if the blubbering masses of meek souls are all that is left after the strongmen and tyrants of all ages have annihilated each other, and they are left to pick up the smoldering pieces!
Surely that can’t be what he meant?
No, a little research into linguistics and word morphology shows he meant something quite different! Also note that Jesus’ words didn’t change, but our language has.
Meekness is a term used in The Old Testament to describe Moses.
The Hebrew word is “anaw” and refers to someone who is afflicted or bearing a heavy burden. For instance, Moses never complained to God about the grief Miriam and Aaron caused him. He simply choose to bear the burden.
Moses’ meek disposition was also evident in Exodus when he was literally wearing himself out trying to help everyone solve their problems. In spite of this, he never complained or even gave thought to how it could affect him personally. Hence, Moses’ meekness wasn’t a character of timidity or letting other people run over him. On the contrast, it was a powerful demonstration of disciplined strength beyond what most people could endure.
In the 17th century when the translators of the Bible the now-famous King James (I of UK and VI of Scotland) had commissioned, came across the greek word “prautes”, which connotes a total lack of self-pride, to the point of a lack of self-concern, they translated it as the English word “meek”.
In 17th century English “meek” was the characteristic most prized in the largest, strongest, hard-working horse on the farm! Think of those magnificent Clydesdales you may have seen in a television commercial! Meekness meant that its enormous strength could be gently directed without resistance or complaint from the animal. Note that the idea of carrying heavy burdens without complaint is present in this definition as well.
Jesus, of course, uniquely embodies this characteristic. He wasn’t a weak and wimpy pushover — just ask the money changers in the Temple — rather, he was self-disciplined and always used his immense power and potential to the benefit of others and the glory of God. He carried a heavy, one might say the heaviest, burden all the way to Calvary without complaint despite the suffering it would mean for him personally. You can see why the translators thought this was an appropriate word.
You might be wondering about my title for this column about performing brain surgery with a bulldozer. I was looking for an exaggerated image that might convey tremendous power coupled with extreme care and precision to accomplish a miracle. That would be true meekness! Of course I wanted this image to stick in your — ahem! — head!!
So, bearing in mind that Charles Wesley spoke the same King’s English as the King James Translators, I now have a new, expanded meaning in my prayer. I now understand that the author, preserver and governor of the whole universe would be willing to listen to and answer my pathetic little prayer!
And I have a better understanding of Jesus’ words too. It’s not the weak who inherit the earth, but the meek; those to whom he entrusts all the power of heaven through his Holy Spirit and are willing to put aside any complaints or thoughts of themselves for the benefit of others and the glory of God.
Those are the folks — the meek — this earth is anxiously awaiting!
O that we might be meek and mild like Jesus! Make it so, Lord, make it so!
Blessings on you and yours, Jim Black
P.S. if you’d like to read previous ruminations of mine they can be found at https://www.salvationarmyconcordca.org/chronicle/?category=Bible%20Study