more brain powerbars.
Shaun Groves said...
Jesus says, "Blessed are the meek FOR THEY WILL INHERIT THE EARTH (LAND)."
One major key to understanding meekness came when I discovered what passage from the Old Testament Jesus was quoting here. Find it and read about those who inherit the land/earth and you'll have a picture of meekness and understand how we become it. It results from only one thing and it's not rededication.
SG
Wednesday, October 12, 2005
Anonymous said...
There seems to be a relationship between peace, righteousness, refraining from anger, meekness, and inheriting the land, prosperity and posterity, which is repeated all over psalm 37
Funny but my first thought when reading this chapter was all the images of prosperity gospel preachers I have, (which are not positive) But David writes over and over about inheriting the land and prospering???
ps this is a great dialogue...let's keep it up!
Wednesday, October 12, 2005
Shaun Groves said...
OK, so Psalm 37 IS the piece of scripture Jesus is referring to. Every one of the eight blessings called the beatitudes (found in Matthew 5:1-12) are tied to Old Testament scriptures like this blessing of the meek is. Very helpful.
This passage in Psalm 37 is full of many adjectives and descriptors centering around one action. The idea being that this one action creates a person that can be described by the rest of the chapter. When you read Psalm 37:1-11 you notice that the words "fret" and "anger" come up a lot. Fret in hebrew is from a word we get "char" from - meaning to burn. Fret to us means worry but the original text used a word for anger. So you end up with a passage having a lot to do with anger management.
Numerous times in the passage the meek are described as those who are not angry, no vengeful, not retaliating etc. How is this possible? How can a person in this world not be angry and seek revenge? They must be meek. The meek are the only ones capable of displaying such unusual character.
In the middle of the passage, in verse 5, it says the meek "commit" their "way" to the Lord. This is the action at the center of meek character. Hope I'm not boring anyone but here goes: The word "commit" in Hebrew (the original language of the old testament, means "to roll". It was used, for instance, of shepherds rolling a large rock off of a well opening so they could water their animals. These stones had to be moved by many men working together. This rolling isn't the moving of something tiny and flickable. This is a massive weight that's being rolled.
The first two beatitudes, or wrungs on the ladder as I like to imagine them, are about the "poor in spirit" and those who "mourn." We're all poor in spirit. The bible tells us that every human being ever made after Adam and Eve was busted inside. Out hearts are imperfect. More than that they are incapable of begin anything but imperfect. And this imperfection goes deep, it makes us enemies of a perfect God, makes us unable to fully understand God and the bible, makes us hostile even towards the two. We're spiritually needy and inept. We are "sinful."
Now if we run from this and medicate it away with work, money, addiction, fun etc, we'll stay busted. No change. no hope. But if we stop and face this fact that our heart, our core, is evil and powerless, we'll mourn it. We'll mourn the loss of our innocence and of the busted nature of the whole world. We're sorry. David, the writer of Psalms, calls this being "contrite." Some would say this is being penitent. Whatever you call it, it's knowing you have a problem, not liking the problem, and being ready - eager even - for a solution.
Then comes meekness. The problem - the sin and sorrow in us - is rolled (entrusted to) God. This is surrender. Realizing we are messed up isn't enough. Trying harder this time to be better and less messed up is worthless. If we think we can try harder and be better we've never really understood how poor in spirit we truly are. Remember that poverty in spirit isn't just realizing I'm a sinner but realizing too that we're incapable. The word used for "poor" here isn't the word used to describe the working man in need. NO. The word used is very specific. It means to cower or crawl. It's used of beggars who are so disabled for some reason that their ONLY way of surviving is to beg for help. They have no skill. No ability. Nothing to offer. That's us. All we can do is give up. Beggars do that well. Those who believe they can do better never give up. They rededicate. Again and again.
Why are there so many rededications going on at youth camps? Honestly? I think it's possibly because those people at the altar never realized they were poor in spirit. They thought their bank account was running pretty low. There were some bills they knew they couldn't pay but never realized they could pay NOTHING on their own. jesus didn't just come to take away sin, but also to take away weakness, fear, and the rest of our "way". That's why we commit our WHOLE way to the Lord. That's salvation. Not a prayer or a rededication week after week or summer after summer. We come like weeping naked penniless beggars to the King and He takes over all of our affairs as well as pays our debts.
Make sense? Any questions?
yes, my head hurts. can i get some water? ;)
hm ill muse on this more later. but its the way to salvation...
(psalm 52 placemark)
Jesus says, "Blessed are the meek FOR THEY WILL INHERIT THE EARTH (LAND)."
One major key to understanding meekness came when I discovered what passage from the Old Testament Jesus was quoting here. Find it and read about those who inherit the land/earth and you'll have a picture of meekness and understand how we become it. It results from only one thing and it's not rededication.
SG
Wednesday, October 12, 2005
Anonymous said...
There seems to be a relationship between peace, righteousness, refraining from anger, meekness, and inheriting the land, prosperity and posterity, which is repeated all over psalm 37
Funny but my first thought when reading this chapter was all the images of prosperity gospel preachers I have, (which are not positive) But David writes over and over about inheriting the land and prospering???
ps this is a great dialogue...let's keep it up!
Wednesday, October 12, 2005
Shaun Groves said...
OK, so Psalm 37 IS the piece of scripture Jesus is referring to. Every one of the eight blessings called the beatitudes (found in Matthew 5:1-12) are tied to Old Testament scriptures like this blessing of the meek is. Very helpful.
This passage in Psalm 37 is full of many adjectives and descriptors centering around one action. The idea being that this one action creates a person that can be described by the rest of the chapter. When you read Psalm 37:1-11 you notice that the words "fret" and "anger" come up a lot. Fret in hebrew is from a word we get "char" from - meaning to burn. Fret to us means worry but the original text used a word for anger. So you end up with a passage having a lot to do with anger management.
Numerous times in the passage the meek are described as those who are not angry, no vengeful, not retaliating etc. How is this possible? How can a person in this world not be angry and seek revenge? They must be meek. The meek are the only ones capable of displaying such unusual character.
In the middle of the passage, in verse 5, it says the meek "commit" their "way" to the Lord. This is the action at the center of meek character. Hope I'm not boring anyone but here goes: The word "commit" in Hebrew (the original language of the old testament, means "to roll". It was used, for instance, of shepherds rolling a large rock off of a well opening so they could water their animals. These stones had to be moved by many men working together. This rolling isn't the moving of something tiny and flickable. This is a massive weight that's being rolled.
The first two beatitudes, or wrungs on the ladder as I like to imagine them, are about the "poor in spirit" and those who "mourn." We're all poor in spirit. The bible tells us that every human being ever made after Adam and Eve was busted inside. Out hearts are imperfect. More than that they are incapable of begin anything but imperfect. And this imperfection goes deep, it makes us enemies of a perfect God, makes us unable to fully understand God and the bible, makes us hostile even towards the two. We're spiritually needy and inept. We are "sinful."
Now if we run from this and medicate it away with work, money, addiction, fun etc, we'll stay busted. No change. no hope. But if we stop and face this fact that our heart, our core, is evil and powerless, we'll mourn it. We'll mourn the loss of our innocence and of the busted nature of the whole world. We're sorry. David, the writer of Psalms, calls this being "contrite." Some would say this is being penitent. Whatever you call it, it's knowing you have a problem, not liking the problem, and being ready - eager even - for a solution.
Then comes meekness. The problem - the sin and sorrow in us - is rolled (entrusted to) God. This is surrender. Realizing we are messed up isn't enough. Trying harder this time to be better and less messed up is worthless. If we think we can try harder and be better we've never really understood how poor in spirit we truly are. Remember that poverty in spirit isn't just realizing I'm a sinner but realizing too that we're incapable. The word used for "poor" here isn't the word used to describe the working man in need. NO. The word used is very specific. It means to cower or crawl. It's used of beggars who are so disabled for some reason that their ONLY way of surviving is to beg for help. They have no skill. No ability. Nothing to offer. That's us. All we can do is give up. Beggars do that well. Those who believe they can do better never give up. They rededicate. Again and again.
Why are there so many rededications going on at youth camps? Honestly? I think it's possibly because those people at the altar never realized they were poor in spirit. They thought their bank account was running pretty low. There were some bills they knew they couldn't pay but never realized they could pay NOTHING on their own. jesus didn't just come to take away sin, but also to take away weakness, fear, and the rest of our "way". That's why we commit our WHOLE way to the Lord. That's salvation. Not a prayer or a rededication week after week or summer after summer. We come like weeping naked penniless beggars to the King and He takes over all of our affairs as well as pays our debts.
Make sense? Any questions?
yes, my head hurts. can i get some water? ;)
hm ill muse on this more later. but its the way to salvation...
(psalm 52 placemark)
posted by steph at
2:29:00 PM
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