Power Under Restraint

In one paragraph

Pastor Mark stepped away from the regular series in Second Corinthians to share something that had been working on him personally that week: the biblical meaning of meekness. He walked the congregation through Psalm 37 in full, using it to show what meekness actually looks like when someone trusts God to act rather than taking matters into their own hands. The word meekness has almost completely...

Read together

1. Lamentations 3:22-23 Opening reading about mercies never ending, new every morning, great faithfulness
2. John 14:19 Memory verse: 'Because I live, you also will live'
3. Psalm 37 Full chapter reading as the main text illustrating biblical meekness
4. Matthew 5:3-5 Beatitudes quoted: blessed are the poor in spirit, those who mourn, and the meek who shall inherit the earth
5. James 1:21 Rid yourselves of all sordidness and rank growth of wickedness, welcome with meekness the implanted word that has power to save your souls
6. 2 Corinthians 10:1 Paul appeals by the meekness and gentleness of Christ, humble face to face but bold when away
7. Numbers 12:3 Moses was very meek above all men on the face of the earth
8. Ephesians 5:21 Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ
9. Acts 5:1-11 Ananias and Sapphira held back from God and were struck down as immediate justice
10. 2 Corinthians 4:8-9 Pressed but not crushed, persecuted but not abandoned
11. 1 Corinthians 11:23-26 Words of institution for communion: the Lord Jesus the same night he was betrayed took bread
12. Zephaniah 2:3 Benediction: seek the Lord, seek righteousness and meekness, perhaps you may be hidden on the day of the Lord's wrath

Talk about it

1. The pastor described meekness as 'power under restraint' rather than weakness or timidity. How does that definition change the way you think about what it looks like to live meekly day to day?
2. Sinclair Ferguson defined meekness as 'that spirit or disposition which submits to the word of God in scripture and to the hand of God in providence.' What is one area of your life right now where that kind of submission is hardest for you?
3. Psalm 37 keeps returning to future-tense promises, things like 'the meek shall inherit the land' and 'the wicked shall be cut off.' The pastor said those are things we trust by faith, not things we see by sight right now. How do you hold on to those promises when what you see around you looks nothing like them?
4. The pastor pointed out that what we remember most about Moses are the moments he broke out of meekness, like striking the rock, rather than his ordinary meekness. Why do you think our failures tend to stand out more than our steady, quiet faithfulness?
5. The pastor said forgiveness is a huge component of meekness, and that meekness draws people to God. Where in your relationships do you sense God calling you to restrain a response you are actually capable of making, and what would it look like to do that this week?