Blessed are They that Hunger and Thirst

“Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.” (Matthew 5:6) Jesus teaches the fourth blessing to his disciples. In the 3rd Nephi version Jesus adds a few words:

Blessed are all they who do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled with the Holy Ghost.”

This Beatitude seems to be pretty clear in its intent. But to understand its message to us we need to understand what the Savior means by “hunger and thirst” and “righteousness”. There are a number of scriptures Jesus was aware of, in fact most Jews were aware of at the time.

O God, You are my God earnestly I seek You; my soul thirsts for you; my body yearns for you in a dry and weary land without water.” (Psalms 63:1)

For He satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things.” (Psalms 107:9)

“He who pursues righteousness and loving devotion finds life, righteousness, and honor.” (Proverbs 21:21)

Come all of you who thirst, come to the water; and you without money come, buy, and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost! Why spend money on that which is not bread, and you labor on that which does not satisfy: Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of foods.” (Isaiah 55:1-2)

Christ teaches these same concepts when He is quoted by John:

But whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a fount of water springing up to eternal life.” (John 4:14)

In The Confessions, St. Augustine writes, “Thou has made us for thyself, and our heart is restless until it rest in thee.” There is an emptiness in our soul that beckons to us to fill. It is an emptiness that exist in our spirits because of our separation from God. This emptiness prompts us to seek the Lord or substitute God, constantly acting out in ways sometimes that are destructive. The Lord placed this void in our hearts so that we would seek Him and have him fill the void with His love, but most of humanity seeks to fill that void with worldly pursuits; seeking for money, fame, drugs, alcohol, sex, power, entertainment, sports, shopping. These pursuits bring a momentary relief, but the feeling of satiation is only temporary and a mere wisp compared to God’s love. As one author put it, “People seek for cheap and easy ways to get back to the garden of Eden.” (M.Scott Peck, Further Along the Road Less Traveled). None of those pursuits will satisfactorily fill the emptiness we have because of our separation from God. C.S. Lewis said, “If we find ourselves with a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we were made for another world.

What then will fill this void? What does it mean to hunger and thirst? When you are hungry or thirsty the only thing you can think about is something that will satisfying that urge. When you hunger or thirst after righteousness, it becomes the focus of your life. Perhaps instead of seeking for entertainment to relax you might be more disposed to study, read scriptures, or pray.

What does it mean to seek righteousness? Whose righteousness? It seems there are two types of righteousness; there is God’s righteousness and there is man’s righteousness. There are the authorities in churches, modern Pharisees if you will, who have very clear rules regarding what righteousness is. But their righteousness is based on outward ordinances and works that display their holiness. Men tend to make rules in order to exercise dominion and to be able to display their righteousness. They judge others by their perceived observance of how well others keep the commandments. The problem is it is easier to pretend righteousness by outward actions and ordinances then it is to govern the state of ones mind. That is why the Pharisee’s had so many rules. They could measure their own righteousness against those who could not perfectly keep the maze of rules they had created, otherwise they had no way to stratify their concept of levels of status. They created their elaborate codex of laws because they couldn’t judge the state of a man’s heart. That is why Christ practically cursed the 99 sheep who considered themselves righteous (Luke 15: 2-7). He left them because they could not be saved, to search for one who separated himself from the “righteous” flock.

So, who does the Lord consider to be righteousness? McConkie in Mormon Doctrine gives this definition of righteousness: “…righteousness is the quality and type of living that results from obedience to the laws and ordinances of the gospel.” He is partly correct. His emphasis is on appearances. If a man and woman obtain a temple recommend and attend the temple they are considered righteous. In human terms, the only way to measure righteousness is by the outward evidences. And so people tend base their behavior on what others can observe them doing. It is easier to look at a person and judge them by how wealthy they are, how big a house they have, how knowledgeable, how persuasive, how successful they are and the position they hold in the community or church, whether they pay tithing and obtain a temple recommend. Usually the logic extends also to this: successful people tend to be blessed by the Lord because they are doing something right. He wants His people to succeed and they are rewarded for their obedience. But in reality, the Lord judges a man’s heart, not by outward appearances (1 Sam. 16:7). Man judges by outward appearances.

Lord, who shall abide in thy tabernacle? Who shall dwell in thy holy hill? He that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness, and speaketh the truth in his heart. He that backbiteth not with his tongue, nor doeth evil to his neighbor, nor taketh up a reproach against his neighbor.” (Psalms 15)

In the first four beatitudes we discover the attributes that righteous seekers of light will be required to obtain in order to become servants of the Lord. These beatitudes constitute the preliminary states of the righteous seeker. Christ teaches His disciples using sacred symbolism and mystical (mystery) terminology. He teaches this way for the same reason that he teaches in parables. If you are an honest seeker of truth and the focus of your life is to come to Christ and follow Him, then you will begin to understand the sacred metaphors. The beatitudes are the road map to entering the kingdom of God and the first four chart the way through repentance and the sincere seeking of light and truth. The last four beatitudes will ramp up to a greater level of sacrifice required. The last four beatitudes bespeak of activities that involve interaction with others. This fourth beatitude is nothing more than receiving the baptism of fire; having your soul burned and refined from the inside out. This step is absolutely required for the next four steps.

Blessed are the Meek

“Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.” Christ continues His teaching on the Beatitudes with the third blessing. After a person becomes poor in spirit and after they mourn and receive forgiveness, they recognize the need to seek further light and knowledge. They accomplish this by conversing with the Lord, becoming meek. What the Lord requires of us in order to be meek is to recognize that He is the only authority that we owe true allegiance. He is the source of truth and the one we look to for further light and knowledge. In acknowledging that, we also realize that we must be obedient to His word– however that comes to us.

Enos relates that after he heard the voice of God tell him that his sins were forgiven and that he would be blessed, he asked: ” How is this done?” (Enos 1:7). The Lord answers him, ‘Because of thy faith in Christ.” It was because of his meekness and humility that Enos was able to receive an answer to his prayers. Not only did he receive answers to his questions, but he was able to converse with the Lord. Only through his faith, humility, and meekness, evident by his prolonged and efficacious prayer was he able to elicit a response from heaven. Those that exalt themselves and think themselves righteous will never be able to experience the Lord in this way. Isaiah has something to say about the righteous and exalted souls that do not think they need a relationship with the Lord:

Behold, all ye that kindle a fire, that compass yourselves in the light of your fire, and in the sparks that ye have kindled. This shall ye have of mine hand; ye shall lie down in sorrow.” (Isaiah 50:11)

The meek can be trusted by the Lord because they will do what the Lord wants them to do, and not assume they know better. Being meek in the Lord’s mind is so much more than the world understands the word. To be meek in the celestial sense is to follow the Lord and not just listen but DO what the Lord asks you to do, even when you are not comfortable with what he asks.

Lying spirits appeal to your pride and vanity. God will chasten you and require you to be meek and serve both Him and your fellow man. Lying spirits will tell you that you are some great and mighty person. God will remind you that only He is strong, but He uses the weak things of this world to accomplish His work. Therefore, no one can take credit but Him for whatever is accomplished. Proud, foolish and vain people have never built Zion. Only the penitent, the meek, and the humble can qualify to be around as God does His work.”

Until the heart is broken and willing to accept the sad news that they are wrong and God is going to correct them they are not likely to get an answer other than they are right. In fact they’ve been right all along. Answers from a meek and lowly Lord come with the greatest accuracy to the meek and lowly inquirer.(Denver Snuffer)

…my grace is sufficient for the meek, that they shall take not advantage of your weakness; And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, them will I make weak things become strong unto them.” (Ether 12: 26-27)

And again, I will give unto you a pattern in all things, that ye may not be deceived; for Satan is abroad in the land, and he goeth forth deceiving the nations—Wherefore he that prayeth, whose spirit is contrite, the same is accepted of me if he obey mine ordinances. He that speaketh, whose spirit is contrite, whose language is meek and edifieth, the same is of God if he obey mine ordinances.” (D&C 52: 14)

The meek inherit the earth because they are the only ones who do not have an agenda, other than to do the Lord’s work. And they do it in the way they are taught and instructed through the Holy Spirit, and eventually by the Lord Himself. The meek seek out the Lord and plead for more light. We have to plead, labor, and “work out our own salvation with fear and trembling” (Philippians 2: 12) because it informs the Angels, the Lord, and us that we are willing to pay the price to know Him. The proud will not be able to inherit the earth because they are the center of their universe, and you can’t have but one person at the center.

A Fable

The High King had a son that was very proud and treated everyone with less than respect. He had been privileged all his life and so had taken on the attitude that the world was created for him; he was the center of the universe. You probably know the type. The king was aware of this flaw in his son’s character but was at a loss how to help his son grow out of his self centeredness. He sent his son with a sealed message to one of his most trusted vessels who ruled a kingdom on the borders of his domain. This man was a duke who was a very powerful lord with vast lands and a large army to keep order and to keep invaders from causing mischief. He was also a very wise man in his own right. He received the king’s son with joy and with ceremony proper for receiving his Lord’s son. He opened the sealed letter and read it.

Duke, I place the health and welfare of my son in your hands. I desire that he learn from you humility and grace which he will need if he is ever to govern in my place. He needs to learn that he is the servant of the people in the kingdom and that there is great responsibility with the great privilege he has been born. I do not want him to command any of your battalions, nor to have any authority whatsoever. I ask that you place him under the service of your stable master. He is to work as the lowest order laborer and perform all the menial work of that laborer. If he learns to submit, humbles himself, and performs to the satisfaction of your steward without complaint and without trying to invoke his status as the king’s son, then, and only then, send him back to me.

Meekness is realizing that you don’t have the answers, in fact, you don’t know very much at all. The older I get, the more I realize I don’t really know much. Meekness is strength, because light and truth will pour into you and through you from the source of that light. The Lord knows that you can be trusted to do His will and not your own. You will be entrusted with thrones and principalities; you will inherit not just the world, but everything.