By St. Nikolai Velimirovich
“Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth” (Numbers 12:3).
A chosen man, a great wonderworker, a type of the Lord Jesus Christ in his miracles, a victor in Egypt, a victor in the wilderness, the leader of a people – how could he not be proud? But if he had become proud, Moses would not have been all that he was.
They become proud who think that they do their own works and not God’s in this world, and who think that they work by their own power and not by God’s power. But the great Moses knew that he was the doer of God’s works, and that the power with which He did them was God’s power and not his. That is why he did not become proud because of the awesome miracles he performed, or the great victories he obtained, or the wise laws that he gave to the people.
“The Lord is my strength and my song” (Exodus 15:2),
said Moses. Of the entire assembly of the Israelites in the wilderness, no one felt his own particular weakness as much as he, the greatest one of that assembly. In every task, in every place and in every moment, he expected help only from God. “What shall I do?” he cried to God, and he ceaselessly listened for God’s reply and sought God’s power.
“Meek above all men on earth.”
For all the others considered themselves as being something, trusted themselves as being something, but he – nothing. He was completely absorbed in God, completely humbled before God. If the people needed to be fed and given drink, he turned to God; if it was necessary to do battle with his enemies, he raised his hands to heaven; if it was necessary to calm an uprising among the people, he cried to God. The meek, the all-meek Moses! And God rewarded his faithful servant with great glory and made him worthy to appear on Mount Tabor with Elias alongside the Lord Savior.
O Lord, the God of the meek, the Good Shepherd, make us also meek like Moses and the apostles. To Thee be glory and praise forever. Amen.
