What is it to be poor in spirit? The Lord has said to us, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven,” Matthew 5:3. If this is true, then the opposite, the rich in spirit, the kingdom of heaven is not theirs. But how can this be? What is it about the rich in spirit that causes them to be lost? And what then does this mean, to be poor in spirit?
When we think of the rich in this world, we imagine those with great sums of wealth, who have all the heart could want, who have no need that goes unsatisfied. On the other hand, when we think of the poor, we see those who are lacking in the needful things of life, who are unable, or barely able, to satisfy their needs.
Those who are rich in spirit, then, are those who are proud, willful, self-righteous; full of themselves, not of God, fully satisfied with life in this world, with no need to look any further for satisfaction. They follow their own dictates, and as they see it, their hand has gotten them all they need and want. What need then do they have of God? As Asaph observed of them,
“For I was envious of the arrogant
As I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
For there are no pains in their death,
And their body is fat.
They are not in trouble as other men,
Nor are they plagued like mankind.
Therefore pride is their necklace;
The garment of violence covers them.
Their eye bulges from fatness;
The imaginations of their heart run riot.
They mock and wickedly speak of oppression;
They speak from on high.
They have set their mouth against the heavens,
And their tongue parades through the earth.
Therefore his people return to this place,
And waters of abundance are drunk by them.
They say, "How does God know?
And is there knowledge with the Most High?"
Behold, these are the wicked;
And always at ease, they have increased in wealth,”
Psalm 73:3-12.
The men who are rich in spirit have no fear of God, and are fully immersed in this life. Their heart is set on the things that their hand has gotten for them, and they believe they dwell securely.
Nebuchadnezzar was rich in spirit, as he spoke in his heart, “Is this not Babylon the great, which I myself have built as a royal residence by the might of my power and for the glory of my majesty?” Daniel 4:30. But then God humbled him.
The poor in spirit, they see that they are truly lacking before God, and that to pursue according to our own ways is a dead end. They have a full sense of their sin before God. They know that there is nothing here to satisfy the soul, and know that they need God. Moses was a man of this kind, and the testimony of Scripture to him is this, “Now the man Moses was very humble, more than any man who was on the face of the earth,” Numbers 12:3.
If we are full of ourselves, there is no room for God; if a glass is full, how can anything be added to it? But if we are empty and broken before him, and if we seek him according to his way, he will bind our wounds and heal us, and fill us with the true goodness of life, for, "Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and you shall find rest for your souls, Matthew 11:29, and, “God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble," James 4:6b, and again, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied,” Matthew 5:6.
God desires for us to be humble, as He is.
“The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit
A broken and a contrite heart, O God,
You will not despise,”
Psalm 51:17.