These verses, the opening phrases of the Sermon on the Mount, hold some of the Bible’s most beautiful and best-loved poetry. Part of its beauty, though, lies in the fact that the meaning is not quite clear. What does it mean to be “poor in spirit”? What does it mean to “inherit the earth” or to be called “the children of God.” The fact that there are many possibilities causes us to linger over the phrases, pondering them.

Understood in the internal sense, these blessings show the spiritual states of the various people who could be receptive of the Lord and the new church he was launching. On a deeper level it shows that states within ourselves that can lead each of us to the Lord and to a deeper understanding of His truth today.

The “poor in spirit” are those who know little about spiritual things, but want to learn. Those that “mourn” are those who want to be good, but see no desire for good in their church. The “meek” are those who love to care for and serve others. To “hunger and thirst after righteousness” shows a desire to rise up, to learn about what’s good and to come to desire it.

The “merciful” are those who love their fellow people. The “pure in heart” are those who love only what is good. “Peacemakers” are those who are in harmony with the Lord, gaining knowledge from Him and wanting what He wants. And to be “persecuted for righteousness’ sake” means acting out of love and care for others, even though you are condemned by others for it.

There’s something of a progression there, from those who simply want to learn to those who actively want to be good people to those who actually are good and acting out of love for others. None of it, though, describes those who are learned in the Jewish traditions, or even necessarily observant in terms of ritual; they are, rather, those who sense that it is possible to be a good person and are willing to make the effort.

And they are promised their rewards! The “kingdom of heaven” is the understanding the angels have of the Lord; “comfort” represents ideas that lead to the good of life; “inheriting the earth” is a state of loving others and being loved by them in return. The overall message is simple: If we truly wish to be good people, and are willing to let the Lord teach us how to be good people, we will end up filled with love and wisdom from Him. And that’s what we need to focus on: The desire to be good, and openness to ideas from the Lord. It’s not about ritual and intellectual “correctness”; it’s about ideas that lead us to be good.

But what of being reviled and persecuted? This depicts temptation, when the hells attack our newborn good desires and true understanding. They cause us to doubt our ability to be truly good and question the ideas that are leading us. And they can do it in many ways, reminding us of the fun we’ll be missing or reminding us of all the bad things we’ve ever done to render us hopeless. They will even attack the Bible and the ideas that come to us through it from the Lord; that’s represented by the idea that people also attacked the prophets.

These states, however, are blessed in their own way; only by battling these evils, which are rooted inside us, can we finally fully embrace the good life we have been striving for. That’s why it is pictured last, and that's why it leads to the “great reward” in heaven.

874. Fear God and give glory to Him, signifies to worship the Lord from His Divine truth by a life according to it. This is evident from the signification of "fearing God," as being to revere and worship the Lord (See above, n. 696); also from the signification of "giving glory to Him," as being to live according to the Divine truth, that is, according to His commandments in the Word. "Glory" in reference to the Lord signifies the Divine truth proceeding from Him, thus the Word such as it is in heaven; for that is light to the angels, and by that light the Lord manifests His glory; for by that light He gives intelligence and wisdom, and also presents before the eyes of angels magnificent objects that glow with most precious things. This is the signification of the Lord's "glory" in the sense nearest to the letter. But all these magnificent things, which glow as if from gold and precious stones in wonderful forms, are given by the Lord according to the reception of Divine truth proceeding from Him, consequently they appear to the angels in the exact measure of the wisdom that is with them, for they are correspondences. But since angels have wisdom according to their reception of Divine truth not only in doctrine but also in life, "to give glory to Him," signifies to live according to Divine truth.

[2] It is believed in the world that those have wisdom, and thus heaven, who know Divine truths and talk about them from knowledge, although they do not live according to them. But I can testify that such have no wisdom. They appear to have wisdom when they speak; but as soon as they are in their own spirit or think with themselves they are not at all wise, sometimes they are even demented like fools, thinking in opposition to the Divine truths which they have spoken. But it is otherwise with those who live according to Divine truths; such think wisely with themselves, and speak wisely with others. This it has been given me to know from a thousand examples of experience in the spiritual world; for there such things are manifest that are wholly unknown to men in the natural world. I have heard many there speak so wisely that I could have believed them to be interior angels of heaven; and yet they became devils, for they had filled their memory with such things from the love of glory, but had not lived according to them; consequently as soon as they returned to themselves and the love of their life they spoke in opposition to these things, and were as insane as if they had known nothing at all about them. This made clear to me that almost everyone has the ability to understand, in order that he may be reformed; but he who does not live the life of truth does not wish to be reformed; and he who does not wish to be reformed gradually rejects from himself everything pertaining to that intelligence and wisdom, and lives his own love which is contrary to these, and finally he draws near to those who are in hell, and is in a love like theirs.

[3] From all this it can be seen that "to give glory to God" signifies to live according to Divine truth; as the Lord has taught in these words in John:

Herein is My Father glorified, that ye may bear much fruit, and may become My disciples. Abide ye in My love. If ye keep My commandments ye shall abide in My love. Ye are My friends if ye do whatsoever I command you (John 15:8-10, 14).

This makes clear that "to glorify God," or "to give glory to God," means to bear fruit. See also what has been said before about glory; as that "glory" signifies the Divine truth proceeding from the Lord, and its reception by angels and men (n. 33, 288, 345); also that "the Lord's glory" means the enlightenment of men and angels, and blessing them with wisdom and happiness; which is done solely through the reception of Divine truth in doctrine and at the same time in the life.