People often like to give picturesque adjectives to describe themselves. Someone can swim like a fish, another can run like a gazelle or a race horse. A dependable person is said to be as solid as a rock. An irritable person is a crab, or as angry as a hornet. How about a tree? Has anyone said that you were like a tree? In our psalm today God describes His faithful children as being like two different trees. Let’s give a quick, brief look at those trees, and how we might be like them.
Our psalm begins by reminding us how good it is to praise the Lord. We should be doing that from morning to evening (vs. 2). We should be thankful and faithful every day. Thanks should be on our lips every day, not just on special occasions. When being thankful becomes a good habit, our attitude towards life will change. We become more positive, gracious, loving, and humble.
Unsaved people do not understand this (vs. 6). They think we are crazy if we go about our day with a song of praise in our hearts and on our lips (vs. 3-4). However, what does God say is the end for the wicked and unbelieving? He says that He will bring His enemies to an end. They will perish, but His children will flourish (vs. 7-11).
Then God describes His children, those who have been made righteous by the Blood of His Son Jesus, that they shall flourish like a palm tree and like a cedar of Lebanon (vs. 12). What are these two trees like, and how are we, or should be, like them?
We’ve all seen pictures of palm trees. They are usually found in warmer climates, sometimes in desert oasis areas or along beaches. When a traveler had to go through the wilderness or desert, they would often look for an oasis with palm trees in order to find shade and water. When we allow the Holy Spirit to fill our lives, we can flourish, no matter whether our circumstances are difficult like in a wilderness and desert, or whether things are as nice as a day at the beach. Others will see the Lord Jesus working in our lives, and they will be drawn to Him by our witness and testimony, just like the weary wanderer is drawn to the oasis by the sight of the palm trees.
Palm trees also bear fruit. Two examples are the date palm and the coconut palm. Dates are a very sweet and nutritious fruit that are used in many recipes or eaten by themselves. Coconuts are also used in many recipes, along with providing coconut milk. The hard shells are also used. Palm trees also provide oil, both palm oil and coconut oil. Palm wood is used to make wicker furniture.
God also described the righteous as being like a cedar tree. The cedar trees which grow in Lebanon, to the north of Israel, are famous. They are a beautiful evergreen, coniferous tree that was prized throughout history for the cedar wood. In the Old Testament cedar wood was used in the building of the Temple in Jerusalem, along with being used in the royal palaces, as well. Cedar wood also has a very pleasant aroma. Are we useful for the Lord, like the cedar wood has been so prized and valuable? Does our life give off a pleasant aroma by the way we act, or does our behavior just stink?
Both trees could grow tall and have a rather long life. To flourish like a palm or cedar tree means to stand tall and live long. The trees were solid, strong, and immovable. Believers should be equally upright, strong, and immovable against the assaults of the world and changing circumstances. This comes by putting our faith firmly in God and His Word (vs. 13). When we have such a strong faith in God, we can still be bearing fruit for Him in our old age (vs. 14).
Let’s seek to be like those palm trees and cedar trees, standing tall, being fruitful and flourishing for the Lord, and not like a spiritual tumbleweed, just rolling around like so much dead and useless tangled woody brush.
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