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In Psalm 1 the Lord promises that the godly will flourish like a tree planted by streams of water. The Psalmist seems to have enjoyed considering certain trees, learning about them, and then making spiritual applications from their characteristics.
In Psalm 52 David was concerned that Doeg, the Edomite, would reveal his hiding place to King Saul who was seeking to kill him. David considered Doeg’s wicked condition and his end under God’s punishment, then he turned his mind from his enemies and declared, “But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God. I trust in the mercy (steadfast love, undeserved favor) of God forever and ever.”
Let us study some of the characteristics of the olive tree and apply them to our spiritual lives.
The olive was the basis of life in the Mediterranean world. (Is Jesus Christ the basis of my life?)
The olive trees still grow richly today. Even in dry, arid areas, the olive tree is helped to grow by placing “rock mulching” around its base to precipitate (to force the making of more) dew. (Am I thirsty for God? Do I take time in the Word and prayer for the blessings of God to come down daily in my life?)
The olive tree can survive all manner of damage. Burned, it sprouts again. Cut down, there is always hope that the tree will send up a new shoot, even appearing to have been dead for years. (Is my life so rooted in God that it could survive similar misfortunes and come back with new shoots? Will the shoots be clear-grained and not embittered from the past experiences, but rather enriched from them?)
Like humans, it takes the olive tree 17 to 30 years to reach its full vintage, and its best fruit is in riper years. It lives for centuries. (Do I have God’s eternal life through His Son, Jesus Christ?)
The olive tree has many uses. The fruit is used for eating, its oil for cooking and for lighting lamps. The wood is richly grained and sturdy. After the great flood, it was a freshly sprouted olive leaf that the dove brought to Noah. (Can God use me to bring glory to Himself?)
Throughout the ages the olive has stood for peace, for steadfast love, for undeserved favor (mercy) and newness of life. (Is this quality of mercy being manifested in my life?)
No wonder God diverted David’s mind from his enemies to the green olive tree. Although we, too, live in a world of hardship, adversity and disappointment, let us seek the Lord so that we may flourish like the green olive tree, and like David, have our hearts and minds rooted in the Lord. We will then be able to claim the promises in Psalm 1.
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