The Righteous Flourish Like a...

“The righteous flourish like the palm tree and grow like a cedar in Lebanon.

They are planted in the house of the Lord; they flourish in the courts of our God.

They still bear fruit in old age; they are ever full of sap and green, to declare that the Lord is upright; he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him.”

This figure describes God’s righteous people as trees planted in God’s house that are… flourishing… that is they are growing the best that they can in the perfect environment… God’s House and Courts. They’re not like ordinary trees that grow old and weak and diseased and unproductive. No… these trees defy aging and are, from an empirical standpoint, young and ageless. Their “fruit” is to declare wonderful things about God almighty.

What was true at the time of this writing (the Israel of King David) must also be true in our day and age… the Israel of Jesus Christ.

After all God’s trees today grow in a better environment… the New Covenant established by the shed blood of Jesus Christ. Growth and productivity not restrained by impossible “Law keeping” but growth and productivity in an environment of “Incomprehensible love”.

That’s why when we look in a mirror we may see features that demonstrate aging… wrinkles and scars and deterioration, but what God and fellow Christians see are a stalwart tree that has weathered many storms but come out victorious.

When I look at my aged mother I don’t see her infirmities… I see her life and I stand in awe.

Don’t ever give up on God… don’t do it. Stay righteous.