In this age of self-identification, I believe I might identify as a donut. This might come in handy if I were ever pulled over by a policeman for speeding.
So, what if you were to identify as a tree. What tree would best capture you? Some of us might be hardheaded oaks. Others fragrant but fragile pines. You might identify as a cedar so thoroughly resistant to rot. Some are aspens who tremble when the wind blows. My wife might consider me to be a pecan tree because I’m nuts.
Great King David chose to identify as an olive tree or at least he likened himself to one in Psalm 52:8. But why?
Well let’s back up and try to understand his situation. In Psalm 52, David told of being undermined by a guy named Doeg, the Edomite. Doeg was an agent of King Saul. He murdered those who assisted David (1 Samuel 18:22-23) and was chasing after David himself.
So, in the Psalm David spoke directly to dastardly Doeg predicting his downfall. He wrote, “God will make you a permanent heap of ruins. He will scoop you up and remove you from your home; he will uproot you from the land of the living – Psalm 5:5 – NETBible ®.
Doeg was entrenched in Saul’s administration. David promised that God would remove him from power and from his comfortable home and even uproot him entirely from the land. In other words, Doeg was headed for a disaster at the hand of the Lord.
But because David served the living God and His agenda, he had a different future ahead of him. He wrote, “But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God” (Psalm 52:8).
Why an olive tree? It’s the most highly valued tree in the land. It is exceptionally gnarly but it gets the job done. This tree thrives in stony, depleted soil where few other trees could survive.
It takes ages for an olive tree to mature, but once it does it is almost impossible to kill. A tree will thrive and bear fruit for many centuries If it is completely cut down, it will sprout again from the roots. The trees in the Garden of Gethsemane today are nurtured by the same root system as the trees that once sheltered Jesus when He prayed there.
That sounds a lot like David. He was a survivor. He outlasted a deranged king who tried to spear him to death. He survived a civil war led by his treacherous son. He overcame assaults by the marauding nations that surrounded his people. He even bested a giant. Like an olive tree his roots went deep enabling him to defy his often-hostile environment.
He also professed to be green. Not grinch green but healthy green. You could expect him to bear fruit. A fruitful tree provided olives which were consumed at every meal. Its oil was used in the place of butter.
The oil was also used to light the night and to dress a wound. It was even used as a body cleanser. An olive tree was an enormous source of blessing.
Unlike his predecessor Saul, David brought a phenomenal era of blessing to the nation of Israel as he ruled from the throne. The nation became spiritually centered, was prosperous, secure and at peace under his godly leadership.
All this was possible only because David was planted in the house of Lord. A person’s household, in those days, included his entire estate. So, David considered himself to be a tree firmly rooted in the Lord’s country, on His estate.
He was a tree planted by streams of living water, fed and nourished by God’s Word, and trimmed by His correction.
As for us, I guess it doesn’t matter if we are an oak or a pecan. We just need to make sure that our roots are planted in God’s country. It is there that we will thrive and be fruitful.
A PRAYER: Lord, I may need to be transplanted. Will you see to that?
This has been Jim Johnson and pickleheavenpress.com
May the grace of our Lord Jesus be with you always.
Pickle Heaven Press-James R. Johnson 