“The trees of the LORD are full of sap; the cedars of Lebanon, which He hath planted;” (Psalms 104:16)
Many times, the people of God are referred to as trees. In verse 3 of Psalm 1 we have this reference. “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in His law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.” (Psalm 1:1-3) This person who doesn’t participate with sinners in their sin is blessed like a tree that is watered by “the rivers of water.” Jeremiah also makes a reference to a man who trusts and hopes in the LORD as a tree by the river which doesn’t know drought and bears fruit continually. (Jeremiah 17:7,8) In his parable of the two eagles and a vine, Ezekiel makes reference to Israel as a low tree and Babylon as a green tree and how God will exalt the low tree over the green tree which will dry up. (Ezekiel 17:1-24)
In Psalms 104 the tree is full of sap. Sap is produced by deciduous trees which lose their leaves in autumn and go dormant in the winter. Evergreens like pine, cedar and Douglas fir produce sap, but they also produce resin as non-deciduous trees. Sap protects the tree from insects and disease and conduct water through the tree. A tree that isn’t watered lacks the sap that convoys nutrients throughout the tree. It withers and dies. To be full of sap means it’s satisfied with what it needs and is not merely surviving but it’s producing, strengthening and expanding.
The trees of the Lord are trees He has planted. If He planted them, He cares for them watering, watching that disease and destructive insects don’t invade it and prunes it when needed. Jesus said, “I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.” (John 15:1) The Father has planted Israel and He has planted the church. He watches over His planting. He waters it with His Word. Jesus spoke to a Samaritan woman. “Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.” (John 4:13-14) This He spoke of the Holy Spirit and the Word.
Just as the sap is life to a tree, the Spirit of God is the life of God in us. “But if the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, He that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by His Spirit that dwelleth in you.” (Romans 8:11) It’s the Holy Spirit in us Who gives life to our spirit, soul and body, to live for Christ, to nurture us with the Word of God, which is the Sword of the Spirit, protecting us. It’s His Spirit Who makes it possible for us to be strengthened, to grow and to bear good fruit.
When Jesus taught in Capernaum and spoke about eating His flesh and drinking His blood, many disciples left Him. Even the twelve chosen closest murmured. (John 6:53-61) Then Jesus says, “It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.” (John 6:63) Here Jesus speaks of the Holy Spirit and the Word of God again. It’s the Holy Spirit life in us Who lives and gives us life. Then Jesus says that His Word is spirit and life. He uses the same word, “pneuma” that He used for referring to the Holy Spirit in the same verse and in Romans 8:11. In this natural world it’s hard to understand that God is One. The Father, Son and Holy Spirit are One. And God is not separated from His Word. He is what He says. Here on earth, we hear someone’s speech, and we know who that person is. It’s more so with God. God’s Word is life because it comes from Him. It’s alive and powerful. (Hebrews 4:12) And it’s spirit and life. (John 6:63) It is the Spirit of God Who like the sap in a tree gives us the nurture of the Word that we need to grow, strengthen and prosper like the tree in Psalms 1 and Psalms 104.
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