“The trees of the LORD are full of sap; the cedars of Lebanon, which He hath planted;” (Psalms 104:16)
The trees written about here are trees that man did not plant nor cultivate. It was God Who planted and God Who grows these trees. They are full of sap indicates that they are healthy and strong producing what they were intended to produce. These cedars grew on a mountain bordering Israel. They were of the tallest and largest of trees that grew there. Botanists Leonhard Rauwolf in the 1500’s and Jean de Thévenot in the 1600’s who traveled there were disappointed to note that there were just a few of these majestic trees covering the mountain. They were not as majestic as they once had been.
These trees symbolically tell God’s story. Where God abides in the mountain of the Lord and in the gardens of the mountain, there is health, strength, might and beauty. Things live. But if God is not in it, it dies. That Truth is true about man also. Man is at times referred as trees in the Bible. Psalms 1 is an example. “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)
The man who is drawn near to the Lord lives and prospers. But the man who is without God is dead. “The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away. Therefore, the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. For the LORD knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish.” (Psalm 1:4-6) We see another example in Psalms 52. God says about the wicked, “Lo, this is the man that made not God his strength; but trusted in the abundance of his riches, and strengthened himself in his wickedness.”
(Psalms 52:7) The wicked are those who think they can live life without God. They trust their own selves more than God. “Thy tongue deviseth mischiefs; like a sharp razor, working deceitfully. Thou lovest evil more than good; and lying rather than to speak righteousness. Selah. Thou lovest all devouring words, O thou deceitful tongue. God shall likewise destroy thee for ever, He shall take thee away, and pluck thee out of thy dwelling place, and root thee out of the land of the living. Selah.” (Psalms 52:2-5) He likens the wicked like trees to be uprooted in other words eradicated and eliminated.
But the person who puts His life in the hands of the Lord thrives. “But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God: I trust in the mercy of God for ever and ever. I will praise Thee for ever, because Thou hast done it: and I will wait on Thy name; for it is good before Thy saints.” (Psalms 52:8-9) He lives with the Lord and is not like a dormant olive tree, but is green, vibrant and fruit bearing because he is trusting God and knows that it’s God who is doing the good work in him.
Although not much space is left before I must close this lesson, I want to draw conclusions about the olive tree which branches represent Israel. Right now we could say that the branches of Israel are dormant or even cut off for now. But the time will come when they are grafted in again and will flourish in God’s presence and favor. God will fulfill all His promises to Israel when He reigns for a thousand years. And the church which has been grafted to the olive tree will flourish with the branches of Israel in God’s presence and favor also. (Romans 11:11-24) And don’t worry. We won’t miss it. Even if this body dies before that time, we will be there. Wherever Jesus is, we will be, forever with Him. “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” (John 14:3)
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