The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree. He will grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
They are planted in Yahweh’s house. They will flourish in our God’s courts.
They will still produce fruit in old age. They will be full of sap and green,
Parallel Translations
-
The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree. He will grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
They are planted in Yahweh’s house. They will flourish in our God’s courts.
They will still produce fruit in old age. They will be full of sap and green,
-
The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree: he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
Those that be planted in the house of the LORD shall flourish in the courts of our God.
They shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing;
Show all 3 translations
-
(92-13) The righteous shall flourish like the palm-tree; he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
(92-14) Planted in the house of the LORD, they shall flourish in the courts of our God.
(92-15) They shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be full of sap and richness;
Examined in Scripture Analysis
Contradictions (1)
Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
Cross-references (37)
- Psalms 1:3 (vv12, 14) He will be like a tree planted by the streams of water, that produces its fruit in its season, whose leaf also does not wither. Whatever he…
- Jeremiah 17:8 (vv12, 14) For he will be as a tree planted by the waters, who spreads out its roots by the river, and will not fear when heat comes, but its leaf…
- Psalms 52:8 (v12) But as for me, I am like a green olive tree in God’s house. I trust in God’s loving kindness forever and ever.
- Psalms 104:16 (v12) Yahweh’s trees are well watered, the cedars of Lebanon, which he has planted;
- Isaiah 46:4 (v14) Even to old age I am he, and even to gray hairs I will carry you. I have made, and I will bear. Yes, I will carry, and will deliver.
Show all 35 cross-references
- Psalms 71:18 (v14) Yes, even when I am old and gray-haired, God, don’t forsake me, until I have declared your strength to the next generation, your might to…
- Hosea 14:5-6 (v12) I will be like the dew to Israel. He will blossom like the lily, and send down his roots like Lebanon. His branches will spread, and his…
- Numbers 24:6 (v12) As valleys they are spread out, as gardens by the riverside, as aloes which Yahweh has planted, as cedar trees beside the waters.
- Amos 2:9 (v12) Yet I destroyed the Amorite before them, whose height was like the height of the cedars, and he was strong as the oaks; yet I destroyed his…
- Isaiah 65:22 (v12) They will not build and another inhabit. They will not plant and another eat: for the days of my people will be like the days of a tree,…
- 2 Peter 3:18 (v13) But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and forever. Amen.
- Psalms 72:7 (v12) In his days, the righteous shall flourish, and abundance of peace, until the moon is no more.
- Isaiah 55:13 (v12) Instead of the thorn the cypress tree will come up; and instead of the brier the myrtle tree will come up. It will make a name for Yahweh,…
- Isaiah 61:3 (v13) to provide for those who mourn in Zion, to give to them a garland for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the…
- Ephesians 3:17 (v13) that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, to the end that you, being rooted and grounded in love,
- 1 Kings 6:29 (v12) He carved all the walls of the house around with carved figures of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers, inside and outside.
- Psalms 92:7 (v12) though the wicked spring up as the grass, and all the evildoers flourish, they will be destroyed forever.
- John 15:2-5 (v14) Every branch in me that doesn’t bear fruit, he takes away. Every branch that bears fruit, he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. You are…
- Philippians 1:11 (v14) being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.
- 1 Kings 4:33 (v12) He spoke of trees, from the cedar that is in Lebanon even to the hyssop that grows out of the wall; he also spoke of animals, of birds, of…
- Job 17:9 (v14) Yet the righteous will hold to his way. He who has clean hands will grow stronger and stronger.
- Psalms 148:9 (v12) mountains and all hills; fruit trees and all cedars;
- Matthew 3:10 (v14) “Even now the ax lies at the root of the trees. Therefore every tree that doesn’t produce good fruit is cut down, and cast into the fire.
- Proverbs 4:18 (v14) But the path of the righteous is like the dawning light that shines more and more until the perfect day.
- Isaiah 60:21 (v13) Then your people will all be righteous. They will inherit the land forever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I may be…
- Romans 6:5 (v13) For if we have become united with him in the likeness of his death, we will also be part of his resurrection;
- Psalms 100:4 (v13) Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise. Give thanks to him, and bless his name.
- Romans 11:17 (v13) But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive, were grafted in among them and became partaker with them of the…
- Psalms 116:19 (v13) in the courts of Yahweh’s house, in the middle of you, Jerusalem. Praise Yah!
- Ezekiel 47:12 (v14) By the river on its bank, on this side and on that side, will grow every tree for food, whose leaf won’t wither, neither will its fruit…
- 1 Chronicles 29:1-30 (v14) David the king said to all the assembly, “Solomon my son, whom alone God has chosen, is yet young and tender, and the work is great; for…
- 2 Chronicles 4:9 (v13) Furthermore he made the court of the priests, the great court, and doors for the court, and overlaid their doors with bronze.
- Psalms 135:2 (v13) you who stand in Yahweh’s house, in the courts of our God’s house.
- Galatians 5:22-23 (v14) But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things…
- Jude 1:12 (v14) These are hidden rocky reefs in your love feasts when they feast with you, shepherds who without fear feed themselves; clouds without…
35 distinct cross-references across this passage (37 total citations).
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (17 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
Private notes
Saved on this device only — never synced or sent anywhere.
John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On v12 12 The righteous shall flourish like the palm-tree. He…
12 The righteous shall flourish like the palm-tree. He now passes to the consideration of another general truth, That though God may exercise his people with many trials, subject them to hardships, and visit them with privations, he will eventually show that he had not forgotten them. We need not be surprised that he insists so explicitly and carefully upon this point, as nothing is more difficult than for the saints of God to entertain expectations of being raised up and delivered when they have been reduced almost to the state of the dead, and it does not appear how they can live. Some think the cedar is mentioned from the fragrancy of its smell, and the palm for the sweetness of its fruit; but this is too subtile a meaning to attach to the words. The sense seems simply, that though the righteous may appear for a time to be withered, or to have been cut down, they will again spring up with renewed vigor, and flourish as well and as fair in the Church of God as the stateliest trees upon Lebanon. The expression which is employed — planted in the house of the Lord — gives the reason of their vigorous growth; nor is it meant that they have merely a place there, (which can be said even of hypocrites,) but that they are firmly fixed, and deeply rooted in it, so as to be united to God. The Psalmist speaks of the courts of the Lord, because none but the priests were allowed to enter the holy place; the people worshipped in the court. By those who are planted in the Church he means such as are united to God in real and sincere attachment, and insinuates that their prosperity cannot be of a changeable and fluctuating nature, because it is not founded upon anything that is in the world. Nor indeed can we doubt that whatever has its root, and is founded in the sanctuary, must continue to flourish and partake of a life which is spiritual and everlasting. It is in this sense that he speaks of their still budding forth, and being fat, even in old age, when the natural sap and juices are generally dried up. The language amounts to saying that they are exempt from the ordinary lot of men, and have a life which is taken from under the common law of nature. It is thus that Jacob, speaking of the great renovation which should take place in the Church, mentions, that at that happy period he who was an hundred years old should be a child, meaning that, though old age naturally tends to death, and one who has lived a hundred years is upon the very borders of it, yet in the kingdom of Christ; a man would be reckoned as being merely in his childhood, and starting in life, who entered upon a new century. This could only be verified in the sense, that after death we have another existence in heaven.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv12, 14 Though the faithful seem to wither and be cut…
Though the faithful seem to wither and be cut down by the wicked, yet they shall grow again and flourish in the Church of God as the cedars do in mount Lebanon.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv12–14 Psa 92:12 The righteous shall flourish like the palm…
Psa 92:12 The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree: he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
Ver. 12. The righteous shall flourish like the palm] A tree that groweth not in these cold climates, but where it doth is noted for tall, constantly green, long lived, sweet, firm, straight, &c., εμπεδοφυλλος (Theoph.).
Read full note →
Nititur in pondus palma et consurgit in altum;
Quo magis et premitur, hoc mage tollit onus.
Though it hath many weights at the top, and many snakes at the bottom, yet is still saith, Nec premor, nee perimor.
Like a cedar] Not like grass, as the wicked do, Psa 92:7.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv12–14 Like the palm tree; which is constantly green, and…
Like the palm tree; which is constantly green, and flourishing, and fruitful, Son 7:8, and growing even when it is pressed down; and so is a fit emblem of a just man’s person and condition. See Rev 7:9.
Like a cedar; which spreads itself wide, and grows very high and strong, and is very durable, and in some sort incorruptible.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv12–14 Those that be planted in the house of the…
Those that be planted in the house of the Lord,.... Or being planted (e), that is, everyone of the righteous before mentioned; such are they that are planted out of the wilderness of the world, and into Christ, and are rooted in him, and are planted together in the likeness of his death and resurrection; have the graces of the Spirit of God implanted in them, have received the ingrafted word; and, in consequence of all this, are grafted into the olive tree, the church; or have a place and name there, better than that of sons and daughters, where they are as plants grown up in their youth; and which is here meant by "the house of the Lord", in allusion to the tabernacle, or temple, which had the figure of palm trees on the walls of it: so the Targum interprets it the temple, rendering it,
"his children shall be planted in the sanctuary of the Lord:''
Read full note →
and though it may seem strange that trees should be planted in an house, it should be remembered that the house of the Lord, or the church, is a garden, whose plants are an orchard of pomegranates, Sol 4:12, and such are not mere education plants, or such as are merely by outward profession, or only ministerially, planted, but are planted by the Lord himself; and so are choice and pleasant ones, by which God is glorified, and which shall never be plucked up: and these
shall flourish in the courts of our God; like trees in courtyards before houses; alluding to the courts in the tabernacle or temple, where the people worshipped: here the righteous flourish like palm trees, as in the preceding verse, being rooted in Christ, who is the righteous man's root, that yieldeth fruit, and from whom all his fruit is found; but this flourishing is not merely in the leaves of profession, but in the fruits of grace and righteousness, being watered with the dews of divine grace, and having the benefit of the word and ordinances; which are the waters of the sanctuary, that refresh and quicken the trees of righteousness that grow by it; see Eze 47:1. This is referred to the times of the Messiah, and the resurrection, by the ancient Jews (f).
(e) "plantati", Pagninus, Montanus, Junius & Tremellius, &c. (f) Zohar in Lev. 7. 1.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv12–14 Palm-tree - Which is constantly green and flourishing.
Palm-tree - Which is constantly green and flourishing.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv12–14 Verse 12. The righteous shall flourish like the palm-tree]…
Verse 12. The righteous shall flourish like the palm-tree] Very different from the wicked, Ps 92:7, who are likened to grass. These shall have a short duration; but those shall have a long and useful life. They are compared also to the cedar of Lebanon, an incorruptible wood, and extremely long-lived. Mr. Maundrell, who visited those trees in 1697, describes them thus: "These noble trees grow among the snow, near the highest part of Lebanon. Some are very old, and of prodigious bulk. I measured one of the largest, and found it twelve yards six inches in girt, and yet sound; and thirty-seven yards in the spread of its boughs. At about five or six yards from the ground, it was divided into five limbs, each of which was equal to a large tree." Some of these trees are supposed to have lived upwards of one thousand years! The figure of the palm-tree gives us the idea of grandeur and usefulness. The fruit of the palm-tree makes a great part of the diet of the people of Arabia, part of Persia, and Upper Egypt. The stones are ground down for the camels; the leaves are made into baskets; the hard boughs, or rather strong leaves, some being six or eight feet in length, make fences; the juice makes arrack; the threads of the web-like integument between the leaves make ropes, and the rigging of small vessels; and the wood serves for slighter buildings and fire-wood. In short, the palm or date tree, and the olive, are two of the most excellent and useful productions of the forest or the field.
The cedar gives us the idea of majesty, stability, durableness, and incorruptibility. To these two trees, for the most obvious reasons, are the righteous compared. William Lithgow, who travelled through the holy land about A.D. 1600, describes the cedars of Mount Lebanon as "being in number twenty-four, growing after the manner of oaks, but a great deal taller straighter, and thicker, and the branches growing so straight, and interlocking, as though they were kept by art: and yet from the root to the top they bear no boughs, but grow straight and upwards like to a palm-tree. Their circle-spread tops do kiss or embrace the lower clouds, making their grandeur overlook the highest bodies of all other aspiring trees. The nature of this tree is, that it is always green, yielding an odoriferous smell, and an excellent kind of fruit, like unto apples, but of a sweeter taste, and more wholesome. The roots of some of these cedars are almost destroyed by the shepherds, who have made fires thereat, and holes where they sleep; yet nevertheless they flourish green above, in the tops and branches." - Lithgow's 17 years' Travels, 4to., London, 1640.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv12–13 Psa 92:12. The righteous shall flourish like the palm-tree…
Psa 92:12. The righteous shall flourish like the palm-tree — Which is constantly green and flourishing, spreads its branches very wide, and grows to a vast size, affording a most refreshing shade to travellers. It also produces dates, a very sweet, luscious, and grateful kind of fruit; is a most beautiful tree, and every way an invaluable treasure to the inhabitants of those hot countries, and therefore a fit emblem of the flourishing state of a righteous man. He shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon — The cedars in Lebanon are immensely large, being some of them thirty-five, or even forty feet in the girt, and thirty-seven yards in the spread of their boughs. They flourish for ages, and are always green; and, when cut down, yield a most beautiful kind of wood, inclining to a brown colour, solid, durable, and, in some sort, incorruptible. These then, as well as the palm-trees, compared with the short-lived and withering grass, are a striking illustration of the well-founded, durable, and continually increasing virtue and happiness of the truly righteous, in opposition to the momentary, trifling, and perpetually decaying prosperity of the wicked.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv12–14 The righteous shall flourish like the palm-tree - That…
The righteous shall flourish like the palm-tree - That is, the beauty, the erectness, the stateliness, the growth of the palm-tree - all this is an emblem of the condition, the prosperity, the happiness of a righteous man. The wicked shall be cut down; but the righteous shall flourish. This image - the comparison of a righteous man to a flourishing, majestic, green, and beautiful tree - is not uncommon in the Scriptures. See the notes at Psa 1:3; compare Jer 17:8. On the “palm-tree,” see the notes at Mat 21:8. “The stem,” says Dr. Thomson (“land and the Book,” vol. i. p. 65)” tall, slender, and erect as Rectitude herself, suggests to the Arab poets many a symbol for their lady-love; and Solomon, long before them, has sung, ‘How fair and how pleasant art thou, O love! for delights; this thy stature is like the palm-tree.” Son 7:6-7. The following remarks of Dr. Thomson (“land and the Book,” vol. i. pp. 65, 66) will illustrate the passage before us; - “The palm grows slowly, but steadily, from century to century, uninfluenced by those alternations of the seasons which affect other trees. It does not rejoice overmuch in winter’s copious rain, nor does it droop under the drought and the burning sun of summer. Neither heavy weights which people place upon its head, nor the importunate urgency of the wind, can sway it aside from perfect uprightness. There it stands, looking calmly down upon the world below, and patiently yielding its large clusters of golden fruit from generation to generation. They ‘bring forth fruit in old age.’ The allusion to being planted in the house of the Lord is probably drawn from the custom of planting beautiful and long-lived trees in the courts of temples and palaces, and in all ‘high places’ used for worship.
This is still common; nearly every palace, and mosque, and convent in the country has such trees in the courts, and, being well protected there, they flourish exceedingly. Solomon covered all the walls of the ‘holy of holies’ round about with palm-trees. They were thus planted, as it were, within the very house of the Lord; and their presence there was not only ornamental, but appropriate and highly suggestive; the very best emblem, not only of patience in well-doing, but of the rewards of the righteous - a fat and flourishing old age - a peaceful end - a glorious immortality.” The following cut will furnish an apt representation of the appearance of the tree, and a proper illustration of the beauty of the passage before us.
Read full note →
He shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon - On the cedars of Lebanon, see the notes at Isa 2:13. The following remarks by Dr. Thomson (“land and the Book,” vol. i. pp. 292, 295), with the accompanying cut, will show the propriety of the image here. “The platform where the cedars stand is more than six thousand feet above the Mediterranean, and around it are gathered the very tallest and grayest heads of Lebanon. The forest is not large - not more than five hundred trees, great and small, grouped irregularly on the sides of shallow ravines, which mark the birthplace of the Khadisha, or Holy River.
“But, though the space covered by them does not exceed half a dozen acres, yet, when fairly within the grove, and beneath the giant arms of those old patriarchs of a hundred generations, there comes a solemn hush upon the soul as if by enchantment. Precisely the same sort of magic spell settles on the spirits, no matter how often you repeat your visits. But it is most impressive in the night. Let us by all means arrange to sleep there. The universal silence is almost painful. The gray old towers of Lebanon, still as a stone, stand all around, holding up the stars of heaven to look at you, and the trees gather like phantoms about you, and wink knowingly, or seem to, and whisper among themselves you know not what. You become suspicious, nervous, until, broad awake, you find that it is nothing but the flickering of your drowsy fire, and the feeble flutter of bats among the boughs of the trees. A night among the cedars is never forgotten; the impressions, electrotyped, are hid away in the inner chamber of the soul, among her choicest treasures, to be visited a thousand times with never-failing delight.
“There is a singular discrepancy in the statements of travelers with regard to the number of trees. Some mention seven, others thirteen - intending, doubtless, only those whose age and size rendered them Biblical, or at least historical. It is not easy, however, to draw any such line of demarcation. There is a complete gradation from small and comparatively young to the very oldest patriarchs of the forest. I counted four hundred and forty-three, great and small, and this cannot be far from the true number. This, however, is not uniform. Some are struck down by lightning, broken by enormous loads of snow, or torn to fragments by tempests. Even the sacrilegious axe is sometimes lifted against them. But, on the other hand, young trees are constantly springing up from the roots of old ones, and from seeds of ripe cones. I have seen these infant cedars in thousands just springing from the soil; but as the grove is wholly unprotected, and greatly frequented both by human beings and animals, they are quickly destroyed. The fact, however, proves that the number might be increased “ad libitum.” Beyond a doubt, the whole of these upper terraces of Lebanon might again be covered with groves of this noble tree, and furnish timber enough not only for Solomon’s Temple and the house of the forest of Lebanon, but for all the houses along this coast. But, unless a wiser and more provident government controls the country, such a result can never be realized, and, indeed, the whole forest will slowly die out under the dominion of the Arab and Turk. Even in that case the tree will not be lost. It has been propagated by the nut or seed in many parks in Europe, and there are more of them within fifty miles of London than on all Lebanon.
“We have seen larger trees every way, and much taller, on the banks of the Ohio, and the loftiest cedar might take shelter under the lowest branches of California’s vegetable glories. Still, they are respectable trees. The girth of the largest is more than forty-one feet; the height of the highest may be one hundred. These largest, however, part into two or three only a few feet from the ground. Their age is very uncertain, nor are they more ready to reveal it than others who have an uneasy consciousness of length of days. Very different estimates have been made. Some of our missionary band, who have experience in such matters, and confidence in the results, have counted the “growths” (as we Western people call the annual concentric circles) for a few inches into the trunk of the oldest cedar, and from such data carry back its birth three thousand five hundred years. It may be so. They are carved full of names and dates, going back several generations, and the growth “since the earliest date” has been almost nothing. At this rate of increase they must have been growing ever since the Flood. But young trees enlarge far faster, so that my confidence in estimates made from such specimens is but small.” The idea in the passage before us is, that the righteous will flourish like the most luxuriant and majestic trees of the forest; they may be compared with the most grand and beautiful objects in nature.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv12–14 12. The righteous shall flourish—The psalmist now drops the…
12. The righteous shall flourish—The psalmist now drops the first person, as used in Psa_92:4; Psa_92:10-11, and again speaks in general terms of general principles.
Like the palm—This tree was long-lived, vigorous, fresh in its growth, perpetual in its verdure, and renowned for its beauty and fertility. Son_7:7. It was once the glory of Palestine, though now almost perished from the land. The branches of the palm were used as the emblem of joy and triumph, (Lev_23:40; Neh_8:15; Joh_12:12-13; Rev_7:9;) but the metaphor in the text is based on the fresh, rapid, and healthful growth of the tree, as the word “flourish” indicates. See the use of this word in Eze_17:24; Isa_35:1-2, translated blossom;Son_6:11; Son_7:12; Psa_92:13.
Read full note →
Cedar—The pride of the mountain, as the palm was of the lower lands. It is celebrated for its breadth of branch, its majesty, its verdure, and its utility.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv12–14 12. The fruitfulness of the palm and the fragrance…
12. The fruitfulness of the palm and the fragrance of the cedar, the stately growth and evergreen foliage of both trees, above all, their longevity in contrast to the ephemeral grass which is the emblem of the wicked, may be among the points of comparison intended. Cp. Psa_92:14; Psa_1:3; Hos_14:5-6; Isa_65:22.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv12–14 (12) Palm tree.—This is the only place where the…
(12) Palm tree.—This is the only place where the palm appears as an emblem of moral rectitude and beauty of character, yet its aptness for such comparison has often been noticed. (See Tristram’s Natural History of the Bible, p. 384; and comp. Thomson’s The Land and the Book, p. 49.)
A moral use was more often made of the cedar. Emblem of kingly might, it also became the type of the imperial grandeur of virtuous souls. (See Bible Educator, iii. 379.)
Read full note →
The contrast of the palm’s perennial verdure, and the cedar’s venerable age, an age measured not by years, but by centuries, with the fleeting moments of the brief day of the grass, to which the wicked are compared (Psa_92:7), is very striking, as striking as that in Psalms 1 between the empty husk and the flourishing fruit-tree.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv12–14 The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree. To…
The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree. To an Oriental the palm is the queen of trees. "Of all vegetable forms," says Humboldt, "the palm is that to which the prize of beauty has been assigned by the concurrent voice of nations in all ages" ("Aspects of Nature," vol. 2. p. 20, Engl. trans.). Its stately growth, and graceful form, its perpetual verdure, its lovely and luxuriant fruit, together with its manifold uses (Strabo, 16:1, give it precedence over all other vegetable growths in the eyes that are accustomed to rest upon it. It is rather remarkable that, in the Old Testament, it is used as a figure for beauty only here and in Son_7:7. Man, in his most flourishing growth, is ordinarily compared either to the cedar (2Ki_14:9 Son_5:15 Eze_31:3-9 Amo_2:9, etc.) or the olive tree. (Jud_1:9:8, 9 Psa_52:8 Jer_11:16 Hos_14:6, etc.) He shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. (see, besides the passages already quoted, 2Ki_19:23 2Ch_2:8 Jer_22:23 Zec_11:1)
"Like the palm tree.
Read full note →
So do the righteous flourish. The parallels are many and striking.
I FOR UPRIGHTNESS. The palm tree rears itself straight up into the air, erect, stately, strong. True image of the really righteous. Crooked ways are not his.
II FOR USEFULNESS. "The extensive importance of this tree is one of the most curious subjects to which attention can be directed. A considerable part of the inhabitants of Egypt, Arabia, and Persia subsist almost entirely upon its fruits. They boast of its medicinal virtues. The camels feed upon the date stone. From the leaves they make a variety of articles for domestic use. From the fibres of the boughs, thread, ropes, and rigging are manufactured; from the sap, a spirituous liquor is prepared; and the body of the tree furnishes fuel." And so in all departments of life the influence, the example, the spirit, the words, and works of the righteous man are full of blessing. See this supremely in Christ, the Righteous.
III FOR BEAUTY. In the Canticles the palm tree is often taken as an emblem of beauty, as it well may be. And on the righteous man "the beauty of the Lord our God" is seen, as in our Lord above all. (Joh_1:14) Moral beauty is as real as physical.
IV FOR POWER. See its victory over all kinds of foes which threaten its life. It is a root out of a dry ground: the choking sand surrounds it, the burning heat scorches it, the fierce tempest beats upon it; it is often wounded its roots crushed with all manner of weights, the elements, man, the beasts of the desert, all combine to injure it; but in spite of them all it rears its beautiful corona of leaves far on high, and flourishes still. And so is it with the righteous. (cf. Paul"s paean of praise, his challenge to earth and hell to harm him if they can, Rom_8:35-39)
V FOR FRUITFULNESS. It is the staff of life to the peoples amongst whom it is found. And so the righteous. (cf. Joh_15:1-8)
VI FOR GUIDANCE. It is the sure sign of the presence of water (see Elim, Jericho, etc.). Across the burning sands the caravan, parched with thirst, make for the cluster of palms they see afar off, for they know that water is there. And so the righteous should be and is a sign to the sin wearied heart, which tells him where the living waters are. "Let him that heareth say, Come.
VII FOR PERMANENCE. It continues right on to old age to be all that has been said. True emblem of the perseverance of the saints of God. S.C.
Grace and strength characterizing the righteous.
Palm trees are types of grace. Cedar trees are types of strength. The palm gracefully rises from the plain, and bears a beautiful crown of fruits and leaves. The cedar strikes its roots wide and deep into the everlasting hills, and securely spreads forth its great branches through ages of winters. Perhaps trees were actually planted in the courts of the temple, as they are in the courts of mosques nowadays; but the characteristic forms of palm and cedar are alone required for the teaching of this verse, which will go into this sentence, "They who by daily worship rest their life in communion with God, shall find the secret of unbroken freshness and undying stability.
I THE BEAUTY OF THE RIGHTEOUS. Observe the distinction between the two "flourishings the flourishing of the wicked, and the flourishing of the righteous. The one is wholly a matter of outward, material good; the other is primarily a matter of personal character. The wicked may flourish by reason of what he has; and that can be easily taken from him. The godly man flourishes by reason of what he is; and that can never be taken from him. Against that the "gates of hell cannot prevail." The figure of beauty given in the palm suggests uprightness, gracefulness, gentleness, aboveness, fruitfulness, and secret sources of renewal for its life. If the palm tree was an ideal for a poet, we have a better model than they; we may say, "The righteous shall flourish as did the Man Christ Jesus." And what grace and beauty shone forth from him! It is not enough that we who bear his name are good, we must be beautiful.
II THE STRENGTH OF THE RIGHTEOUS. Strangely men associate weakness with gentleness; and think beautiful Christly souls are out of place in this workaday world. So the figure of the "cedar" is joined to the figure of the "palm." The cedar is the strongest of all the trees. Not only is there the great grip of the mountain, but the wood is firm and lasting. So we need to have the texture of our souls firm and strong the strength of our grip of God ever behind and supporting all our beauty of form and grace of relation. R.T.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Charles H. Spurgeon 1885 · Public Domain On vv12–14 Ver. 12. The song now contrasts the condition of…
Ver. 12. The song now contrasts the condition of the righteous with that of the graceless. The wicked "spring as the grass", but The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree, whose growth may not be so rapid, but whose endurance for centuries is in fine contrast with the transitory verdure of the meadow. When we see a noble palm standing erect, sending all its strength upward in one bold column, and growing amid the dearth and drought of the desert, we have a fine picture of the godly man, who in his uprightness aims alone at the glory of God; and, independent of outward circumstances, is made by divine grace to live and thrive where all things else perish. The text tells us not only what the righteous is, but what he shall be; come what may, the good man shall flourish, and flourish after the noblest manner.
He shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. This is another noble and long lived tree. "As the days of a tree are the days of my people", saith the Lord. On the summit of the mountain, unsheltered from the blast, the cedar waves its mighty branches in perpetual verdure, and so the truly godly man under all adversities retains the joy of his soul, and continues to make progress in the divine life. Grass, which makes hay for oxen, is a good enough emblem of the unregenerate; but cedars, which build the temple of the Lord, are none too excellent to set forth the heirs of heaven.
Read full note →
Ver. 12. Like the palm tree. Look now at those stately palm trees, which stand here and there on the plain, like military sentinels, with feathery plumes nodding gracefully on their proud heads. The stem, tall, slender, and erect as Rectitude herself, suggests to the Arab poets many a symbol for their lady love; and Solomon, long before them, has sung, "How fair and how pleasant art thou, O love, for delights! This thy stature is like a palm tree" (So 7:6-7). Yes; and Solomon's father says, "The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree", etc. The royal poet has derived more than one figure from the customs of men, and the habits of this noble tree, with which to adorn his sacred ode. The palm grows slowly, but steadily, from century to century uninfluenced by those alternations of the seasons which affect other trees. It does not rejoice over much in winter's copious rain, nor does it droop under the drought and the burning sun of summer. Neither heavy weights which men place upon its head, nor the importunate urgency of the wind, can sway it aside from perfect uprightness. There it stands, looking calmly down upon the world below, and patiently yielding its large clusters of golden fruit from generation to generation. They bring forth fruit in old age.
The allusion to being planted in the house of the Lord is probably drawn from the custom of planting beautiful and long lived trees in the courts of temples and palaces, and in all "high places" used for worship. This is still common; nearly every palace, and mosque, and convent in the country has such trees in the courts, and being well protected there, they flourish exceedingly. Solomon covered all the walls of the "Holy of Holies" round about with palm trees. They were thus planted, as it were, within the very house of the Lord; and their presence there was not only ornamental, but appropriate and highly suggestive. The very best emblem, not only of patience in well doing, but of the rewards of the righteousa fat and flourishing old agea peaceful enda glorious immortality. W.M. Thomson.
Ver. 12. The palm tree. The palms were entitled by Linnaeus, "the princes of the vegetable world"; and Von Martius enthusiastically says, "The common world atmosphere does not become these vegetable monarchs: but in those genial climes where nature seems to have fixed her court, and summons around her of flowers, and fruits, and trees, and animated beings, a galaxy of beauty, there they tower up into the balmy air, rearing their majestic stems highest and proudest of all. Many of them, at a distance, by reason of their long perpendicular shafts, have the appearance of columns, erected by the Divine architect, bearing up the broad arch of heaven above them, crowned with a capital of gorgeous green foliage." And Humboldt speaks of them as "the loftiest and stateliest of all vegetable forms." To these, above all other trees, the prize of beauty has always been awarded by every nation, and it was from the Asiatic palm world, or the adjacent countries, that human civilization sent forth the first rays of its early dawn.
On the northern borders of the Great Desert, at the foot of the Atlas mountains, the groves of date palms form the great feature of that parched region, and few trees besides can maintain an existence. The excessive dryness of this arid tract, where rain seldom falls, is such that wheat refuses to grow, and even barley, maize, and Caffre corn, (Holcus sorghum,)afford the husbandman only a scanty and uncertain crop. The hot blasts from the south are scarcely supportable even by the native himself, and yet here forests of date palms flourish, and form a screen impervious to the rays of the sun, beneath the shade of which the lemon, the orange, and the pomegranate, are cherished, and the vine climbs up by means of its twisted tendrils; and although reared in constant shade, all these fruits acquire a more delicious flavour than in what would seem a more favourable climate. How beautiful a comment do these facts supply to the words of Holy Writ, "The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree!" Unmoved by the scorching and withering blasts of temptations or persecutions, the Christian sustained by the secret springs of Divine grace, lives and grows in likeness to his Divine Master, when all others are overcome, and their professions wither. How striking is the contrast in the psalm. The wicked and worldlings are compared to grass, which is at best but of short duration, and which is easily withered; but the emblem of the Christian is the palm tree, which stands for centuries. Like the grateful shade of the palm groves, the Christian extends around him a genial, sanctified, and heavenly influence; and just as the great value of the date palm lies in its abundant, wholesome, and delicious fruit, so do those who are the true disciples of Christ abound in "fruits of righteousness", for, said our Saviour, "Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples."
"The Palm Tribes and their Varieties." R.T. Society's Monthly Volume.
Ver. 12. The righteous shall flourish. David here tells us how he shall flourish. "He shall flourish like the palm tree: he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon." Of the wicked he had said just before, "When the wicked spring as the grass, and when all the workers of iniquity do flourish; it is that they shall be destroyed for ever." They flourish as the grass, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven. What a contrast with the worthlessness, the weakness, transitoriness, and destiny, of grassin a warm country tooare the palm tree and cedar of Lebanon! They are evergreens. How beautifully, how firmly, how largely, they grow! How strong and lofty is the cedar! How upright, and majestic, and tall, the palm tree. The palm also bears fruit, called dates, like bunches of grapes. It sometimes yields a hundredweight at once.
He tells us where he shall flourish. "Those that be planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God." The allusion is striking. It compares the house of God to a garden, or fine well watered soil, favourable to the life, and verdure, and fertility, of the trees fixed there. The reason is, that in the sanctuary we have the communion of saints. There our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. There are dispensed the ordinances of religion, and the word of truth. There God commandeth the blessing, even life for evermore.
He also tells us when he shall flourish. "They shall still bring forth fruit in old age." This is to show the permanency of their principles, and to distinguish them from natural productions.
"The plants of grace shall ever live;
Nature decays, but grace must thrive;
Time, that doth all things else impair,
Still makes them flourish strong and fair."
The young Christian is lovely, like a tree in the blossoms of spring: the aged Christian is valuable, like a tree in autumn, bending with ripe fruit. We therefore look for something superior in old disciples. More deadness to the world, the vanity of which they have had more opportunities to see; more meekness of wisdom; more disposition to make sacrifices for the sake of peace; more maturity of judgment in divine things; more confidence in God; more richness of experience.
He also tells us why he shall flourish. "They shall be fat and flourishing; to shew that the Lord is upright." We might rather have supposed that it was necessary to shew that they were upright. But by the grace of God they are what they arenot they, but the grace of God which is in them. From him is their fruit found. Their preservation and fertility, therefore, are to the praise and glory of God; and as what he does for them he had engaged to do, it displays his truth as well as his mercy, and proves that he is upright. William Jay.
Ver. 12. The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree.
1. The palm tree grows in the desert. Earth is a desert to the Christian; true believers are ever refreshed in it as a palm is in the Arabian desert. So Lot amid Sodom's wickedness, and Enoch who walked with God amongst the antediluvians.
2. The palm tree grows from the sand, but the sand is not its food; water from below feeds its tap roots, though the heavens above be brass. Some Christians grow, not as the lily, Ho 14:5, by green pastures, or the willow by water courses, Isa 44:4, but as the palm of the desert; so Joseph among the Cat-worshippers of Egypt, Daniel in voluptuous Babylon. Faith's penetrating root reaches the fountains of living waters.
3. The palm tree is beautiful, with its tall and verdant canopy, and the silvery flashes of its waving plumes; so the Christian virtues are not like the creeper or bramble, tending downwards, their palm branches shoot upwards, and seek the things above where Christ dwells, Co 3:1: some trees are crooked and gnarled, but the Christian is a tall palm as a son of the light, Mt 3:12; Php 2:15. The Jews were called a crooked generation, De 32:5, and Satan a crooked serpent, Isa 27:1, but the Christian is upright like the palm. Its beautiful, unfading leaves make it an emblem of victory; it was twisted into verdant booths at the feast of Tabernacles; and the multitude, when escorting Christ to his coronation in Jerusalem, spread leaves on the way, Mt 21:8; so victors in heaven are represented as having palms in their hands, Re 7:9. No dust adheres to the leaf as it does with the battree; the Christian is in the world, not of it; the dust of earth's desert adheres not to his palm leaf. The leaf of the palm is the sameit does not fall in winter, and even in the summer it has no holiday clothing, it is an evergreen; the palm trees' rustling is the desert orison.
4. The palm tree is very useful. The Hindus reckon it has 360 uses. Its shadow shelters, its fruit refreshes the weary traveller, it points out the place of water, such was Barnabas, a son of consolation, Ac 4:36; such Lydia, Dorcas, and others, who on the King's highway showed the way to heaven, as Philip did to the Ethiopian eunuch, Ac 9:34. Jericho was called the City of Palms, De 34:3.
5. The palm tree produces even to old age. The best dates are produced when the tree is from thirty to one hundred years old; 300 pounds of dates are annually yielded: so the Christian grows happier and more useful as he becomes older. Knowing his own faults more, he is more mellow to others: he is like the sun setting, beautiful, mild, and large, looking like Elim, where the wearied Jews found twelve wells and seventy palm trees. J. Long, in "Scripture Truth in Oriental Dress", 1871.
Ver. 12. Palm trees. The open country moreover wears a sad aspect now: the soil is rent and dissolves into dust at every breath of wind; the green of the meadows is almost entirely gone, the palm tree alone preserves in the drought and heat its verdant root of leaves. Gotthelf H. von Schubert, 1780-1860.
Ver. 12. A cedar in Lebanon. Laying aside entirely any enquiry as to the palm tree, and laying aside the difficulty contained in the Ps 92:13, I have only to compare this description of the cedar in Lebanon with the accounts of those who have visited them in modern days. Without believing (as the Maronites or Christian inhabitants of the mountains do), that the seven very ancient cedars which yet remain in the neighbourhood of the village of Eden in Lebanon are the remains of the identical forest which furnished Solomon with timber for the Temple, full three thousand years ago, they can yet were be proved to be of very great antiquity. These very cedars were visited by Belonius in 1550, nearly three hundred years ago, who found them twenty-eight in number. Rawolf, in 1575, makes them twenty-four. Dandini, in 1600, and Thevenot about fifty years after, make them twenty-three. Maundrell, in 1696, found them reduced to sixteen. Pococke, in 1738, found fifteen standing, and a sixteenth recently blown down, or (may we not conjecture?) shivered by the voice of God. In 1810, Burckhardt counted eleven or twelve; and Dr. Richardson, in 1818, states them to be no more than seven. There cannot be a doubt, then, that these cedars which were esteemed ancient nearly three hundred years ago, must be of a very great antiquity; and yet they are described by the last of these travellers as "large, and tall, and beautiful, the most picturesque productions of the vegetable world that we had seen." The oldest are large and massy, rearing their heads to an enormous height, and spreading their branches afar. Pococke also remarks, that "the young cedars are not easily known from pines. I observed, they bear a greater quantity of fruit than the large ones." This shows that the old ones still bear fruit, though not so abundantly as the young cedars, which, according to Richardson, are very productive, and cast many seeds annually. How appropriate, then, and full of meaning, is the imagery of the Psalmist: "The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree: he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. They shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing." R.M. Macheyne.
Ver. 12-15. The life and greenness of the branches in an honour to the root by which they live. Spiritual greenness and fruitfulness is in a believer an honour to Jesus Christ who is his life. The fulness of Christ is manifested by the fruitfulness of a Christian. Ralph Robinson.
Ver. 12.
1. The righteous flourish in all places. Palm in the valley, cedar on the mountain.
2. In all seasons. Both trees are evergreen.
3. Under all circumstances. Palm in drought, cedar in storm and frost.
G.R.
Psalms 92:13*
Charles H. Spurgeon's The Treasury of David (1869–1885) — public domain. Psalms only. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv12–14 The righteous shall flourish like the palm-tree: he shall…
Psa_92:12-15
The righteous shall flourish like the palm-tree: he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
Read full note →
The prosperity of the righteous
I. Who shall flourish? The righteous. There are none who are righteous by a righteousness of their own--that is, a righteousness derived from themselves; but there are those who are righteous by a righteousness derived from God. Of this the apostle speaks; That I may be found in Him, not having mine own, etc. There is a twofold righteousness spoken of in the Scriptures: the righteousness of justification, and the righteousness of sanctification. These are very distinguishable from each other; and unless it is clearly discriminated, a confusion will pervade the whole of the religious system. The one is the change of our state; the other of our nature. The one is a relative change; the other personal. The one entitles us to glory; the other is a meetness for the inheritance of the saints in light. The one is an instantaneous operation, and applies at once; the other is gradual and progressive. Yet they are always inseparable, though distinguishable.
II. How shall they flourish? Like the palm-tree;. . . like a cedar. There is a real and active progressiveness in religion; though Christian principles and passions at present are all imperfect, yet they are growing, and shall advance to maturity. This progressiveness is to be considered as a Christians duty, his desire, and his privilege. His duty; and therefore it is so often enjoined upon him. Grow in grace, and in the knowledge, etc. Giving all diligence add to your faith, etc. His desire; therefore he forgets the things that are behind, etc.; and therefore his prayer is, Perfect that which concerneth me. Forsake not the work of Thy own hands, etc. His privilege, and therefore it is provided for him; therefore it hath pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell; and from this fulness he is to receive grace for grace.
III. Where shall they flourish? In the courts of our God. There it is that you have fellowship with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. There His ordinances are dispensed--the ordinances of life. There God hath commanded the blessing, even life for evermore. In order to enjoy these advantages, you must be planted there, as a tree must be, in order to be fruitful; that is, you must be fixed there. How is this? In two ways. One by choice--for, where the treasure is, there will the heart be also; and where the heart is, there you are, wherever the body may be. The other is by the frequency of your attendance, availing yourselves of every opportunity the providence of God allows you to be found there.
IV. When shall they flourish? They shall still bring forth fruit in old age. Not that they escape all the effects of old age, far from it; but as the apostle says, When the outward man perishes, the inward man is renewed day by day. When the outward ear grows deaf, then the inward man hears the voice of God. When the eye grows dim, the mind is irradiated and enlightened. When the fleshly parts grow weak, we are strengthened with might in the inner man. It is one of the consequences of old age in Christians to look towards heaven. There he reckons upon his relations and friends. There my best friends, my kindred dwell--there God my Saviour reigns. He seems to have more connection with that world than with this. We look for meekness in the aged. The young are giddy, fierce, fiery, and determined--the older are willing to give up everything for the sake of peace, unless it is a good conscience and truth. There we look for maturity and judgment in divine things--that he should be able to distinguish things that differ, that his heart may be established in righteousness. He has not only had faith, but experience: the one is help to the other.
V. Why are they to flourish? To show that the Lord is upright. There seems something remarkable in this. Their fearing God, attending His ordinances, and bringing forth fruit even to old age, shows that they are upright; but how does it show that God is upright? It does this in two ways. First, as it evidences His faithfulness to His engagements. All the ways of the Lord are mercy; not only mercy, but truth; because they are in fulfilment of His promises. Then, next, because it shows their adhering to Him with purpose of heart; and not turning back from Him, shows that they found Him what they took Him to be. Had they been deceived in Him they would have given Him up. Under the law, the servant that had his ear bored gave proof that he loved his master; and he would not have loved him if he had not behaved well to him. The attachment and the adherence of the servants of God proclaim his faithfulness; and show they have not been disappointed in their expectations of Him. Just like the venerable Polycarp, who, when asked to deny his Saviour or perish, saith, He has been a good master to me these eighty years, and can I now forsake Him? This shows the perseverance of the Christian; not what he is, but what God is. By the grace of God I am what I am.
VI. Who can bear his testimony to this truth? I, says David; He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him. Every one can say this, and will say this, who has, like David, made God his rock for building upon--his rock of danger--his rock of refreshment, whose streams follow him all the wilderness through. (W. Jay.)
The plants of grace
I. The threefold righteousness which all the godly possess.
1. Imputed. This is sometimes called the righteousness of God, because God provided it; it is called the righteousness of Christ, inasmuch as He performed it; it is also called the righteousness of faith, as that is the appointed means whereby we receive it.
2. Implanted. He is the subject of new principles, motives, feelings.
3. Exhibited. A changed heart will be seen in a changed life.
II. The comparison employed.
1. For the righteous to be compared to the palm-tree, reminds us of the important truth that the most useful is the most flourishing believer.
2. The righteous will also grow as the cedar in Lebanon. A flourishing Christian is a growing Christian; he grows in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ; he advances in the divine life, and abounds more and more both in the active and passive fruits of the Spirit.
III. The place specified. The house of the Lord, etc, Christians, says an able writer, are like soldiers; it is easier to fight in the regiment, where the men stand shoulder to shoulder, than standing alone to maintain some solitary outpost. They are like live coals; when separated they go out, but when gathered into heaps they burn and brighten, so as even to purify gold and silver. They are like trees; they grow the tallest where they stand together, running no small chance, like a solitary tree, of becoming dwarfed, stunted, gnarled, and bark-bound, if they grow alone. You never yet saw a tall and tapering mast which, catching the winds of heaven in its outspread wings, impelled the gallant ship on through the sea, and over the rolling billows, but its home had been the forest; there, with its foot planted upon the Norwegian rock, it grew amid neighbours that drew up each other to the skies.
IV. The period indicated. They shall still bring forth fruit in old age, etc. This, of course, does not imply that all the godly live to be old. It is true that the fear of the Lord prolongeth days; but still it often happens that the fairest specimens of sanctified humanity are called away in their early prime and promise. What the words signify is, evidently, that if they lived to be old their souls would continue to prosper, and that the peaceable fruits of righteousness would still be produced.
V. The reason adduced. To show that the Lord is upright, etc. A most conclusive proof have we in every old disciple of the faithfulness of God. When the hoary-headed saint reads the promise, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee, he can stand up and say to all the world, It is true, for so have I found it during the whole course of my pilgrimage. (Expository Outlines.)
The provision made in the Gospel for the progressive advancement in holiness, and the way in which we may avail ourselves of that provision
I. The blessed security furnished in the Gospel for our making daily progress in the way of holiness, even to the end of life. This security we may consider as resting on these two grounds.
1. God hath declared this to be His unchangeable purpose with regard to all His people.
2. He hath also revealed to us the means by which that purpose is to be carried into effect, and which we see to be admirably adapted for answering the purpose for which they were intended.
(1) The mediation of Christ.
(2) The dispensation of the Spirit.
II. How we should avail ourselves of this ample provision made in the Gospel for the establishment of our faith, and for our making daily progress in the way of life.
1. Let us often fix our thoughts on that abundant provision, believing the declarations of Gods Word, and that they shall be fulfilled in the experience of all who receive them in faith, and act upon that faith.
2. Let us attend regularly and conscientiously upon the means of grace which are intended for promoting our spiritual improvement.
3. Let us set ourselves without delay to engage entirely in the duties of the Christian life, and to do so heartily, as to the Lord, and to do so in the exercise of faith, believing that in the inexhaustible fulness of Christ there is enough and to spare for all--grace suited to our state and circumstances, whatever they may be. (J. Muirhead, D.D.)
Tongues in trees
I. The palm-tree and the cedar grow in apparently uncongenial soil. In the East the palm does not grow in the fertile loam, but in the arid sand, where there appears to be no moisture to sustain it, and where the scorching sun seems almost certain to destroy it; and the cedar of Lebanon grows, not in the fertile, sheltered valley, where the streamlets play and the silvery rivers glide, but on the rocky heights, where all seems cold and sterile. And the righteous in this world grow and flourish in apparently uncongenial soil.
II. The palm-tree and cedar grow because they are wed by hidden resources. The palm in the desert is fed by hidden springs that flow beneath the surface of the dry sand; its roots drink deep and are sustained, and they send up the moisture into the leaves and branches, and they are refreshed and invigorated. The roots of the cedar are fed by the streams that come trickling down from the snow-crowned tops of Lebanon; they go far and wide into the fissures of the rocks, securing stability by their sturdy grasp, and continuing strong by drinking of the perpetual supply that comes down from the melting snows. So the righteous in this world grow and flourish. Like the palm, they are fed by hidden resources: with joy they draw water out of the wells of salvation. Like the cedar, the righteous grow, for they are fed by hidden resources which come from above; the water of life flows down from the river of life that flows by the throne of God.
III. The palm-tree and cedar, fed by hidden resources, grow into things of beauty and utility. In many particulars the righteous are as the palm-tree, for they yield the fruit of the lip and of the life to the praise and the glory of God; and their lives are not only happy and holy, but exceedingly useful to their fellow-men. They live, not for themselves, but for others, and endeavour to leave the world better than they found it. They also afford grateful shelter and shade to the weary and heavy-laden ones. Come unto Me, all ye that are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. They are as palm-trees, the emblems of victory; they have been victorious over the difficulties that beset their pathway and opposed them in their coming to Christ--they have overcome Satan, and they are overcoming the world, and they are to conquer even death itself. Much that we have said about the palm will apply with equal force and aptness to the cedar, for it is towering and widespreading and evergreen, exceedingly noble, and very useful; and there is this additional about the cedar--its wood was exceedingly useful for sacred purposes, being used in the building of places dedicated to the worship of the Most High. So the righteous--they grow stately like cedars, and when cut down by the hand of death, they are removed to the new Jerusalem, and form part of the Church triumphant in the skies. (F. W. Brown.)
The righteous flourishing like the palm-tree
The righteous shall flourish like the palm-tree. We must, of course, consider this comparison as chiefly applicable to our adorable Redeemer, the King of Righteousness, and the Tree of Life. It must also have some relation and likeness to the character of every faithful servant of God.
I. Their usefulness. The extensive importance of this tree (says an Eastern traveller) is one of the most curious subjects to which a person can direct his attention. A considerable part of the inhabitants of Egypt, Arabia, and Persia, subsist almost entirely upon its fruit. They boast of its medicinal virtues. Their camels feed upon the date stone. From the leaves, they make a variety of articles for domestic use. From the fibres of the boughs, thread, ropes, and rigging are manufactured; from the sap is prepared a spirituous liquor; and the body of the tree furnishes fuel. However remiss individual Christians may be in the discharge of their duty, the natural tendency of religion is to make them fruitful in every good work (Col_1:10). Where are the homes for orphans? Where the hospitals for the sick? Where the asylums for the lunatic and the blind? These are the monuments of righteousness. These are founded by the Gospel of Christ. Who are the patient and painstaking teachers? Who are the first and foremost in carrying light and cultivation among savage tribes? Who are the peacemakers? Who are most ready to discharge their duties as citizens, and neighbours, and friends? Whose promises are the most solemnly and strictly kept? Whose principles are the source of the greatest benefit to mankind? The righteous--the children of God.
II. Their resistance to external calamities. It is a remarkable fact, that the more you attempt to hinder the growth of this tree, by pressing it down with weights, by heaping stones and rubbish upon its roots, and by injuries to the bark, the stronger powers of resistance does it manifest: shooting up its straight and upright trunk a hundred feet and more. And even when the old stock has withered and decayed with age, and fallen prostrate to the ground, fresh sprouts spring vigorously from the roots; thus giving rise (as some have thought) to the fable of the Phoenix dying, and another rising from its ashes. When does the spiritual life of the righteous flourish best? Not when all hindrances and temptations are removed. Not when the skies are always bright, and the breezes soft and refreshing. Not when prosperity gathers about the Christian everything which heart can wish for. The soul is much more likely to rise upward, or assert its higher claims, when misfortunes, and ill-usage, and wrongs, are pressing heavily upon it. As the bodily strength is best developed and preserved by those inured to toil, and who boldly face the tempest and the cold, so is our inner life invigorated and prolonged by the roughnesses and afflictions which beset the good mans way.
III. Their duration. According to the report of naturalists, this tree is most productive from the thirtieth until the eightieth year, and continues to flourish for more than two centuries. At first thought, it might seem almost absurd to say, that the children of God live longer than those who serve the world, the flesh, and the devil. But the Bible certainly encourages this idea (Psa_55:24; Pro_3:16; Psa_91:14-16). Habits of regularity, and moderation, and self-restraint, which the rules of the Gospel require, do greatly contribute to the health and happiness of such as observe them. And who does not know that peace of conscience, the sense of sins forgiven, and of Gods favourable regard, are more efficacious remedies for healing our infirmities than any which can possibly be devised? (J. N. Norton.)
The righteous flourishing
I. In their usefulness.
1. While other trees are distinguished by their devious trunks, the palm shoots perpendicularly upward to a considerable height, and thus resembles the pious mind, whose inclinations and pursuits ever tend toward heaven. Even Mahomet could say of the generous man: he stands erect before his Lord: in every action he follows the impulse received from above, and his whole life is devoted to the welfare of his fellow-creatures.
2. The palm-tree is noted for the abundance of its fruit. The powerful action of the sap is developed not only in thick umbrageous foliage, but in multitudes of flowers and dates. Are not thus the righteous pictured forth by this tree? They who have put on Christ abound in every good thought, word, and work, and remembering that they are the branches of the living vine, they yield much fruit of righteousness to the glory and praise of God. Are they not eyes to the blind, ears to the deaf, and feet to the lame?
II. In their resistance to external calamity. Neither weight nor violence can make this tree grow downwards or crooked; but the more it is oppressed, the more it flourishes, the higher it towers, and the stronger and broader it becomes at the top. From this singular quality it became the emblem of constancy, patience, and victory by the Eastern nations; and hence Christ was honoured at Jerusalem by the waving of the palm branches; and the redeemed in heaven are described as carrying palms in their hands, in token of the triumphs they had achieved. No situation so thoroughly proves the Christian as the afflictions of mortality. The feeblest infant may endure the sunshine, but it requires the man to face the storm.
III. In their duration. It has been the prayer of the great and good, that they might never outlive their usefulness: and when we behold the aged, hoary, not with wisdom, but with hairs, we tremble lest they have lived in vain. But when we contemplate the pious patriarch spared for threescore years and ten, who has been both parent and priest of his domestic flock, he resembles, indeed, a fruitful palm-tree, which, still yielding fruit in its old age, is only awaiting for the transplantation of the master of the vineyard. Many are they which have flourished thus around us; but their time of vigour and usefulness has expired, and now they beautify, and enrich the paradise of God. (John Grigg.)
Palm-tree Christians
What is there about the palm-tree which would suggest its employment as a figure to describe a righteous man? Let the reader remember where it grows, and he will see. As often as not it grows in the desert. In its own home it is the noblest product of the vegetable world. It lives to a great age, and the older it grows the better its fruit becomes. It often marks the one spot in the desert where water can be found. Other vegetation can spring up under its shadow; it provides food and shelter for the weary and travel-worn. Now let us apply the analogy to our Christian life. In the first place, we may regard the palm-tree as a type of strength. Christian character ought to be stronger than native self-sufficiency, wherever found. Growth in holiness means breaking away little by little from dependence upon the good things of this life. Though rooted in earth we rise higher and higher to breathe the free air of heaven. Health, riches, success, power, fame, should all be held loosely. They are Gods gifts, to be used for His glory, but Christian character should be independent of their presence or absence. They may add to the brightness or interest of life, but if they take to themselves wings and fly away, faith should remain uninjured. Our love for and confidence in Christ should be independent of the external trappings of the soul. How often we find well-meaning, but weak, Christians thrown off their balance by a stroke of adversity, and ready to curse God and die. Further, the palm-tree affords guidance to the thirsty traveller. It is frequently the indication of the presence of water. That which nourishes its own roots can, of course, quench the thirst of man and beast. Christian character has a function of a similar kind, and should never rest till it has fulfilled it. It is our business to live so that men may take knowledge of us that we have been with Jesus. How often the weary and heavy-laden will turn to the meek and quiet, helpful spirit of one who is wise in the things of God! One now and again hears the remark that So-and-So is evidently in possession of a secret, a secret of goodness which ordinary people have not. As a concluding remark, it may be well to mention over again the fact that the palm-tree affords food and shelter to those who need it. Some Christian Endeavourers, at any rate, must have read with special interest Mr. Jowetts recent sermon on the death of Dr. Berry. It was a happy thought of the preacher to speak of the departed Nonconformist leader as one who had been a hiding-place from the wind, a covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land. It is said of Dr. Berry that many persons have lived, as it were, by his strength. He has given fresh heart and new hope to many a one who was overborne in the battle of life. There is many a man to-day who would have made shipwreck of himself and his career except he had found a friend, under the shade of whose sympathy he was able to abide until he was strong enough to go forward by himself. To be such a shelter is a great thing in this world. (R. J. Campbell, M.A.)
The righteous like the palm-tree
The palm grows not in the depths of the forest or in a fertile loam, but in the desert. Its verdure often springs apparently from the scorching dust. It is a friendly lighthouse, guiding the traveller to the spot where water is to be found. The tree is remarkable for its beauty, its erect aspiring growth, its leafy canopy, its waving plumes, the emblem of praise in all ages. Its very foliage is the symbol of joy and exultation. It never fades, and the dust never settles upon it. It was, therefore, twisted into the booths of the Feast of Tabernacles, was borne aloft by the multitude that accompanied the Messiah to Jerusalem, and it is represented as in the hands of the redeemed in heaven. For usefulness, the tree is unrivalled. Gibbon says that the natives of Syria speak of 360 uses to which the palm is applied. Its shade refreshes the traveller. Its fruit restores his strength. When his soul fails for thirst, it announces water. Its stones are ground for his camels. Its leaves are made into couches, its boughs into fences and walls, and its fibres into ropes or rigging. Its best fruit, moreover, is borne in old age; the finest dates being often gathered when the tree has reached a hundred years. It sends, too, from the same root a large number of suckers, which in time form a forest by their growth. What an emblem of the righteous in the desert of a guilty world! It is not uninstructive to add that this tree, once the symbol of Palestine, is now rarely seen in that country. (Joseph Angus.)
Like a cedar in Lebanon.--
The righteous like a cedar
1. Downwardly, as to humility.
2. Upwardly, as to heavenly-mindedness.
3. Inwardly, as to heart holiness.
4. Outwardly, as to usefulness.
5. Grow even in the midst of storms.
6. Grow imperceptibly.
7. Grow till it ceases to grow.
The strongest cedar in Lebanon shall cease to grow; so shall every righteous man, as to this world; but the very thought of the termination of his growth here should remind him of the issue of this termination. (T. Adam.)
The good man like a cedar
How does the cedar grow?
I. By the unfolding of its inner life. The cedar of a thousand years once slept in a little germ. Thus holy souls grow by putting forth the germinant powers within them.
II. By the appropriation of the outward. The cedar assimilates to its own substance things that are unlike itself. The dews of heaven, the salts of the earth, the gases of the air, it turns all into its own essence. Thus the godly soul turns everything into its own character.
III. By the influences of the trying. Whence comes the strength of the cedar? Not merely from the dew that sprinkles its branches nor the sunbeam that warms its heart, nor the soil that feeds its roots; but from the tempests also. Even so trials help the growth of the true soul: it makes hostile elements do it service.
IV. By its own constant activity. The sap may be regarded as the very spirit of the tree, and that is ever active; it runs up the roots through all the pores of the trunk into every branch and leaf. From the leaves it runs back again, feeding and strengthening every part as it goes down to the very roots. Thus circulation goes on; it is incessant. The cedar grows so long as it lives; when it ceases to grow it ceases to live. So is it with the soul. There is no end to its growth. It passes from strength to strength, from glory to glory, through all ages. (Homilist.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv12, 14 The righteous will flourish like the palm tree
The righteous will flourish like the palm tree
Possible meanings are that righteous people will be like a healthy palm tree because they will 1) be strong or 2) live for long time. (See: Simile)
Read full note →
they will grow like a cedar in Lebanon
Possible meanings are that righteous people will be like a healthy cedar tree growing in the land of Lebanon because 1) they will be strong or 2) people will honor them. (See: Simile)
They are planted
This can be stated in active form. AT: "Yahweh has planted them" or "Yahweh takes care of them as if they were trees he had planted" (See: Active or Passive and Metaphor)
in the house of Yahweh ... in the courts of our God
The psalmist speaks of people who truly worship God as if they were trees growing in Yahweh's house. (See: Metaphor)
they flourish
The psalmist speaks of righteous people as if they were healthy trees. AT: "they are growing well" or "they are very strong" (See: Metaphor)
in the courts of our God
in the courtyard of the temple in Jerusalem.
translationWords
righteous
palm
cedar
Lebanon
house of God
court
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv12–13 92:12 Carvings of palm trees (1 Kgs 6:29, 32,…
92:12 Carvings of palm trees (1 Kgs 6:29, 32, 35; 7:36) adorned the Temple, and builders made rich use of cedars (1 Kgs 5:6). The trees represent the godly, who are planted in the very courts of the Temple.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.