A TREE

Bill Fitzhenry's Thoughts For Today…

Understanding important truths from the Bible….

Psalm 1:3 NASB

³ He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water,
Which yields its fruit in its season
And its leaf does not wither;
And in whatever he does, he prospers.

The Psalmist proceeds from a plain descriptive statement to a metaphor.  The blessed one is like a tree, a planted tree, a tree planted by rivers of water.  The metaphor is a rich description of the advantages God has purposed for the believer.

1.

 He is a tree with all the strength, vitality, and permanency a tree can represent.  Our region has experienced prolonged drought.  One of the discouraging results has been the dead trees that fill the landscape.  Great oaks that looked so permanent are now dead and falling, but this is not what a great tree represents.  They in their height, breadth, and beauty remind us of their strength and stability.  These dead trees are an anomaly and a disappointment.  There is a more certain expectation for this tree in our Psalm.

2.

Again this is a planted tree.  No accident here.  It is not an acorn picked by a crow, lost in flight and fallen to its present spot.  All purposes and deliberation put this tree where it is.  It is where it is deliberately, and this is the very best place for it.  Divine concern has placed it here for its best production and its greater safety.  It is now evident that the blessed one is to have every necessary advantage.  He is a planted tree.

 3.

And he is by the “rivers of water”.  It is agreed that the death of our great trees is because of a lack of water.  The trees near the creeks and rivers have not died.

What an advantageous position this tree holds.  As it is by the river of God its supply of moisture is never failing.  As I look west from my yard there is a large forest but there is a creek in this woodland.  There are no dead trees on the creek.  They have escaped the deadly drought.

The metaphor informs us of the Sovereign love, concern and advantage we as believers experience.  Read Romans 8:28 carefully.