O Live Thee, Olive Tree

But I am like an olive tree
flourishing in the house of God;
I trust in God's unfailing love
for ever and ever.

I will praise you forever for what you have done;
in your name I will hope, for your name is good.
I will praise you in the presence of your saints.
Psalm 52:8-9

Think this is a 'birthday' verse that my heavenly Father has given me for today... hee! :) 'Cos I was reading through Psalm 52, and the verse just echoed strongly my recent determination to trust in God completely.

As I meditated on the verses, they spoke to me in a very real way. The determination and conviction of King David the psalmist booms forth from this beautiful psalm.

Why does David write of trusting in God's unfailing love? What was the underlying circumstance behind what he wrote?

It was because he was facing an evil man, who had captured the ear of King Saul, like how Grima Wormtongue captured the ear of King Théoden of Rohan.

Because of that, David felt extremely frustrated, and he was very real in his anger towards this evil man, as we see in his strongly-worded psalm. But something that I learnt from his spirit was that even in the face of extremely trying times, he was still very confident in God's goodness AND power.

Thus, he declared explicitly God's love as God's unfailing love. And he wrote that he will trust in God's unfailing love. What is trust, but a confidence in God's goodness no matter what the current circumstances be?

So, wondering why David chose to describe himself to be like an olive tree, I found out some fantastic facts about the olive tree.

The olive tree life cycle is as follows. From 0 to 7 years of age the tree is unproductive. From 7 to 30 years of age the tree grows with a constant increase in productivity. From 35 to 150 years the tree reaches maturity and full production. At 150 years the olive tree starts aging with a remarkable productivity for centuries and sometimes for thousands of years. The olive trees production is cyclical with more production in one year and significantly less in the following year. This cycle is repeated throughout the life of the tree.

Amazing! Thousands of years!

And another fact that I learnt about olive trees is that they usually bear fruit every other year. Gosh. I remember a brother (let's call him M) last time telling me that his spiritual growth seemed to take place every other year. Haha...

I think in a way, it's also been something similar to that for me... after a time of growth and joy, then more difficult times come, when I don't bear much fruit. But these are the times that the Master Gardener is patiently pruning you and me to bear even more fruit in the next year of growth.

No wonder King David wrote that he was like an olive tree planted in the house of God.

It's so timely, this psalm. After I made my decision and commitment today to live by God's Word fully, and letting the Word overrule my emotions and will... then this passage spoke to me.

I will do all these things that are written in this passage. With God's help, I will do it every day from now on. My action points are to always speak true words of faith, even if I have down-times. I will choose to speak words that declare my decision to do God's will, no matter what the situation. I will put my trust in God always, and pray to Him for strength when I cannot stand on my own. And I will daily live out my life in a manner that is consistent with what I profess to believe. And I will daily praise His name in front of all those who love His name, no matter how I feel. For He truly, truly and absolutely is good, far beyond all ages, all times and all measures. In short, a holy determination to speak and live a mature, God-fearing and strong life in Christ.

I sing praises to Your name, O Lord,
Praises to Your name, O Lord
For Your name is great
And greatly to be praised...

A holy determination to praise You - truly, madly, deeply. :)

God will help me many a yield grow
As long as I yield to Him my soul.

:D