He Shall Be Like a Tree

Introduction: Verse 3 as Result, Not Promise to Claim Indiscriminately

0:02 As we continue our studies in this very basic psalm of instruction, one of those psalms commonly called a didactic psalm, a psalm of instruction, a psalm that teaches the way of righteousness, the way of blessedness, the way of God, Psalm 1. In our studies thus far, we have been taking note continually of the fact that the way of blessedness or the blessed man is described, first of all, negatively and also positively. Verse 1 gives the negative description, blessed is the man that walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. Then positively, he is described as the man whose delight is in the Lord. He is described as the man whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and in his law doth he meditate day and night. We have spent some weeks considering what is meditation, what does it mean to meditate in the law of God day and night, and then we spent two evenings considering some of the hindrances to cultivating the art of meditation, namely, the indisposition of the flesh, that aversion in our flesh to any spiritual activity,

1:25 and then our last study together, the cultivation. The competition of the world, and I quoted to you from the book, The Hidden Persuaders, in which the confession of the advertising world is that we are battling for the minds of men. And so as the world competes for your mind, there is this tremendous problem with cultivating the habit of meditation. We come now tonight to consider the third verse in this psalm, which gives us the issue of the life of the man or woman described in verses 1 and 2.

1:57 The blessedness. The blessed man who negatively does not do these things, but positively delights in the law of God, it is said of him in verse 3 that 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. Let us pause and ask the Holy Spirit to help us as we seek to understand this declaration of what will be true. To every person who fits the description of the first two verses, let us unite in prayer.

2:36 Father, again we consciously acknowledge our need of the help and assistance of the Holy Spirit if we are to rightly understand thy holy word. Open our minds, illuminate them, shed light where there is darkness, understanding where there is ignorance, clarity where there is confusion. O Lord, we wait. O Lord, we wait in expectancy that thou wilt speak now to the end that we shall be built up in the faith, that we might be the very people described here in this thy holy word.

3:12 So we commit our minds to thee and trust thee for thy help. Amen.

3:20 Now as we seek to understand what the psalmist meant when he said that the blessed man described in the first two verses will be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, it is first of all. It is necessary to note to whom this promise is made. If this is indeed a promise, it might rather be considered as a declaration. But be that as it may, to whom is this promise given, if it is a promise, or of whom is this declaration made?

3:50 Is he promising that if these things are true, this shall come to pass, or is he simply declaring that it is a fact? The blessed man, O the blessedness of the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, but who delights in the law of God. He shall be, this is a statement of declaration, a fact, that he shall be like this tree planted by the rivers of water. We must, before we begin to handle the text, first of all consider to whom this promise is made.

4:22 And the text says, he shall be. And who is the he? Well, only the person who has been previously described in the first two verses. One of the great problems of religion, resting the scripture, comes when people will lightly pass over certain conditions that are set forth as the foundation of a promise and try to suck some sweetness from the promise when really they have no business bringing their mouth to the promise.

4:53 We often think of the phrases, whatsoever you ask in prayer, I will do it. But the Lord has given a condition. If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will. And for the man to press the phrase, Lord, you promised I can ask what I will and it shall be done, who doesn't first of all face that condition.

5:15 If ye abide in me and my words abide in you, he is resting the scriptures. And so for us to just indiscriminately say, well, what a wonderful promise. God has promised to make all of us like trees planted by the rivers of water that will bring forth fruit in our season. Whatsoever we do shall prosper.

5:31 It would be spiritual butchery for me to give the impression that this is a promise that applies to every one of us or is a declaration that will be true of every one of us. This declaration or promise, whichever it is, and it's probably both, applies to the he, that individual who has been described in verses 1 and 2. Only the person who is consciously refusing the counsel of the ungodly, who is consciously refusing to stand in the way, refusing to be identified with sinful men in their lawless ways, who refuses to take the place of the scorner, always bringing his mind subject to the word of God, who is consciously seeking to delight in the law of God and to meditate in it day and night, only that person is described in verse 3. And if there are those of us of whom verse 3 is not true, we are not like trees planted by the rivers of water, we are not bringing forth fruit in season, we do not have leaves that are non-withered, and we are not prospering in our ways. The problem is not because God has failed to be true to his word in verse 3. The problem is we are not the person described in verses 1 and 2.

6:57 So that the way to experience verse 3 is not by claiming verse 3. It's by lining up with verses 1 and 2. Verse 3 is the result. Verses 1 and 2 are the cause.

7:10 But there's always the danger when you look at the result that the flesh says, oh my, that'd be wonderful, I'd like some of that, I think I'll buy that. And God says, no. As one of the old writers said, I quoted a week ago, take your foul fingers off the promise. You can't put foul fingers on the promise of verse 3.

7:28 This promise is to be fingered only by the person who is described in verses 1 and 2. Not perfectly, not without areas, where there needs to be improvement, but it's that person who by the grace of God is set to refuse the counsel of ungodliness and to walk in the light of the word of God that can lay his finger upon verse 3 and not have it be a foul finger laid upon the promise. So that this promise is made then only to the true believer, to the man who's been born of the Holy Spirit and who because he is regenerated by the Spirit and delights, in the law of God, has begun to learn what it is to meditate in the law of God day and night. This promise is made only to that Christian who has in some measure begun to learn the art of meditation, who is winning some measure of victory over the competition of the world and over this aversion of his flesh to the holy art of meditation, who is learning how to subject his mind to the laws of the Spirit and is meditating in the law of God, day and night. So much then, to whom this promise is made. Now, what is the promise or the declaration in verse 3? Well, it comes to us in the form of what we would call an extended simile.

8:52 Now, a simile, as most of you know, is a figure of speech in which we try to clarify something by likening one thing to another. It's a figure of speech in which one thing compared to another for the sake of clarity and understanding. I might say, of a certain person, he roared like a lion. Well, that gives you some idea that the fellow really bellowed.

9:16 Bellowed real good. Because some of you have heard the roaring of a lion, and when I say he did this like that, it illuminates, it elucidates, it clarifies, it brings into focus the matter communicated. We have a record. It's written by, it's based upon some poetic sermons of a Negro preacher.

9:38 And it's called God's Trombones. And there's a phrase in there that is one of the most graphic similes I've ever heard. It spoke of the world before God created as being darker than a hundred midnights down in a cypress swamp. Now, you see, unless you've seen a cypress swamp and been there at midnight, that doesn't communicate too much to you.

10:00 But if you've been in a cypress swamp, as I have been down in Georgia, driving along the highway at 12 or 1 o'clock in the morning, miles from any population, and you turn the lights out, and if there happens to be no sun that night, no moon shining, and even though the stars may be twinkling, that's dark. And perhaps you're able to just make out the dim form of the craggy roots of those cypress trees. Some of you have seen pictures of the cypress gardens down in Florida. Maybe you've been there.

Understanding the Simile: Trees in Eastern Agriculture

10:35 Well, you see, that's simile to someone who's been in a cypress swamp and has been in a cypress swamp and has been in a cypress swamp and has been in a cypress swamp at midnight, darker than a hundred midnights down in a cypress swamp. Well, you see, that simile, that likeness, conveys a truth. That's pretty dark. Now, that's the purpose of a simile.

10:50 But, if the thing that is likened to something, if that to which it's likened is not in the realm of our understanding, it doesn't clarify issues. It only clouds them. So, if we are to understand the meaning of the psalmist, we must dig back and see and seek to understand what did he mean when he said a tree planted by the rivers of water. If the man described in verses 1 and 2 shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of waters, that says nothing unless we know something about that tree planted by the rivers of waters.

11:28 Now, what kind of tree did the psalmist have in mind? Most of the trees that you and I see are trees that either have grown what we would say wild or were planted by a forest tree or were planted by our own ingenuity in our backyards and living in the kind of climate we do where we have intermittent, periodic rainfall. This doesn't communicate to us. In fact, it was a long struggle before I began to understand a little bit about what the psalmist was talking about simply because I could not divorce my concept of a tree that I had planted or someone else had planted from the psalmist's concept.

12:05 Remember, he is speaking from the perspective of a person living in a semi-arid climate where there were heavy rains two times a year, but the rest of the time it was dry and you were dependent perhaps upon the dew for some form of moisture, but for the most part it's what we would call drought conditions. Now, you see, this begins to make the simile live. Now, if you wanted a tree to flourish, what did you do? Well, the best I can understand is they had a practice here in the eastern countries and still do to this day, of making irrigation ditches and then actually planting trees alongside of those ditches or, if there is a natural river, transplanting trees that perhaps began their growth elsewhere and so planting them by the side of the river that there will be the assurance of sustained life even in the periods of drought. Now, once we begin to understand that, then many other portions of Scripture begin to open up to us. Will you turn for a moment? As we seek to understand the simile, that's all we're doing right now.

13:12 We're not dealing with its spiritual significance. We just want to understand the simile. If you're going to be like this, we want to know what the thing is that we're going to be like. Turn, please, to the book of Jeremiah for a moment.

13:23 Jeremiah chapter 17 and verses 7 and 8. Blessed is the man that trusted in the Lord and whose hope the Lord is, for he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, the same figure, but now it's enlarged here a bit, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit. Now notice, the main benefit of a tree planted by the rivers of water is what?

14:13 Its root system is tied in with a source of continuous moisture and supply of nourishment. It shall spread out its roots by the river. That's the significant thing. Where it cannot receive the rain from heaven, for the rains do not come regularly, even, Jeremiah says, in the year of drought, it will not cease from yielding fruit, its leaf will not wither, it will continually be green because its root system, the source of its life, is tied in to a continuous supply of water.

14:48 So that no matter whether there is or is not rain, there will be a healthy tree. Notice the same thought in Ezekiel chapter 19 and verse 11, allowing Scripture to be its own interpreter. Ezekiel 19 and verse 11.

15:11 Perhaps you should back up to verse 10. Thy mother is like a vine in thy blood planted by the waters. She was fruitful and full of branches by reason of many waters. And she had strong rods for the scepters of them that bear rule.

15:27 And her stature was exalted among thick branches. And she appeared in her height with the multitude of her branches. Here was the picture of Israel in the time of her blessing. And God says the secret of her blessing was she was like a vine planted by waters.

15:46 She was fruitful by reason of many waters. Now under the judgment of God, what is the figure? Look at verse 13. And now she is planted in the wilderness and in a dry and thirsty ground.

15:59 And fire is gone out of a rod of her branches which hath devoured her fruit so that she had no strong rod to be a scepter to rule. See the contrast. In the state of blessedness, she had roots by the river. Now under the judgment of God, she's been transplanted into a wilderness because there's no river of supply.

16:19 There is no fruitage. Dry, barren tree. Now, I don't want to labor the point, but the understanding of Psalm 1 is dependent upon our understanding of that simple principle of horticulture. That the root system must be struck into a source of continuous moisture or the tree will have a withered leaf and will not bear fruit.

16:46 Now, there's something about that source of supply that I'm convinced is why the psalmist used this analogy. The supply that is born through the roots is a hidden supply. You see, a tree planted alongside of a river, you do not see the actual process by which the moisture of the river is assimilated by the roots of the tree. But it goes on out of sight.

17:13 All you see as you look at the tree is the fruit of that relationship. You see a green leaf, and lo and behold, blossoms come at the right time, and lo and behold, at the right time, fruit is born. And you look at the tree, there in the midst of a dry land, and yet because it's planted by a river, you don't see people there taking buckets and pouring over top. No, there's the source of supply.

17:35 Here's the fruit of that relationship, but it's hidden. It's out of sight. The root system is drawing from the stream out of the sight of man, and that which man sees is the blessed fruit of that relationship. Now, so much for the simile.

17:52 That's the simile that the psalmist has in mind. The psalmist says, a person who walks not, stands not, sits not, but meditates in the law of God shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water. Now, what is the basic lesson? What is the parallel?

18:08 Having considered the simile, I believe the core of the message is this. What the roots near the water are to a tree, constant meditation upon the word of God is to the child of God. What the roots of a tree are as they are found near the river, what that relationship is to a tree, the mind of a believer rooted in and continually sapping life from the word of God. Meditation is that in the life of a believer which the root system next to the river is to the life of a tree.

Key Feature: Hidden Roots Drawing from the River

18:51 There is that supply of life and nourishment to the soul which becomes the root system next to the river. It becomes the source of health and fruitage in the life. Now, immediately this poses a problem. The life, at least it does to me, perhaps you haven't thought of the problem.

19:09 Did not the Lord say that He was the way, the truth, and the life? Does not Scripture call Christ Himself our life in Colossians 3 when Christ who is our life shall appear? If Christ Himself is our life, why does the Lord say, as the psalmist seemed to indicate, that our life is drawn from the word of God?

19:35 Notice this beautiful parallel in Revelation chapter 21 that I think will help us to answer the question. Revelation chapter, I'm sorry, 22, verses 1 and 2.

19:48 Revelation 22, verses 1 and 2. And He showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the midst of the street of it and on either side of the river, there was the tree of life which bare twelve manner of fruits and yielded her fruit every month and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. Here is a river of life that seems to trace its source back to the very presence of God.

The Spiritual Parallel: Meditation Is to the Soul What Roots Are to the Tree

20:18 It proceeds out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. And it's that water of life proceeding from God that sustains these trees. John sees these trees planted, on either side of the river. Here's the same figure you see.

20:35 Trees that were planted by the source of nourishment. Now those trees received their nourishment from God, but they received it from God by means of the river.

20:49 Here they are, nourished by a river which has its roots in God. And I believe this is the parallel that whether or not the psalmist had it in his mind distinctly, we certainly should understand in the language of the Bible. And I believe this is the parallel in the light of the full scope of divine revelation. The only source and sustenance of spiritual life in the believer is God himself.

21:12 Christ is our life. We have no life till we are joined to Christ. If we're not joined to Christ tonight, we are dead in trespasses and sins.

21:22 But if we are joined to Christ, and the same Christ who has given us life now becomes our life, does he communicate his life immediately, that is, does his life, as it were, pour down directly into the soul without being channeled by some other means, or does he normally convey his life mediately, that is, through some particular means? And if Scripture is clear about anything, it's clear that the life of God, both in its beginning and its continuance, is conveyed to men generally, not immediately, but mediately. How does that work? How does the life of God come to a soul initially?

22:08 James 1.18 Of his own will begat he us how? By the word of truth. His life-giving power, sovereignly disposed, is disposed by the mediation of the work of the word.

22:26 1 Peter 1.23 Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God. So faith cometh by hearing, hearing by the word of God. Do I have any grounds to expect that God will create spiritual life in men in any area if we don't take the word to them?

22:46 Now, can God do it if he chooses to do so? If God chooses to create life in men directly and sovereignly, can he do this if he chooses to do so?

22:57 Well, I would like to believe he did because if there's any hope that any children dying in infancy will be saved, it's because God will create life in them some other way than by the word, right? The word can't be preached to children, dying in infancy, and if there's any hope for their salvation, our hope is that God can sovereignly create spiritual life directly without any means. But now, as far as the way he has revealed, do we have any grounds to hope that he will do this? No.

23:23 Therefore, recognizing this principle that life comes mediately, that is, men are begotten again by the word of truth, we take the word to men. Now, that's true in the inception of spiritual life, but it's also true in the development, the spiritual life. For what does Peter say? As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word.

23:46 Jesus said in John 17, sanctify them through the truth. Thy word is truth. Ephesians 5. He gave himself to the church that he might sanctify it with the washing of water by the word.

24:00 So that though all our spiritual life comes from God, that life comes to us by means, by means of the truth being conveyed to the mind and the conscience and the affections. So the psalmist says, it's that man who meditates in the law of God day and night that will be like a tree planted by the rivers of water. He is hooked in to that supply by which God communicates his life to us, namely, through the assimilation and absorption of the word of God. Now we're going to sing another hymn tonight.

24:43 We'll sing it, Lord willing, next week, which indicates that sometimes, and the scripture teaches this, God may communicate supplies of his grace and power without any conscious, on our part, conscious connection with the word of God. You may be in the middle of the day somewhere and it just seems that the thought overwhelms you out of nowhere of the goodness and grace of God and you're filled with praise and wonder. You may be driving down the street. You may not be consciously meditating in the law of God.

25:15 Sometimes a light surprises the Christian in his way. That's the hymn we'll sing, Lord willing, next week. But generally speaking, generally speaking, the way God works in communicating spiritual life is by bringing us to consciously sink our roots into the river of the truth of God that by absorption of that light, life-giving power of the word, we may be more and more conformed to his image and filled with his life. Therefore, you and I must be careful to keep our roots in the river.

25:57 For it says in Proverbs 12 and verse 12 that the root of the righteous beareth fruit. And that always puzzled me. I thought fruit was born out in the branches.

26:09 But the writer of the Proverbs 12 of Proverbs says that the root of the righteous beareth fruit. Did you ever see fruit on roots?

26:18 I guess the closest to it is potatoes. That'd be the closest, I guess. But he's talking about trees. The analogy of the tree.

Root Problems, Not Fruit Problems

26:28 Well, what he's saying is basically what the psalmist is saying. That the secret to fruit on the branches is the relationship of the root to the water. And if the roots are rightly related to the water planted by that water, then the leaves are going to be planted. And if the roots are rightly related to the water planted by that water, then the leaves are going to be planted.

26:41 Then the leaves are going to be planted. And if the leaf will not fade, then the fruit will be born. But the converse is true. If there is problem in the fading leaf and in the absence of fruit, it's generally not a fruit problem, but a root problem.

26:59 And one of the most tragic things in Christendom today is everybody's going around trying to fix up the branches and the fruit when the problem lies deeper than that. If there is an absence of fruit, then the root of the fruit is going to be planted. And if there is an absence the problem lies in the root. For his promise here of the declaration is that the man whose roots are in the river, who is meditating in the law of God day and night, whose roots have not been turned aside and begun to sap the thought patterns of the ungodly, whose roots have not been turned aside and begun to be enmeshed in worldly, sinful ways, whose roots have not been turned aside and begun to absorb the skeptical, cynical mind of the world, whose roots have not been turned aside and begun to absorb Blessed is that man whose roots are not there, but whose roots are in the pure stream of divine truth. That man shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water. There shall be green foliage. There shall be fruitage in due season.

27:59 Now, if this is true, do you begin to understand, dear child of God, and I'm speaking primarily now to you who are true believers, conscious of the conflict, do you see now why the great battle in your life is the battle of your mind? What is the devil seeking to do continually in your life? Does he come and aim directly at snatching the fruit from the limbs of your life, or spraying dark paint on the leaves so they won't look like green leaves? No.

28:30 What is he? What is he all the time doing? He's wrenching at our roots, trying to get them away from the stream.

28:38 Too busy to meditate. Too busy to pray. Too much to do to think about God and eternity and heaven and hell and sin and righteousness and holiness. Too busy to peruse the scripture.

28:50 What is he doing? He's all the time wrenching at our roots, because he knows if he can get our roots away from the river, the leaf will river and the fruit will never be born. So why should he waste his time fooling around with leaves and fruit, when all he needs to do is tug at the roots? If you were the devil, out to bring dishonor to God by professing Christians who have brown leaves instead of green leaves, and have no fruit or little fruit, I should say little fruit instead of lush fruit, why spend your time working above the surface?

29:30 Just get the roots pulled away. And I think I understand. I understand now more than ever before why it is that the place of conflict, by and large, for every true child of God, is the conflict for the mastery of the time and the mind to be the one who meditates in the law of God day and night.

29:52 Because it's the conflict for the roots, the roots of one life. Now, if we are that person, meditating in the law of God day and night, we shall be like the tree planted by the rivers of water. What the roots are in relationship to the water, meditation is to the life of the child of God, what will be the practical issue? Well, the psalmist tells us, he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, two things will be true of him, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season, his leaf also shall not wither.

30:27 A healthy tree, planted by the rivers of water, will have two things as each year rolls around. It will have fruit born in season, it will have continuous evidence of life in its leaves. Now, what does this mean, bringeth forth his fruit in his season? Well, I don't want to press the thing.

30:49 Some of the commentators, I think, have become very, very fanciful. They've missed the main thrust of this. I think all the psalmist is basically saying is this. A healthy tree, thus planted by the river, when it's time for the blossoms to appear?

Blessing 1: Fruit in Season

31:04 Yes. Because the roots are there, life is being drawn, blossoms will appear at the right time. When fruit is supposed to be on that particular tree, fruit will be there. Fruit is the very purpose of the existence of the tree.

31:17 It's going to be there, when it ought to be there. What is the spiritual application of this? Well, I think it's very obvious, at least I trust it is, that fruit in the life of the Christian is not something that's manufactured by seeking to produce fruit.

31:35 He shall be like a tree. A tree planted that brings forth, as the natural issue of its own healthy life, fruit is born. It doesn't struggle. It doesn't sweat.

31:47 The child of God may struggle and sweat to keep his roots where they ought to be. There's the area of conflict. But if the roots are where they ought to be, then the fruitage will be the issue of his life. Now, what is that fruitage?

32:01 Well, I know some, whenever they see the word fruit, all they can think of is people that we can say, we've been spiritual midwife to them. Fruit means you have led X number of people to Jesus Christ. I'd like to say at the outset, that is not the scriptural concept of fruit. It may be one of the blessed byproducts or aspects of fruit, but if you think of fruit in terms of people that you can point to saying, they are my children in the Lord, that is not a biblical concept of fruit.

32:33 What is fruit? Well, I think, again, allowing scripture to, to interpret scripture, we have the statement in Philippians 1, where Paul prays that they should be filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ to the glory and praise of God. We have the description in Galatians, the fruit of the Spirit is, and then you have all those beautiful graces, the ninefold fruit of the Holy Spirit, the graces of the Spirit, usefulness in service. We have in John 15, and let's turn to that, for a moment, for this is an excellent commentary on our passage,

33:17 that fruitage, which is but the expression of the life of the vine, here the figure of vine, but the same basic principle being true. Our Lord likens himself to the vine and all of his true children as to branches in that vine. Then he tells them to abide in him, verse 7, and my words abide in you, you shall ask what you will, and it shall be done unto you. Herein is my Father glorified.

33:45 Ye bear much. So shall ye be my disciples. Now what's it mean to abide in the Lord Jesus and as a consequence to bear fruit? Well, he gives us some, I think, basic insight.

33:59 Notice, as the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you, continue ye in my love. If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love, even as I've kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love. And then he goes on to deal with the whole matter of commanding and obedience. The next seven or eight verses.

34:17 The next seven or eight verses are focused upon the theme of here's my revealed will, now walk in the light of it. What's it mean to abide in Christ? I was plagued for years by some idea that this was some kind of a mystical thing. If only I could abide in Christ.

34:31 What's it mean to abide in Christ? I was told continually, abide in Christ, abide in Christ, it's the secret of victory. No one ever told me what's it mean to abide in Christ. I thought it was some kind of an activity of the mind or some kind of a mystical relationship that if I could just somehow push myself.

34:47 Up into it, I'd know experimentally what it is, but I couldn't describe it to anyone else. No, what does it mean to abide in Christ? Basically it means to walk in the light of his holy commandments. For notice what he says.

35:01 Verse 10, I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love. If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love. To abide in Christ is the recognition that he has saved me to be his servant. I am joined to him.

35:18 I share his light. He is my light. But not in such a way that I'm mystically caught up in him so that he becomes me and I become him. No, he is there, my Lord, my sovereign, the source of my life.

35:31 He gives me direction from his word. And recognizing that relationship, confessing my dependence upon him, I get instruction from his word. And then by his grace, I set out to obey him. And in that relationship, I experience.

35:47 What it means to abide in his love. Now that's not mystical. That's not some deep hidden secret. It's simply an explanation and expansion of Psalm 1.

35:58 Who is the blessed person who is like a tree that bears much fruit? Here the Lord says, it's the person who abides in him. Herein is my Father glorified that ye bear much fruit. The psalmist describes it as the man who meditates in the law of God day and night.

36:14 He shall be like a tree planted that bringeth forth his fruit. In his season. The whole basic similarity is that of relationship. The branch in the vine, the tree by the rivers of water, and the way that relationship is maintained in a fruitful manner is in the course of obedience to the revealed will of God.

36:35 He meditates in the law of God day and night. He that keepeth my commandments shall abide in my love. Now there's the first great blessing promise. And then the second is his leaf shall not, but shall not fade.

36:49 Now this is interesting. Did you ever see a fruit-bearing evergreen tree?

Blessing 2: His Leaf Shall Not Wither

36:55 And this apparently has puzzled most of the commentators. And people have given their whole lives to go into Palestine trying to understand some of the background of the Bible, say they've never yet come up with a tree. If David actually had a specific kind of tree in mind, they've not been able to find it. Any evergreen trees we know are not fruit-bearing trees.

37:13 To my knowledge, any of you know of an evergreen tree that's a fruit-bearing tree?

37:19 I don't. Now they do. They do say, some of the commentators, there is a tree in Palestine called the oleander tree that comes nearest to this description. And it stands out, they say, like a sore thumb in that its leaf is continually green the year round.

37:33 But the problem is it doesn't bear fruit. So the analogy breaks down. So if God hasn't created such a tree, the psalmist created one in his figure to get to pack into this likeness all that he wanted to. It will not only bear fruit in his season, that is, there will be the natural outflow of fruit.

37:52 We can't compare one tree to another. Each tree has its own season, its own kind of fruit. Every child of God will manifest the fruit of the life of God in Jesus Christ in various ways. There won't be this rubber-stamp kind of Christianity.

38:07 All of us must be little three-point solar winners who bang on doors and go through our routine. No, no. Some among us will have those peculiar gifts that will make them effective in what we call cold turkey evangelism. Others will have gifts that will make them far more effective in the behind-the-scenes service.

38:25 But the fruit will be born in service and in godly living. In some, the graces of love and patience will come to full bloom. In others, that of long-suffering and others of faith. And so there'll be this beautiful display of the full-orbed spectrum of fruitage in the house of God.

38:46 Some pear trees, some apple trees, all different kinds of trees, but each one planted by the Lord, drawing from that source of life, bringing forth His fruit in His season. And in the midst of that, and even when there may not be that specific demonstration of fruit, here's the promise, His leaf shall not wither or fade. Now when you see a faded leaf, that's a sign that life, at least temporarily, is going out of the tree. Even in the fall, when the leaves turn color, why do they turn color?

39:18 What's happened to the sap?

39:23 Hmm? It's come down, isn't it? And what happens in the spring when the sap comes back up through that tree? Then it begins to blossom and bud and the green leaves come again.

Blessing 3: Whatsoever He Doeth Shall Prosper

39:32 So when you see continually green leaves, you know there's a continuous supply of sap. There is healthy, continuous, sustained life. And that's the picture here. That person who meditates in the law of God day and night will give continual evidences of life even when there isn't that specific fruit that can be pointed to as an indication of the life of God in that person.

40:00 I wouldn't say it means this only, but it means at least this much, that that genuine profession of Christ will remain constant and that life will be manifest for all to see. Then he concludes with this phrase, and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. And I confess that I'm not settled in my own minds to just exactly what the psalmist means here. I know what he doesn't mean.

40:28 He does not mean physical, material prosperity, for this would contradict the whole teaching of Scripture and his own experience. In fact, many times it means just the opposite. For the man who is meditating in the law of God day and night, whose relationship to the word of God is like that of roots to a river, drawing direction and consolation and understanding and perspective, he will be so utterly different from those who walk in the counsel of the ungodly, that he will be persecuted by them. Christ said, Blessed are ye when men shall revile you and persecute you and say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake.

41:05 If the world hated me, it will hate you. I am not of the world. Ye are not of the world. Therefore the world hateth you.

41:11 So this prosperity cannot mean courting the popularity or favor or material prosperity. It's used in the same way as we find in Proverbs 28, 13. He that covereth his sins shall not prosper. It's speaking, the prosperity of the soul.

41:28 That prosperity that comes to the person whose thought patterns more and more steeped in Holy Scripture learns then that even his adversity is for his own good. Whatsoever he doeth, he prospers. If the world frowns upon him, he thanks God for it, for it reminds him that he's a stranger and a pilgrim. If he faces adversity and physical difficulty, he thanks God.

41:53 It reminds him that he is but dust and he's utterly dependent upon his God and he looks forward to the day when he's going to lay down this body of clay and take on a new body. Anything that comes into his life because he receives it through the seed of the Word of God and interprets all of life in the light of Scripture, you can't hurt a man like that. Bless him with material things and he doesn't set his heart upon them. He praises God the more.

42:18 Strip away his material things and he thanks God for it as a reminder that this world is not his resting place. How in the world can you hurt a man like that? Whatsoever he does, he prospers.

42:30 Not material, but spiritual prosperity. He experiences the prosperity of communion with God, the prosperity of realized fellowship with God, the direction and guidance of God so that when he acts, he knows he's moving according to the will of God and can therefore move and act with expectation of the blessing of the Lord. This is the promise of God to those who walk not in the counsel of the ungodly, stand not in the way of sinners, sit not in the seat of the scornful, that they delight in the law of the Lord and in his law do they meditate day and night. He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water. As we draw our meditation to a close tonight, let me ask you tonight, are you a tree planted by the rivers of water? Are you just one of Adam's trees that just grew? Or has God in grace planted you by the rivers of water?

43:35 Matthew 5, 15, 13 says, Every tree which my heavenly Father hath not planted shall be rooted up. If you've just grown out of Adam's stock and you are today what you are simply because of the life that you were born with, you'll be rooted up. The Lord says, Every tree that my Father hath not planted shall be rooted up. For the child of God is one planted by God by the rivers of water.

Closing Application: Are You a Planted Tree or Wild Growth?

44:06 As meditating in the law of God day and night, he draws direction, consolation, conviction, instruction, exhortation from Holy Scripture. God promises two things of him. Fruit will be born in his season and then his leaf will not wither. Now does God anywhere say that I'll know myself what my fruit is?

44:33 In some measure, yes. But I am deeply disturbed by this binding the conscience of the child of God so if he doesn't see what to him is fruit, there must be something wrong with him. If you are focusing upon being the person described in verses 1 and 2, then verse 3 is true of you whether you know it or not. But like all the promises of God, we ought to plead that this will be increasingly true of us.

45:00 Lord, help me to so culture my root life. That verse 3 will be filled in me more and more abundantly to the praise and glory of our God. For he said, Herein is my Father glorified that ye bear much fruit. Well, let us pray and ask the Lord to bless these thoughts to our hearts and lives.