THE RIGHTEOUS SHALL FLOURISH

This psalm was sung on the second day of the feast of tabernacles. Its’ theme is the faithfulness and truth of God as displayed in His righteous administration of the universe, and as vindicated by the ultimate destiny both of the righteous and of the wicked. The psalmist commences by declaring the seemliness of praise, vv. 1-4. The reasons for praise are then given, vv. 4-15. Praise is good, both as the first exercise of the day and also as the last: the sense of all the provision made for us as we face the conflicts and responsibilities of the day; for faithfulness at night, with the conviction that the Lord has been true to His covenant through all the hours of need. The psalm ends with a gracious description of the growth and perennial freshness of the righteous.

Two figures are used in verse 12: the palm tree and the cedar. Here the tree is set forth as an image of the Christian spared to “old age”, flourishing like a palm tree, or as a cedar in Lebanon. In old age, when others fade, he shall bring forth the fruits of peace and righteousness. He is an evergreen, like the palm tree, rejoicing in the sun, casting a pleasant shadow over the weary and the needy, producing sustaining fruit, and even at the end, beautiful and attractive as in former days.

How great the contrast between the lasting fruit of the righteous and that of the ungodly. The contrast is pictured in the grass which soon perishes, vv. 7, 9, and the palm tree and cedar, v. 12. The one is quickly up and soon away, but the fruitful palm and fragrant cedar are evergreen. The soil into which the righteous are planted is His holy temple, v. 13, and they find there their chief nutriment. There they stand in sacred ground which conveys to them ever new vital power.

It is there that they put forth growth, produce fruit and preserve a verdant freshness and vitality, even in old age. This is not because they are anything in themselves, but “to show that the Lord is upright; he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him”, v. 15. They witness by their fruitfulness to the faithfulness and justice of the Lord. The world will form its opinion of God from what it sees of Him in His servants. May it not be disappointed!