Our first house had zero landscape when we first moved in. No trees at all, nothing. Today, many years later a huge oak tree sits firmly planted in the front yard. The tree stands as as sentinel. It owns the ground it stands on. Looking at that tree brings back fond memories for me. My children spent hours climbing it. They even camped out up in the tree and read many an afternoon. That tree had a part in my children’s development. As the tree grew, my kids grew right along with it. The Bible gives us similar pictures from nature which help to visually describe for us the nuances of spirit life. Here’s some thoughts from the Word of God along this line.

Psalm 92:12 (NKJV)
12 The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree, He shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon.

Descriptions of the Righteous and the Unrighteous

• God’s People Are Often Compared to Trees

Psalm 1:1–3 (ESV)
1 Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; 2 but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. 3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.

• Your constant contact with God’s Word causes you to be rooted and unmoved.
• It makes you to become fruitful in your spirit endeavors for God and man.
• You will not wither, fade, pass away, or come to an end no matter what the climate.
• The enemy may try to heat up your world with tests and difficulties but despite it, you prosper.
• Meditation in God’s Word is the key to this overcoming life.

Jeremiah 17:7–8 (ESV)
7 “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. 8 He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.”

• By the Spirit, Jeremiah witnesses to the same facts as the Psalmist; rooted and fruitful. A believer who does not dry up, droop down or decline even in times of drought.
• This is your heritage as God’s child.

Ezekiel 19:10–11 (ESV)
10 Your mother was like a vine in a vineyard planted by the water, fruitful and full of branches by reason of abundant water. 11 Its strong stems became rulers’ scepters; it towered aloft among the thick boughs; it was seen in its height with the mass of its branches.

• Ezekiel picks up this thread. Look at the language of abundance; fruitful, full branches, towering thick boughs.
• The Bible knows nothing about this rake by, scrape by Christianity being preached in some circles.

John 15:5 (ESV)
5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.

• Jesus compares himself to a vine and you branches. Again the link to the vine produces an abundance of fruit.

Luke 13:7 (ESV)
7 And he said to the vinedresser, ‘Look, for three years now I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I find none. Cut it down. Why should it use up the ground?’

• Cut it down is the response to a tree that is not fruitful. It is not normal for a fruit tree to not bear fruit. It is abnormal for a believer to be fruitless. The old saying, “If you say you love Jesus, you ought to show some sign” is true.
• Lack of fruitfulness in a Christian’s life is a sign of a low fellowship with the Lord.
• Unproductive ministry is an indication of a lack of Holy Spirit direction.
• What God leads you to do, works. And it works every time you obey Him.

Tree Traits that Show Spirit Truth

• Trees have a much longer lifespan than grass.
  1. Trees have fruit.
  2. They provide shade and protection
  3. They add oxygen to the air.
  4. They are beautiful to look at.
• The Palm tree mentioned in Psalm 92:12 is a Middle Eastern Date Palm Tree. Don’t think Florida Palm tree when you come across the word ‘palm’ in your Bible.
• The Date Palm Tree will grow up to 90 feet tall.
• Remember, the righteous will flourish like a palm tree meaning, the righteous person will continually grow and develop all his days.
• This tree will bear up to 600 lbs. of fruit a year.
  1. The fruit of the palm-tree makes a great part of the diet of the people of Arabia, part of Persia, and Upper Egypt.
• Spiritually, a righteous person is a fruitful person.
• There is hardly any part of this tree that is not used for something.
  1. The leaves are used for roofing material, baskets, and fences.
  2. The juice is processed and drank.
  3. From the crowns of the leaves, ropes are made.
  4. The date kernels provide food for animals.
  5. The wood is used for buildings and fire.
• The Middle Eastern Date Palm is a picture of usefulness.
• A righteous person is a useful person.
• This tree grows at a slow rate.
  1. The palm tree takes 30 years before being fully mature.
• What does this tell us? There are no 90 day wonders in God. Spirit life is a step at a time, and a day at a time.
• The planting of this tree is a long-term process.
• Spiritually, Jesus understands that when He saved you, He committed to a long-term process were you are concerned.

Philippians 1:6 (ESV)
6 And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.

• Notice the language. He will bring it to completion. No if and’s or but’s about it. Jesus is committed to your development. He will never walk away from you no matter how you may have botched your life. The plan is still the plan and will never change.
• The Middle East Date Palm tree constantly renews itself from the roots in the midst of the desert.

Romans 12:2 (ESV)
2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

• Arabs call this tree the “sister of man” because it’s such a blessing.
• That’s what the Bible calls you. Get used to it. Say about yourself what God’s Word says about you. “I am a blessing.”
• Now let’s look at the second tree mentioned in Psalm 92:12, the cedar.
• The cedar is an extreme tree. Extremely strong and extremely rooted.
  1. It grows up to 120 ft. and can be 30–40 ft. wide.
  2. It owns the ground that it is planted in.

2 Samuel 23:11–12 (ESV)
11 And next to him was Shammah, the son of Agee the Hararite. The Philistines gathered together at Lehi, where there was a plot of ground full of lentils, and the men fled from the Philistines. 12 But he took his stand in the midst of the plot and defended it and struck down the Philistines, and the Lord worked a great victory.

• The Bible catalogs David’s mighty men. These were the great warriors who stood shoulder to shoulder with David. One of them, Shammah, stood and defended a bean patch when all Israel fled from the enemy. He stood. He refused to move. He owned the ground and God wrought the victory.
• Do you own the ground God gave you? Ask yourself, “Am I one who flees when trouble comes or am I one that stands and defends the bean patch?’”
• The branches of the cedar spread out well.
  1. About 15–20 ft. from the ground the branches start to shoot out.
  2. Many of the branches are big enough to make up a large tree by itself.
• This is a spiritual picture of prosperity. That’s how God sees you, prosperous.
• The Bible cedar is an extremely long lived tree.
• There are cedar trees today that were alive when Jesus was born, over 2000 years old. Another spiritual snapshot of your eternal unending place in God.

ILLUSTRATION: The Stories Trees Tell
What a story a redwood stump could tell, with its 2000 rings of annual growth. One of the outermost rings carries us back to the landing of the Pilgrims. Count back from there: 1600, 1500, 1400, 1100, you are still only at the First Crusade. Keep on counting, year by year. Your eyes will be sore and strained before you get back to the year when Alaric was sacking a fallen humbled Rome. And yet this proud and lusty American tree was already a strong young giant. When it was a sapling the Chinese were inventing paper. When it was a hopeful shoot, Pompeii, the pride of pagan pleasure cities, was buried under the ashes of Vesuvius. As the seed sprouted, Christ was born in Bethlehem. ¹

• Cedars are very fragrant trees.
  1. The fragrance keeps away pests and insects.
• Can you see this is a picture of praise as a sweet fragrance unto God?
• The cedar is an evergreen. It never turns color.
• A picture of stability and steadfastness.
• It also bears fruit. An excellent kind of fruit, like unto apples, but of a sweeter taste, and more wholesome.
• Solomon built the temple of God out of cedar. Imagine what the temple smelled like and looked like.

1 Kings 6:1, 9 (ESV)
1 In the four hundred and eightieth year after the people of Israel came out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, in the month of Ziv, which is the second month, he began to build the house of the Lord. 9 So he built the house and finished it, and he made the ceiling of the house of beams and planks of cedar.

• This is another graphic image of how a believer is viewed in God.

2 Corinthians 2:15 (ESV)
15 For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing,

• The cedar overall gives us the idea of majesty, stability, durableness, and incorruptibility. It is mentioned 65x in the Bible. The righteous are compared to this tree.
• In God, you are like a palm tree and like a cedar.

Unrighteous People Are Compared To Grass

• What a different picture than those who do not know the Lord.

Psalm 92:7 (ESV)
7 that though the wicked sprout like grass and all evildoers flourish, they are doomed to destruction forever;

• Grass springs up. It doesn’t last long. It’s seasonal
• Grass does not grow through snow.
• What does grass tells us about spirit life? It shows us that evil has an end. At the very best ungodliness is seasonal. It must wither and die.
• The devil has an end.
• Asaph, David’s praise and worship leader had a problem understanding that the wicked are grass.

Psalm 73:1–3, 12–13, 17–19 (ESV)
1 Truly God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart. 2 But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled, my steps had nearly slipped. 3 For I was envious of the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. 12 Behold, these are the wicked; always at ease, they increase in riches. 13 All in vain have I kept my heart clean and washed my hands in innocence. 17 until I went into the sanctuary of God; then I discerned their end. 18 Truly you set them in slippery places; you make them fall to ruin. 19 How they are destroyed in a moment, swept away utterly by terrors!

• Asaph saw that the wicked have an end. When he did, he was able to reconcile their seasonal prosperity. Don’t be thrown by how well the wicked are doing or how they are seemingly getting away with things. The end is coming!
• Human flesh is compared to grass.

1 Peter 1:23–25 (ESV) 23 since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God; 24 for “All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, 25 but the word of the Lord remains forever.” And this word is the good news that was preached to you.

Call to Action:

Do you have the same view of yourself as God has of you? Do you see yourself as prosperous, fruitful, steadfast, and fragrant? No matter what it looks like, you are what God says you are. Coming into agreement with God is what will bring order to your life. It will allow you to see these attributes, not just on the pages of the Bible, but active and on display in your every day life.

Question: What pictures of nature have you beheld which spoke to your heart of God? Please leave your comments in the comments section below.