ODB: Fresh and Flourishing
February 24, 2012
Praise comes naturally when you count your blessings.
READ: Psalm 92
They shall be fresh and flourishing. —Psalm 92:14
In Psalm 92, the poet begins with a commendation of praise: “It is good to give thanks to the Lord.” Good for what? Good for you and me. It does our soul a world of good to turn from anxious thoughts and fill our days with prayerful praise; good to greet each morning with songs of thanksgiving, for such praise makes us glad. It lifts us out of gloom and replaces our sadness with cheerful songs at the “works of [His] hands” (v.4). And what is that work? The work He is doing in us!
Here’s one of my most cherished metaphors: “The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree, he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Those who are planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God. They shall still bear fruit in old age; they shall be fresh and flourishing” (vv.12-14).
Palms are symbols of towering beauty and cedars of unbending strength. These are the characteristics of those who have been “planted in the house of the Lord” (v.13). Their roots go down into the soil of God’s unquenchable love.
Do you think your usefulness to God is over? Continue in God’s Word, rooted and grounded in Christ, drinking in His love and faithfulness. Then, no matter your age, you will bear fruit and be “fresh and flourishing.”
— David H. Roper
Source: Our Daily Bread
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The works of His hands refer not only ‘the work He is doing in us’ but also among us. The psalmist did not only rejocies with the anointing of the Lord but also the blessings He bestowed on the righteous ones. More importantly, the perishing of the ungodly. This too is the works of the Lord. Justice is served as much as grace is given.