Like a Tree

In the lively poetry of the Bible, a “righteous man” is often likened to a tree. Let us see how the varied qualities of different trees are, made to picture forth the nature of a man who “delights himself in goodness.” In the First Psalm, for example, he is described as a tree planted by the rivers o f water, bringing forth fruit in season, and maintaining his foliage unwithered. Isaiah, speaking of these blessed by the spirit of God, said that they spring up with the tenderness and grace of willows by the watercourses. The prophet Jeremiah said “Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is, for he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.” In the Fifty-second Psalm, the man who “rests in the Lord” is contrasted with one who trusts in his riches; he is portrayed as a green olive tree, fair, and of great beauty and goodly fruit.

The Ninety-second Psalm depicts the good man as flourishing like the palm tree, growing like a cedar of Lebanon, and bringing forth fruit in old age. In the Bible, too, there are ancient traditions o f sacred trees, under whose boughs a man could rest, breathe in prophetic insights, see visions and dream dreams. The grace of the palm, the strength o f the cedar, the stability of the oak and the fruitfulness of the olive were all familiar to the people of Israel. The plumy imperial palm, symbol of victory and eternal life, enhanced the splendour o f palaces and temples. The olive tree could continue bearing for twenty generations, and still surround itself with vigorous young shoots. The evergreen oaks were opulently beautiful. The cedars o f Lebanon, said to have been growing since the Flood, had their timbers built into temples. No other figure of speech could express more beautifully the spirit of a good man, upright, steadfast, vital and serene; unperturbed by transient drought and storm, endearingly influential, comforting to those who reposed themselves against his strength. Such a man, like a tree, is “planted,” and draws unfailing nourishment from high up and deep down, from the quickening sunlight, and the living waters always flowing about the roots of life.