Like a Green Olive Tree in the House of God

In Psalm 52 David says he is "like a green olive tree in the house of God" (Psalm 52:8). How peculiar, especially for those of us who know nothing about olives beyond eating the fruit and using the oil for cooking. Let's look deeper.

Olive trees can live for centuries, even in the most rocky and barren places. They do this by sending roots deep into the earth to find water. So deep and firm are the roots of olive trees that if you chop one done, it will likely start new shoots and begin again. Amazingly the eight olive trees that grow today on the Mount of Olives opposite Jerusalem came, some think, from the same root system that existed when Jesus prayed there two thousand years ago. That seems unlikely, because the Romans cut down all trees in their siege of Jerusalem in 70 A.D., yet—the roots remained.

During this season of Lent I am comforted as I compare myself to an olive tree in the house(hold) of God. I am encouraged to sink my roots deep into the only true source of life. Jesus calls Himself life-giving water. "If anyone thirsts," he says, let him come to me and drink" (John 7:37-39).

Jesus is among His people in the household of God. As we share His Word with one another, as we sink our roots deep into His Word, He satisfies our thirst for the living God and His mercy (1 Corinthians 10:4) in a world that often seems so bleak and barren, a world where enemies seek to destroy us on all sides, we who have our roots deep into Jesus and His Word become like a tree planted by streams of water (Psalm 1:3). His life flows into us. Our leaves do not wither. We prosper and yield fruit at the proper time. How very amazing.