The Olive Tree

Bible Book: Psalms 52 : 8

Subject: Olive Tree; Christian Living; Godliness

Series: Psalms - Kirksey

Introduction

The olive tree is a great symbol in God’s Word. Rev. Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834-1892) recounts, “Having spent many months under the olive trees of the Riviera, my soul has them still in remembrance. From morning till sunset I have rested in the peaceful groves—at one time basking in the sunshine, and soon seeking the shade to escape the heat of the sun which gave to the invalid, summer in the months of winter! The very color of the olive tree rests the eyes. I delight in its emerald gray, its silver green, its unique foliage—and the song of the birds which sing among its branches refreshes the ears! As I have looked upon the olive trees and thought of them over and over again, my mind has sought for matter whereby I might edify the people of God. My observations have always been made with that desire. And as I now present them to my readers, it is with many prayers that they may minister Divine Grace to those who read them.” From the same message titled, “The Beauty of the Olive Tree,” Rev. Spurgeon also states, “OUR present objective will be to bring out the resemblance in point of beauty between the godly man and the olive tree. But please note that the parallel does not hold good of all who profess and call themselves Christians—it is only true of those whose backsliding has been healed—to whom the Lord has been as a refreshing dew. It is the Believer in a healthy, growing and useful condition whose beauty is ‘as the olive tree.’”[1]

We understand Rev. Spurgeon intended to write a book on the olive tree but illness and other matters prevented him from completing it. No doubt, this message would have been a part of it.

At this point it is helpful to review the background of Psalm 52. From 1 Samuel 21:1-9, we read, “Now David came to Nob, to Ahimelech the priest. And Ahimelech was afraid when he met David, and said to him, ‘Why are you alone, and no one is with you?’ So David said to Ahimelech the priest, ‘The king has ordered me on some business, and said to me, ‘Do not let anyone know anything about the business on which I send you, or what I have commanded you.’ And I have directed my young men to such and such a place. Now therefore, what have you on hand? Give me five loaves of bread in my hand, or whatever can be found.’ And the priest answered David and said, ‘There is no common bread on hand; but there is holy bread, if the young men have at least kept themselves from women.’ Then David answered the priest, and said to him, ‘Truly, women have been kept from us about three days since I came out. And the vessels of the young men are holy, and the bread is in effect common, even though it was consecrated in the vessel this day.’ So the priest gave him holy bread; for there was no bread there but the showbread which had been taken from before the Lord, in order to put hot bread in its place on the day when it was taken away. Now a certain man of the servants of Saul was there that day, detained before the Lord. And his name was Doeg, an Edomite, the chief of the herdsmen who belonged to Saul. And David said to Ahimelech, ‘Is there not here on hand a spear or a sword? For I have brought neither my sword nor my weapons with me, because the king’s business required haste.’ So the priest said, ‘The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom you killed in the Valley of Elah, there it is, wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod. If you will take that, take it. For there is no other except that one here.’ And David said, ‘There is none like it; give it to me.”

Further, we read in 1 Samuel 22:6-23, “When Saul heard that David and the men who were with him had been discovered—now Saul was staying in Gibeah under a tamarisk tree in Ramah, with his spear in his hand, and all his servants standing about him—then Saul said to his servants who stood about him, ‘Hear now, you Benjamites! Will the son of Jesse give every one of you fields and vineyards, and make you all captains of thousands and captains of hundreds? All of you have conspired against me, and there is no one who reveals to me that my son has made a covenant with the son of Jesse; and there is not one of you who is sorry for me or reveals to me that my son has stirred up my servant against me, to lie in wait, as it is this day.’ Then answered Doeg the Edomite, who was set over the servants of Saul, and said, ‘I saw the son of Jesse going to Nob, to Ahimelech the son of Ahitub. And he inquired of the Lord for him, gave him provisions, and gave him the sword of Goliath the Philistine.’ So the king sent to call Ahimelech the priest, the son of Ahitub, and all his father’s house, the priests who were in Nob. And they all came to the king. And Saul said, ‘Hear now, son of Ahitub!’ He answered, ‘Here I am, my lord.’ Then Saul said to him, ‘Why have you conspired against me, you and the son of Jesse, in that you have given him bread and a sword, and have inquired of God for him, that he should rise against me, to lie in wait, as it is this day?’ So Ahimelech answered the king and said, ‘And who among all your servants is as faithful as David, who is the king’s son-in-law, who goes at your bidding, and is honorable in your house? Did I then begin to inquire of God for him? Far be it from me! Let not the king impute anything to his servant, or to any in the house of my father. For your servant knew nothing of all this, little or much.’ And the king said, ‘You shall surely die, Ahimelech, you and all your father’s house!’ Then the king said to the guards who stood about him, ‘Turn and kill the priests of the Lord, because their hand also is with David, and because they knew when he fled and did not tell it to me.’ But the servants of the king would not lift their hands to strike the priests of the Lord. And the king said to Doeg, ‘You turn and kill the priests!’ So Doeg the Edomite turned and struck the priests, and killed on that day eighty-five men who wore a linen ephod. Also Nob, the city of the priests, he struck with the edge of the sword, both men and women, children and nursing infants, oxen and donkeys and sheep—with the edge of the sword. Now one of the sons of Ahimelech the son of Ahitub, named Abiathar, escaped and fled after David. And Abiathar told David that Saul had killed the Lord’s priests. So David said to Abiathar, ‘I knew that day, when Doeg the Edomite was there, that he would surely tell Saul. I have caused the death of all the persons of your father’s house. Stay with me; do not fear. For he who seeks my life seeks your life, but with me you shall be safe.’”

From Psalm 52:1-9 we read, “Why do you boast in evil, O mighty man? The goodness of God endures continually. Your tongue devises destruction, / Like a sharp razor, working deceitfully. You love evil more than good, / Lying rather than speaking righteousness. Selah / You love all devouring words, / You deceitful tongue. God shall likewise destroy you forever; / He shall take you away, and pluck you out of your dwelling place, / And uproot you from the land of the living. Selah / The righteous also shall see and fear, / And shall laugh at him, saying, / ‘Here is the man who did not make God his strength, / But trusted in the abundance of his riches, / And strengthened himself in his wickedness.’ But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God; / I trust in the mercy of God forever and ever. I will praise You forever, / Because You have done it; / And in the presence of Your saints / I will wait on Your name, for it is good.”

From our passage we find three elements in the life of every godly believer.

I. The trouble we experience with God’s foes.

We read in Psalm 52:1-4, “Why do you boast in evil, O mighty man? The goodness of God endures continually. Your tongue devises destruction, / Like a sharp razor, working deceitfully. You love evil more than good, / Lying rather than speaking righteousness. Selah / You love all devouring words, / You deceitful tongue.”

Here we find a vicious conflict between good and evil. Dr. Martin Luther (1483-1546) wrote, “For still our ancient foe doth seek to work us woe; / His craft and power are great, and, armed with cruel hate, / On earth is not his equal.”[2]

Paul the Apostle reminds us in Ephesians 6:10-20, “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints— and for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.”

Remember, when you desire to do the will of God and to declare the Word of God, you will face opposition and persecution. The Devil hates God. Therefore, he hates all who belong to him. When a preacher proclaims the Word of God with unction by the anointing of the Holy Spirit, the opposition and persecution intensifies. In fact, every believer filled with the Holy Spirit, declaring the Word of God with unction by the anointing of the Holy Spirit, will encounter great opposition and persecution.

Jesus Christ understood this reality during His earthly ministry. For example, we read in Matthew 16:21-23, “From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day. Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, ‘Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You!’ But He turned and said to Peter, ‘Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.’”

Remember, the Devil is not omnipresent like God. Although he can only be in one place at a time, he uses the fallen angels called demons and those he deceives to do his bidding. We must listen carefully to discern if what a person says to us is from God or from the Devil. The only way to know is by the Holy Spirit and the Holy Scriptures. We must come to know what is recorded in the Word of God, to answer as Jesus in His temptation with, “It is written.”

II. The trust we express in God’s justice.

From Psalm 52:5-8 we read, “God shall likewise destroy you forever; / He shall take you away, and pluck you out of your dwelling place, / And uproot you from the land of the living. Selah / The righteous also shall see and fear, / And shall laugh at him, saying, / ‘Here is the man who did not make God his strength, / But trusted in the abundance of his riches, / And strengthened himself in his wickedness.’ But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God; / I trust in the mercy of God forever and ever.”

Here we see the vivid contrast between Doeg and David and between the wicked and the righteous in all ages. Note the unrepentant Doeg will receive God’s wrath and the repentant David will receive God’s mercy.

In The Treasury of David Rev. Charles Haddon Spurgeon shares the following introduction to Psalm 52, “Maschil. An instructive. Even the malice of Doeg may furnish instruction to a David. A Psalm of David. He was the prime object of Doeg’s doggish hatred, and therefore the most fitting person to draw from the incident the lesson concealed within it. When Doeg the Edomite came and told Saul, and saith unto him, David is come to the house of Ahimelech. By this deceitful tale-bearing, he procured the death of all the priests at Nob: though it had been a crime to have succoured David as a rebel, they were not in their intent and knowledge guilty of the fault. David felt much the villainy of this arch-enemy, and here he denounces him in vigorous terms; it may be also that he has Saul in his eye.”[3]

Before you are hard on David for praying imprecatory prayers, remember this “man after God’s own heart” did not take matters into his own hands. Time after time he turned his case over to God to judge rightly. Keep in mind that God’s foes are our foes and God’s friends are our friends, when we are in fellowship with Him. We must remember that God will make things right for those genuinely suffering for His sake.

When we recite the pledge of allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America we say, “I Pledge Allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, / one Nation under God, / indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.” There is a natural desire for justice when we are wronged.

We say with Jeremiah, “O Lord, correct me, but with justice; / Not in Your anger, lest You bring me to nothing” (Jeremiah 10:24). From Habakkuk 3:2b we read, “In wrath remember mercy.”

III. The triumph we expect by God’s power.

From Psalm 52:9, “I will praise You forever, / Because You have done it; / And in the presence of Your saints / I will wait on Your name, for it is good.”

Here we discover the vindicating conquest of David over Doeg the Edomite. Dr. Arno C. Gaebelein comments, “We do not know much of the historical background, but it seems evident that Doeg, the Edomite, was a vicious and godless character, who foreshadows, though feebly, the coming and final false Christ. The character of the one, who is described in the New Testament as a lying deceiver, and appearing with lying signs and wonders (1 John 2:22 and 2 Thess. 2:1-11), is given in this prophetic Psalm, and he is revealed here in the same ungodly and God-opposing and God-defying character.”[4]

Remember David writes about a “mighty man” in verse 1. He knows that God is Almighty! The living and true God is omnipotent! Knowing that God’s power guarantees a vindicating conquest, David boldly declares, “I will praise You forever, / Because You have done it.” He also confesses, “I will wait on Your name, for it is good.”

Jesus said, in Matthew 6:8-13, “For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him. In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, / Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done / On earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, / As we forgive our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, / But deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.”

Conclusion

Dr. Herbert Lockyer, Sr. (1886-1984), recounts, "When Charles I had his power broken at Marston Moor, and he became a hostage or a prisoner in the Scottish Camp at Newark, triumphant ministers insulted their royal captive by ordering Psalm 52 to be sung--'Why boastest thou thyself, thou tyrant that thou canst do mischief; whereas the goodness of God endureth yet daily?’ It was in an appeal to the Psalms that Charles robbed the insult of its sting. His only reply was to ask for Psalm 56--'Be merciful unto me, O God, for man goeth about to devour me; he is daily fighting and troubling me. Mine enemies are daily in hand to swallow me up; for they be many that fight against me, O Thou Most High."[5]

Rev. Charles Haddon Spurgeon shares, “[Dr.] Louis Figuier [1819-1894], in his, Vegetable World [1867], says peremptorily, ‘The olive is of a sober grayish green aspect and without beauty, having a rugged stunted aspect.’ We object to this verdict, but we freely admit that at first sight, there is little or nothing attractive about the olive tree. We have even heard persons pronounce it an unsightly tree which has quite disappointed them. We were sure that they had never sought its company and conversed with it hour after hour as we have done, or they would not have spoken so slightingly of what we have found, ‘a gracious tree for fruit, for leaf [foliage], for flower.’ . . . Now all this is also abundantly true of the lively Christian who is full of the Grace of God. He may not at first charm you. Your prejudices may lead you to avoid, if not to oppose him. He appears to be somewhat singular and, perhaps, rugged. He differs materially from the rest of mankind, for he does not run with the multitude—and you are apt to think that his singularity is an affectation. Possibly, at first, he is somewhat cold and distant in his manner towards you. That is the way of many Christians until they know those to whom they are speaking, for they do not wish to cast their pearls

before swine. As you watch them, you will perhaps, at first sight, see more of their imperfections than of their virtues—it being a habit with them not to parade their own attainments either by wearing professional phylacteries or by sounding a trumpet before them. They often put their worst foot foremost out of the very desire not to be seen of men in any Pharisaic fashion. Persevere, however, in observing the spiritual man and you will surely see much that is beautiful about him. Look and look again and, perhaps in time you will come to admire as an excellence that which you now think to be a defect! Be not in a hurry—the best things are not usually glittering and superficial in their attractions. A Christian is assuredly the noblest work of God! In Heaven, itself, there stands nothing superior in the way of a creature to a man of God! And on earth there is nothing that can match him. Watch, therefore, the believer in Jesus, for his moral beauty will repay your study.”[6]

Someone explains, “The olive tree is virtually indestructible. In fact, it seems to flourish best in a hostile environment. Of course it grows in fertile valleys, but a tree on a stony slope produces more oil—up to a half-ton a year. If a tree is cut, new shoots grow out of the wound. It will not give up.

But perhaps the most beautiful symbolism lies in the olive’s peak productivity coming not in youth but in maturity. The tree begins to bear fruit after 6 years. It is most fruitful between 80 and 100 years! That’s why the olive branch is a fitting symbol of peace: an area has to have the prospect of being free from warfare for at least a generation for a resident to plant an olive expecting to pick its fruit.”[7]

David said, “I am like a green olive tree in the house of God” (Psalm 52:8). In his Meditations in the Book of Psalms, Erling Charles Olsen (1896-1966) shares, “That is a rather strange figure of speech, isn’t it? What did David mean by its use?

Every orthodox Jew values the inspired revelation. It is a delight to him to expound its treasures. Knowing a splendid young Jewish man who has a father-in-law who is like a patriarch of old, I asked him to inquire of his father-in-law what the teachings of the ancients among Israel are on these words. I am indebted to him for much help. The olive tree resembles the lilac tree when in full bloom. It is laden down with white flowers. The olive tree was, of course, abundant in Palestine. It must have been a beautiful sight when these trees were laden with white flowers.”[8] This description verifies the words of Hosea 14:6, where we read, “His beauty shall be as the olive tree.”

Dr. E. M. Blaiklock (1903-1983), former professor of Classics at Auckland University College, New Zealand, concludes, “If Christian men, ‘olives in God’s temple,’ can seize the thought, and translate into living activity all the wealth of meaning which lies in the psalmist’s picture of the strong, vital, valiant, rich, sturdy, and enduring tree, such a renaissance might yet come to the Church, and to society.”[9] What a prelude to a much needed revival and spiritual awakening! When God’s people genuinely begin to live as God’s people for His honor and glory, we will see great and mighty things begin to happen. May each one of us as believers have beautiful flowers and bountiful fruit like the olive tree!

[1]Charles Haddon Spurgeon, Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Volume 55, “The Beauty of the Olive Tree” (Hosea 14:6), [A sermon published on Thursday, December 16, 1909, delivered by C. H. Spurgeon, at the Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington, on Thursday Evening, April 17, 1879], Available from: http://www.spurgeongems.org/vols55-57/chsolive1.pdf Accessed: 08/29/12

[2]Martin Luther, “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God,” (1529)

[3]Charles Haddon Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. II, Psalm XXVI to LII, (New York: Funk & Wagnalls, 1882), p. 478

[4]Arno C. Gaebelein, The Book of Psalms: A Devotional and Prophetic Commentary (Neptune, NJ: Loizeaux Brothers, 1982 [Originally published 1939]), p. 223

[5]Herbert Lockyer, Sr., Psalms: A Devotional Commentary(Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications, 1993), p. 206

[6]Charles Haddon Spurgeon, Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Volume 55, “The Beauty of the Olive Tree” (Hosea 14:6), [A sermon published on Thursday, December 16, 1909, delivered by C. H. Spurgeon, at the Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington, on Thursday Evening, April 17, 1879], Available from: http://www.spurgeongems.org/vols55-57/chsolive1.pdf Accessed: 08/29/12

[7]Michael Guido, Guido Gardens Library, #631.pdf [devotional based on Psalm 52:8 / untitled and without attribution]

http://library.guidogardens.com/redir.asp?sessionid=llXFVy89roh67Vvj9jNy2fw4F&login=yes

[8]Erling Charles Olsen (1896-1966) Meditations in the Book of Psalms (Neptune: Loizeaux Brothers, 1939), p. 425

[9]E. M. Blaiklock, “The Olive Tree”, Sermon Notes (Psalm 52:8)

By Dr. Franklin L. Kirksey, pastor First Baptist Church of Spanish Fort 30775 Jay Drive Spanish Fort, Alabama 36527

Author of Sound Biblical Preaching: Giving the Bible a Voice Available on Amazon.com and WORDsearchbible.com

http://www.amazon.com/Sound-Biblical-Preaching-Giving-Bible/dp/1594577684

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