Flourish Like a Palm Tree

August 5

(Psalm 92:5-15 NIV) ““How great are your works, O Lord, how profound your thoughts! {6} The senseless man does not know, fools do not understand, {7} that though the wicked spring up like grass and all evildoers flourish, they will be forever destroyed. {8} But you, O Lord, are exalted forever. {9} For surely your enemies, O Lord, surely your enemies will perish; all evildoers will be scattered. {10} You have exalted my horn like that of a wild ox; fine oils have been poured upon me. {11} My eyes have seen the defeat of my adversaries; my ears have heard the rout of my wicked foes. {12} The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon; {13} planted in the house of the Lord, they will flourish in the courts of our God. {14} They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green, {15} proclaiming, “The Lord is upright; he is my Rock, and there is no wickedness in him.””

(Hosea 14:4-9 NIV) “I will heal their waywardness and love them freely, for my anger has turned away from them. {5} I will be like the dew to Israel; he will blossom like a lily. Like a cedar of Lebanon he will send down his roots; {6} his young shoots will grow. His splendor will be like an olive tree, his fragrance like a cedar of Lebanon. {7} Men will dwell again in his shade. He will flourish like the grain. He will blossom like a vine, and his fame will be like the wine from Lebanon. {8} O Ephraim, what more have I to do with idols? I will answer him and care for him. I am like a green pine tree; your fruitfulness comes from me." {9} Who is wise? He will realize these things. Who is discerning? He will understand them. The ways of the Lord are right; the righteous walk in them, but the rebellious stumble in them.”

Many Bible teachers preach a gospel of prosperity. Even though Scripture spends more time telling us how to praise God in tough times, they see prospering as a definitive sign of God’s blessing. This may sound like heresy to some, but God does not necessarily want us to prosper. Instead He wants us to flourish and that is different than “prospering”. We can flourish even in the toughest of times. We can flourish even when we have no money or possessions. We can flourish like a palm tree in the desert, for our roots are sunk deep into the source of living water. We can stay “fresh and green” and bear fruit well into old age if we continue to fill up on the new wine of God’s Spirit. Our fruitfulness comes from the Spirit of God. The foolish will continue to clamor for prosperity. The wise and discerning will seek to flourish like a palm tree in the Lord. -- Friar Tuck’s Word of the Day