Flourishing Like a Palm Tree

Scripture — Psalm 92:12-15 (NIV)

The righteous will flourish like a palm tree,
they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon;
planted in the house of the LORD,
they will flourish in the courts of our God.
They will still bear fruit in old age,
they will stay fresh and green,
proclaiming, “The LORD is upright;
he is my Rock, and there is no wickedness in him.”

Devotion

As one who has lived most of his life in Southern California, I’m quite familiar with palm trees. In fact, just for fun, the other day on my way to church, I tried to count all the palm trees I could see from my car. During my 7-mile, 12-minute drive, I counted 516 palm trees. That’s 43 palm trees every minute or 73 palms per mile. But I saw only a tiny percentage of the more than 100,000 palms scattered throughout Southern California.

It wasn’t always like that here. When my ancestors moved to Southern California in the late 1800s, there were almost no palm trees to be found in this region. A few had been planted near the Spanish missions. Otherwise, Southern California had only one relatively rare native palm species, the California Fan Palm.

But all of that changed in the early 1900s, when Los Angeles and other local cities began planting thousands upon thousands of palm trees. Why did they do this? Because palms were thought to be tropical, alluring, romantic, and exotic. In his book, Trees in Paradise, Jared Farmer notes that around 1900 in Southern California, palm trees and orange trees were “symbols of wealth, sunshine, and pleasurable exoticism.” Of course, our palm trees weren’t particularly useful, whether for shade, food, or lumber. Their value was in their appearance and ambiance.

It was different in ancient Israel. Yes, palms were considered beautiful in that time and culture. But they meant much more to the Israelites. Palm trees were seen as stately and regal, more royal than exotic. They were a source of delicious food (dates). Sap from palms was valued as a sweetener or for making wine. Palm fronds could be used to make mats or roofs. And if that’s not enough, the palm also served as a fertility symbol, an image of human fruitfulness.

Thus, when Psalm 92:12 says, “The righteous will flourish like a palm tree,” this line assumes more than something pretty to look at. Rather, it suggests that the person who lives in a right relationship with God, people, and the earth will experience a full and fruitful life, a life rich in meaning, purpose, and influence.

The following phrase of Psalm 92:12 adds even more to the promise of flourishing. Those who are righteous will also “grow like a cedar of Lebanon.” When Psalm 92 was written, the cedar trees in the region north of Israel were famous for their size and strength. Their wood was prized throughout the ancient world because of its strength and beauty. What a palm tree could not provide – shade from the hot sun and excellent lumber for building – could be found in the cedars of Lebanon.

From Psalm 92:12, we learn that flourishing is living life to the full. It’s being fruitful in multiple dimensions. Flourishing has to do with usefulness, beauty, delight, fertility, and productivity. Through using this tree imagery, the psalm writer anticipates the recent academic study of human flourishing. In his seminal article, “On the Promotion of Human Flourishing,” Professor Tyler VanderWeele, who is the director of the Harvard Human Flourishing Program, writes,

Flourishing itself might be understood as a state in which all aspects of a person’s life are good. We might also refer to such a state as complete human well-being, . . .  I would argue that, regardless of the particulars of different understandings, most would concur that flourishing, however conceived, would, at the very least, require doing or being well in the following five broad domains of human life: (i) happiness and life satisfaction; (ii) health, both mental and physical; (iii) meaning and purpose; (iv) character and virtue; and (v) close social relationships.

VanderWeele’s vision of flourishing reproduces in academic language what Psalm 92:12 represents through poetic tree imagery. But the psalm also underscores the fact that flourishing in the Bible also has to do with fruitfulness. It isn’t only about “complete human well-being,” but also about what a flourishing human does to make a difference in the world. A flourishing person, like a palm tree and a cedar tree, produces much that is helpful to others.

Wouldn’t you like to be such a flourishing person? I know I would. So, after reading Psalm 92:12, I wonder: How can I be this sort of person? How can I flourish like a palm tree and a cedar tree? How can I live fully, fruitfully, and faithfully? We’re not on our own when it comes to answering these questions. In fact, Psalm 92 provides a trustworthy and inspiring answer, which I’ll explore in tomorrow’s Life for Leaders devotion. For now, let me encourage you to reflect on the following questions.

Find all Life for Leaders devotions here. Explore what the Bible has to say about work at the High Calling archive, hosted by the unique website of our partners, the Theology of Work Project. Reflection on today’s Life for Leaders theme can be found here: Fruitful in Old Age.