A Tree Planted by the Stream

Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. (Psalm 1:1-3 ESV).

In order to get the water off the hill to flow away from both the house and the pool, we were very intentional about the contour of the final grade. It works perfected as planned; however, that soil stays pretty wet after it rains. In fact, even after the sprinklers are activated, it is still pretty damp. So, our idea was to plant some trees that are “happy” in the water. In my opinion, there is no prettier tree for that kind of location than a river birch. So, we place three separate “clumps” in the wet area. They are a Texas variety and handle the high temperatures as well as the damp soil. They are growing rapidly. In few years they ill provide both beauty and continued function in that area of the yard. As I thought about that I returned to a wonderful promise in the Scripture. We find it in our reading today. It says, “In all that he does, he prospers” (v. 3). The psalmist simply declares that the righteous prosper in everything they do. Is this naïve or profoundly true? In this life, it certainly seems that the wicked prosper. In this life the righteous often suffer and their goodness is rewarded with abuse. The psalmists themselves knew this. We are not protesting something they didn’t already know. Therefore, when the psalmist says, “In all that he does, he prospers,” he is not naïve. He is pointing through the ambiguities of this life to life after death, where the true effectiveness — the true prosperity — of all that we have done will appear. This is also the way Paul thought. First, he celebrates the victory of Christ over death. “‘O death, where is your victory?’ . . . Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (cf. 1 Corinthians 15:55, 57). Then, he draws out the implication that, because of this triumph, every work that believers have ever done will prosper. “Therefore, my beloved brothers . . . in the Lord your labor is not in vain” (cf. 1 Corinthians 15:58). When something is not in vain, it prospers. Because Jesus died in our place, he guaranteed that every good deed prospers — sooner or later. “Whatever good anyone does, this he will receive back from the Lord” (Ephesians 6:8). “Blessed are you when others revile you. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven” (Matthew 5:11-12). What seems naïve in the Old Testament (“in all that he does, he prospers”) points profoundly to the work of Christ and the reality of resurrection.