{"id":58539,"date":"2023-01-28T18:49:45","date_gmt":"2023-01-29T00:49:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=58539"},"modified":"2023-01-28T18:49:45","modified_gmt":"2023-01-29T00:49:45","slug":"the-palm-and-cedar-trees","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-palm-and-cedar-trees\/","title":{"rendered":"The Palm and Cedar Trees"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\tby Wayne S. Walker\n

“The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree; he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon<\/em>” (Psalm 92:12).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"I have always liked looking at palm trees. Of course, growing up in the midwest I never saw a palm tree, except for potted ones indoors and on television shows, until I went to college in Florida. However, some of my favorite television shows were ones like McHale’s Navy and Gilligan’s Island (as silly as it was), because both were set on tropical islands with swaying palm trees. I have always thought of sitting under a palm tree on an island beach as romantically idyllic. To many people, the palm tree, because it is always green and luxuriant, represents that which grows lush and full.<\/p>\n

\"\"However, the cedar tree is something with which I have always been familiar because it grows abundantly in the area where I was raised. It evokes a slightly different picture, but there are similarities. Palm wood is not good for much of anything, but cedar wood is prized because it is strong, durable, and fragrant. Also, cedars can grow where other trees will not, so it represents tenacity and endurance. Thus, the “cedars of Lebanon” are used to symbolize strength and stability (Psalm 80:10, 104:16). Yet, it also exhibits a certain luxuriousness, because, as the old song says, it stays green “Not only when the summer’s here, But in the coldest time of year.”<\/p>\n

The Psalmist is saying that the righteous flourish luxuriously like the palm tree and at the same time grow strong like the cedar tree. In fact, he goes on to tell us, “Those who are planted in the house of the LORD shall flourish in the courts of our God. They shall still bear fruit in old age; they shall be fresh and flourishing, to declare that the LORD is upright; He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him<\/em>” (Psalm 92:13-15). When trees grow old, they no longer produce good fruit (have you ever tried to eat the apples from an old and gnarled apple tree?). Yet, the Psalmist says that those who are planted in the house of the Lord will still bear fruit in old age because He is their rock. The righteous can be both like the palm and the cedar trees.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Wayne S. Walker “The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree; he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon” (Psalm 92:12). I have always liked looking at palm trees. Of course, growing up in the midwest I never saw a palm tree, except for potted ones indoors and on television shows, until I went…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[642,775,776],"class_list":["post-58539","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-christianity","tag-elderly","tag-old-age"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":31717,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-a-woman-be-a-judge\/","url_meta":{"origin":58539,"position":0},"title":"Can a woman be a judge?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 9, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Can a woman be a judge? Answer: \"Now Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, was judging Israel at that time. And she would sit under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the mountains of Ephraim. And the children of Israel came up to her\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":31577,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/should-christians-celebrate-christmas-at-all\/","url_meta":{"origin":58539,"position":1},"title":"Should Christians celebrate Christmas at all?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 2, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi, Thanks for taking up the time to answer all our questions. Forgive me if my English doesn't seem correct since it isn't my first language, but should we Christians even celebrate Christmas at all? Jeremiah 10:1-5 states: \"Hear ye the word which the LORD speaketh unto you, O\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":35445,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/did-deborah-lead-worship-and-preached\/","url_meta":{"origin":58539,"position":2},"title":"Did Deborah lead worship and preached?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 30, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have read that Deborah did not offer sacrifices as the men did but did lead worship and preach. Can you provide scriptures to clarify this? Answer: I can't provide Scriptures because the claims are not based on Scripture. Deborah was a prophetess and served as a judge in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":29414,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/drinking-in-the-new-testament\/","url_meta":{"origin":58539,"position":3},"title":"Drinking in the New Testament","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 18, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Proverbs 23:29-33 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Consistently in the Scriptures, drunkenness is condemned \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0I Corinthians 6:9-10 - A drunkard cannot inherit the kingdom of God \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Romans 13:13 - Carousing and drunkenness is improper behavior \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0C.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Few people argue that being down and out drunk is acceptable. We understand that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3289,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/were-all-levitical-priests-left-handed\/","url_meta":{"origin":58539,"position":4},"title":"Were all Levitical Priests left-handed?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 7, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Is it true that all Levite Priest were left-handed? If so, why? Answer: In Israel, left-handedness was rare enough that it received mention at times. Ehud was left-handed (Judges 3:15). This allowed Ehud to smuggle in a sword to assassinate King Eglon by strapping the sword to his right\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":87227,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/two-different-trees\/","url_meta":{"origin":58539,"position":5},"title":"Two Different Trees","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 25, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton The Bible is basically the history of man and his relationship to two different trees. The tree in the midst of the Garden of Eden was death dressed up in appeal to the flesh, but the tree in the garden on which Jesus died was ugly,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58539","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=58539"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58539\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=58539"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=58539"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=58539"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}