ITS WHAT’S INSIDE!

ITS WHAT’S INSIDE!

Ps 92:12-14

12 The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree: he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon.

13 Those that be planted in the house of the Lord  shall flourish in the courts of our God.

14 They shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing;

         "On the barren flank of a rock grows a tree with dry leaves. Its large woody roots can scarcely penetrate into the stone. For several months of the year not a single shower moistens its foliage. Its branches appear dead and dried, but when the trunk is pierced there flows from it a sweet and nourishing milk. It is at the rising of the sun that this vegetable fountain is most abundant. The natives are then seen hastening from all quarters, furnished with large bowls to receive the milk, which grows yellow and thickens at its surface. Some empty their bowls under the tree itself; others carry the juice home to their children."

   -- Alexander von Humboldt, on the cow-tree.

The Cow tree is of the family Apocynaceae, a tropical rain forest tree native to Colombia, also known as leche caspi and perillo negro.

We change as we grow older, but the Lord never changes. He is our Rock (Ps. 32:4, 15, 18, 30-31), and what He wills for us is perfect, so we will not complain.

          The righteous (those saved by grace) and the wicked are contrasted in this psalm. The wicked, even when he is flourishing tall and green (verse 7) is destined only to be cut down like straw. The righteous, though his outsides may not be very handsome or lovely yields a fruit that flows from deep inside. The grace that has been given to us is meant to be shared with others. It may mean that we will be pierced in the process.

Dear Lord, let my crusty, ugly self yield the milk of kindness and grace even when I am pierced. AMEN