Caulfield Evangelical Methodist Church
- Weekly Pastoral Message -

Weekly Pastoral Message prepared by Rev. Murray Adamthwaite
for Sunday 26th October 1997

From the Pastor: Curious Comparisons IV

"The righteous will sprout like the palm tree...they will still yield fruit in old age." Psalm 92:12,14 The date-palm is so widespread in the Near East it can almost be regarded as a symbol of that region. In ancient times it was frequently used as a motif on coins, Roman coins in particular. We all enjoy the fruit of this palm, even if the original flavour is somewhat lost in the drying and packing process. The date-palm provides a threefold simile for the righteous person in the promise text from Psalm 92, as above: (i) While the tree can propagate by the seed in the date, it is more usually propagated by the suckers which sprout spontaneously at the base of the tree trunk. Thus by God's special providence the righteous person still shows his freshness in maturity and also will "propagate" by influencing those around him. (ii) The palm grows to fruit-bearing maturity in a mere five years. So the righteous person will with the proper care and cultivation with healthy spiritual nutrients begin to bear the fruits of holiness, even in a harsh environment. (iii) The date-palm will continue bear fruit when it is 100 years old! This characterisitc is clearly in the mind of the psalmist in verse 14. God's sustaining grace in His own will show itself in their whole demeanour and conduct even when they are old. Though their bodies waste away, their inner nature is still new and fresh (2 Corinthians 4:16). I have seen many examples of this. Are you too like a palm tree?