A Green Olive Tree in the House of God

And so Lord, give us guidance and help, Lord, as we look in your word and bless it to our study. In Jesus’ name, amen. The subtitle here in Psalm 52 says this, to the chief musician, Masquill, Psalm of David, when Doeg the Edomite came and told Saul, and said unto him, David is come to the house of the Himelek. That tells us, like Psalm 51, this subtitle gives us a lot of information, and it actually directs us to 1 Samuel 21 and 22, where Doeg is mentioned.

It’s only two chapters in the Bible where Doeg is mentioned, but he’s a bad dude. Doeg is a bad dude. And we’ll look at that in a second, but notice what he says. Now remember, this Psalm is directed at Doeg. And Doeg is the example, he’s the one that’s on David’s mind when he’s writing this Psalm, but it’s also kind of representative of the wicked, or as we’ll see in the Psalm, it’s representative of this type of man.

And so some of these things we’ve already studied in other Psalms as well, different characteristics of the wicked, so we’re not gonna spend a lot of time on it, but let’s read verse number one. The Bible says, “’Why boastest thou thyself in mischief, O mighty man? “’The goodness of God endureth continually. “’Thy tongue deviseth mischiefs, “’like a sharp razor working deceitfully. “’Thou lovest evil more than good, “’and lying rather than to speak righteousness.’ “’Selah.

“’Thou lovest all devouring words, O thou deceitful tongue. “’God shall likewise destroy thee forever. “’He shall take thee away and pluck thee out “’of thy dwelling place, “’and root thee out of the land of the living. “’Selah. “’The righteous also shall see and fear “’and shall laugh at him. “’Lo, this is the man that made not God his strength, “’but trusted in the abundance of his riches “’and strengthened himself in his wickedness.’” So this is a description of Doeg the Edomite.

So let’s go to 1 Samuel chapter number 21, and get the background of this, and maybe that’ll make a little bit more sense to us to find out exactly what happened, because Doeg’s a little sneaky thing.

1 Samuel 21 verse one. So at this point in history, in Israel’s history, David has been anointed king, but he’s fleeing from Saul. So he’s trying to get away from Saul, and of course we know David would not lift his sword against the Lord’s anointed, he refused, which is just a wonderful illustration of not only knowing the will of God, but waiting on the will of God, because David knew what the will of God was.

He was gonna be king, but it wasn’t God’s time, and so he wasn’t gonna touch Saul. And furthermore, David was one who believed that he could do it, right? He didn’t necessarily have to kill Saul in order to bring it to pass, that the Lord could do it without him. So 1 Samuel 21 verse one. Then came David to Nob, to Ahimelech the priest, and Ahimelech was afraid at the meeting of David, and said unto him, why art thou alone, and no man with thee?

Which is a logical question considering the fact that David was a mighty man of valor. David was one of the chief captains of Saul. So when David is by himself essentially, and David does not have a huge entourage from Saul with him, it raises suspicion. So Ahimelech has a reason to be suspicious. Verse two, and David said unto Ahimelech the priest, the king hath commanded me a business, and hath said unto me, let no man know anything of the business whereof, whereabout I send thee, and what I have commanded thee, and I have appointed my servant to such and such a place.

Now therefore, what is under thine hand? Give me five loaves of bread in mine hand, or what there is present. And the priest answered David and said, there is no common bread under mine hand, but there is hallowed bread. That’s referring to the bread inside the tabernacle.

If the young men have kept themselves at least from women, and David answered the priest and said unto him, of a truth, women have been kept from us these three days since I came out, and the vessels of the young men are holy, and the bread is in a manner common, yea, though it were sanctified this day in the vessel. So the priest gave him hallowed bread, for there was no bread there but the showbread that was taken from before the Lord to put hot bread in the day when it was taken away.

Now a certain man of the servants of Saul was there that day, detained before the Lord, and his name was Doeg and Edomite, the chiefest of the herdmen that belonged to Saul. So Doeg, first thing I want you to see is he’s an Edomite. That is, he’s not of the bloodline of Israel. And that is, obviously he serves Israel. He’s a servant to the king of Israel.

He’s the servant of Saul, and he lives among Israel. But he does not identify with Israel. And remember, we talked about this before, but remember that the gods and the religious part of their identity was associated with their lineage. There was the Edomites had their own gods, and the Amalekites had their own gods, and the Philistines had their own gods, and Israel had their god, that was Jehovah.

And so you’re seeing this division. Here’s someone who’s not of Israel, and you’re gonna see, that makes a big difference. But he’s serving, notice he’s serving Saul. So anybody that is a chief herdman of Saul is gonna be a big wig, a big shot, because of his proximity to the king. That’s just the way it works. And so, and that’s why in the Psalm it says, oh mighty man.

In other words, Doeg was a mighty man, and that plays into what he does here. Verse eight, and David said unto Ahimelech, and there is not here under thine hand spear or sword, for I have neither brought my sword nor my weapons with me, because the king’s business required haste. And the priest said, the sword of Goliath of Philistine, whom thou slewest in the valley of Elah, behold, it is here wrapped in a cloth behind the Ephod.

If thou wilt take that, take it, for there is no other save that here. And David said, there is none like that, give it me. And David arose and fled that day for fear of Saul, and went to Achish the king of Gath. All right, now go to chapter 22, verse seven.

Chapter 22, verse number seven. It says this, then Saul said unto his servants that stood about him, here now ye Benjamites, will the son of Jesse give every one of you fields and vineyards, and make you all captains of thousands and captains of hundreds, that all of you have conspired against me, and there is none that showeth me, that my son hath made a league with the son of Jesse, and there is none of you that is sorry for me, or showeth unto me that my son has stirred up my servant against me, to lie and wait, as at this time, to lie and wait, as at this day.

Then Doeg, then answered Doeg the Edomite, which was sent over, which was sent over the servants of Saul, and said, I saw the son of Jesse coming to Knob, to Ahimelech, the son of Ahaitub. Now, as we read what Doeg says, I want you to compare that to what we’ve seen in chapter 21, all right, because that was the narrative, and this is now the account of the narrative, given by Doeg.

Then the king sent to call Ahimelech the priest, the son of Ahaitub, and all his father’s house, the priests that were in Knob, and they came all of them to the king. Oh, I’m sorry, I skipped verse 10, excuse me. This is what Doeg says, and he inquired of the Lord for him, and gave him victuals, and gave him the sword of Goliath the Philistine. You see anything amiss there?

In verse number, verse 10, he inquired of the Lord for him. And that one little tidbit of information, that one little tweak of the facts, casts David being there in a completely different light, because now it appears that David, by that one statement, it appears that David has gone to the priest in order to conspire against Saul, because he’s asking for advice, and that’s what inquiring of the Lord is all about.

So not only does Doeg make it seem like he’s conspiring, now notice this is a little twisting of the truth. So he does tell part of the truth, but not a whole truth. But remember that anytime we speak something that leads intentionally, we lead others to believe something that is not true. That’s the same as a lie. And that’s exactly what Doeg is doing. He’s giving a little bit of information to indicate that David is conspiring against Saul.

Verse number 12, And Saul said, here now, thou son of Ahaitub, and he answered, here am I, my Lord. And Saul said unto him, Why have ye conspired against me, thou and the son of Jesse, in that thou hast given him bread and a sword and hast inquired of God for him? Note, Saul takes what Doeg says, in fact, and acts upon it. That he should rise against me to lie and wait as at this day.

Then Ahimelech answered the king and said, And who is so faithful among all the servants of David, which is the king’s son-in-law, and goeth at his bidding and is honorable in thine house? You know what that tells us? Ahimelech had no idea, had no idea, good or bad, about what was going on with David. Verse 16, And the king said, thou shalt surely die, Ahimelech, and shall be made to die.

Thou shalt surely die, Ahimelech, thou and all thy father’s house. And the king said unto the footmen that stood about him, Turn and slay the priest of the Lord, because their hand also is with David, and because they knew when he fled and did not show it to me. But the servants of the king would not put forth their hand to fall upon the servants, the priests of the Lord.

And the king said unto Doeg, Turn thou and fall upon the priests. And Doeg the Edomite turned and fell upon the priests and slew on that day four score and five persons that did wear a linen ephedra. They were all priests, the family of Ahimelech. Now notice Doeg has no problem doing this. You know why? Because he’s not of the Hebrews. So to him, what did the priest matter to him?

Verse 19, And Nob the city of the priests smote he with the edge of the sword, both men and women, children and sucklings, and oxen and asses and sheep with the edge of the sword. And one of the sons of Ahimelech, the son of Ahaitub, named Abiathar, escaped and fled after David. And Abiathar showed David that Saul had slain the Lord’s priests. And David said unto Abiathar, I knew it that day when Doeg the Edomite was there that he would surely tell Saul, I have occasioned the death of all the persons of thy father’s house.

Abide thou with me, fear not, for he that seeketh my life seeketh thy life. But with me thou shalt be in safeguard. Now go back to Psalm 52, if you would.

Psalm 52. Now the first seven verses talk about lying a lot and deception, talks about Doeg’s tongue, his mischief. And he’s a mighty man. And remember, I’m just reviewing a little bit. Remember, he’s a mighty man, he’s wealthy. And in fact, in verse number seven, it says, lo, this is the man that may not got his strength but trusted in the abundance of his riches. A mighty man is gonna be wealthy.

Someone that close to the king is gonna be wealthy. And this was the man Doeg, a liar, a deceiver, one who plays fast and loose with the truth, one who is scheming and planning, one who does not trust in God, as we see in this Psalm. This is Doeg. Now, so David writes a Psalm about Doeg. And he says all these things about Doeg and his judgment is coming in verse number five.

And then he gets to verse eight and he pivots. He gets to verse number eight and then he pivots. So in contrast to Doeg and his deception and his scheming and all of the things that he’s doing, he says in verse number eight, but I am like a green olive tree in the house of God.

I trust in the mercy of God forever and ever. I will praise thee forever because thou hast done it. And I will wait on thy name for it is good before thy saints. The part I want you to pay attention to is in verse number eight, but I am like a green olive tree in the house of God. A green olive tree in the house of God.

Now, ask yourself this question. Would there, you know, you think about the house of God in this context, what is the house of God referring to at this point in history? Anybody, any student here wanna? It’s the tabernacle. And that’s the tabernacle because obviously the temple hasn’t been built. Solomon built that, David’s son. David’s not even the king yet. And so it’s a tent, you know, we’re talking a tent that’s not a whole lot bigger than this building.

I mean, it’s bigger, but not a whole lot bigger. It’s not enormous. And it’s in the middle of the wilderness. It’s just all by itself and it’s a pretty small place. But if you were gonna set up the tabernacle, you would probably go to a place where there was a clearing, right? And you would put up the curtains and you would put up the fence and you would put up the tabernacle and you would carry on with the sacrifices.

But this verse says there’s a tree in the house of God. That’s an interesting fact, is it not? So within the perimeter of the tabernacle, there’s a tree. Now this of course is figurative language because he says, I am like a tree. So he’s not saying there’s an actual tree. He’s comparing himself to a tree. But the fact that there’s a tree within the house of God is kind of weird.

That’s not something you would ever, that’d be like a tree inside the church building or something like that. It’s not something you would ever have. So that’s one thing to note. I want you to just keep that in your mind. But think about the New Testament. Think about it. What is the house of God in the New Testament? How would you, we’ve gone over this many times, but when you take an Old Testament truth and principle doctrine, if you will, it does have New Testament, it does connect to the New Testament, but it doesn’t connect in ways we always think.

We often look at the temple in the Old Testament and we say, well, that’s obviously the church building. And so that has led us to treat the church building like it’s holy. And sometimes people have, you know, you’re supposed to dress a certain way. And I’m not talking about dressing up. I’m talking about like wearing vestments, when you, like a lot of religions do. A lot of that comes out of the ideas from the Old Testament.

But in the New Testament, the house of God is not the church building. It’s not the place where the church meets. First Timothy 3.15 says this, “’But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know “’how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, “’which is the church of the living God, “’the pillar and ground of the truth.’” The house of God is the church. It is the congregation of saints.

Okay, so you take this, “’But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God.’” And we kind of teleport it into the New Testament, plug it in where it fits in the New Testament truth. We’re talking about the church of God, the congregation of the saints. And so keep that in your mind if you would, because we’re gonna come back to that in a second as well.

The olive tree. Olive tree is an interesting tree. Of course, olive tree is where we get olives. I did a little bit of research on the olive tree, and I’ll read it to you here. This is from the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. It says this, “’The olive called Olea europaea is a slow growing tree “’requiring years of patient labor “’before reaching full fruitfulness. “’Its growth implies a certain degree of settlement “’and peace.’” So the olive tree doesn’t like turmoil.

The olive tree likes steadiness. It likes regularity. It likes peace. “’For a hostile army can in a few days “’destroy the patient work of two generations.’” It goes on to say this, “’In starting an olive yard, the fella,’ this is the person who plants it, “’not infrequently plants young wild olive trees “’which grow plentifully over many parts of the land, “’or he may grow from cuttings. “’When the young trees are three years old, “’they are grafted from a choice stock, “’and after another three or four years, “’they may commence to bear fruit.’” So you got three years from when you plant it, another three to four years, so now you’re at seven, and it begins to bear fruit.

So you have invested seven years in a tree that has not borne fruit. Okay, everybody still with me? But they take quite a decade more before reaching full fruition. All right, so you have seven years, and it starts to produce olives. Now you wait another 10.

10th note, 17 years. You’re knocking on two decades of time before it’s finally producing at full capacity. Like it’s supposed to in its maturity. Much attention is however required. The soil around the trees must be frequently plowed and broken up. Water must be conducted to the roots from the earliest rain, and the soil must be freely enriched with a kind of marl, which is a certain kind of broken up soil, in order to make this tree prosper.

So this tree is not, you cannot say this tree is not one that you just plant and walk away, forget it. That’s how you get a wild olive tree. It’ll actually, what actually happens is what I read was the roots will come up out of the ground, and there’ll be buds and shoots coming up out of the ground, and that’s all wild, and they don’t produce good olives.

And the olives that produced have almost no oil, and there’s a lot, it’s not cultivated, so it’s not good for use. In order for you to get good olives out of an olive tree, in order to have an olive tree that’s domesticated, you gotta put a lot of work into it. To full fruition, 17 years of your life.

Then you have full fruit, okay? So you’ll take those little tidbits of information, because this is in our text, right? Put that to the side. Notice what it says, it says, I’m like a green olive tree. You see it? A green olive tree. A green olive tree. Let me get my notes right here.

There’s a couple of, there’s a few verses I wanna show you in just a minute, but a green olive tree is an olive tree that is thriving with foliage, right?

It’s an olive tree that is thriving. It’s like an olive tree that is well-watered, an olive tree that is healthy. It’s an olive tree that’s going to be very green, right? And by contrast, an olive tree that is not well-watered, an olive tree that is diseased, an olive tree that is not well taken care of, is not going to be very green. And I’m gonna show you some verses that demonstrate this, but you go back to a healthy, real green-looking olive tree.

What kind of fruit do you think it’s gonna produce? It’s gonna produce, the Bible describes it as fat, right? Fat, which if you eat enough, it will make you that just because of the oil, but it’s referring to the obviously abundance, but the olives will get fat. And they get fat because they’re swollen with oil. And so you get more oil, you get bigger olives, you get more oil out of the olives.

And all of that, so the fruitfulness of the olive tree, the greenness of the olive tree, all of the plumpness of the olives, the amount of oil you get out of the olives, all indicate a healthy, lively, and thriving tree.

That’s a green olive tree. But if you have an olive tree that’s not that, it’s not green, it’s diseased, it’s not well watered, it’s blasted, it’s withered, it’s not well taken care of, you know what you have? You have small olives, you have little fruit, and you have, it’s far less beneficial. Let’s hold your place here. Let’s go to a few places in scripture. I wanna show you this.

Look at Psalm 1. Psalm number one. Psalm one, verse three. It says this, he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water. That means he’s gonna have a lot of, it’s gonna be well watered, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season. Notice that, plenty of water, what does that mean? The fruit is regular, it’s regular. His leaf also shall not wither, so it’s gonna be green, right, exactly.

And whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. Now this isn’t necessarily a leaf, it’s just a tree, but you get the idea. Well watered, well taken care of. Look at Jeremiah chapter 11. Jeremiah chapter 11.

Jeremiah 11, verse 16. Jeremiah 11, 16 says this, the Lord called the people of the earth, look at this, the Lord called thy name a green olive tree. Notice the description of a green olive tree, fair and of goodly fruit, nice big fat olives, bunches of them, goodly fruit. With the noise of a great tumult, he hath kindled fire upon it, and the branches of it are broken.

Go over to a few chapters, over to chapter 17. 17, verse number eight. This is similar to Psalm one, it says this, 17 verse eight. For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters that spreadeth and that spreadeth out her roots by the river and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green, and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.

See, greenness associated with fruitfulness, right? Let’s look at Joel, Joel. Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel. Joel chapter one. It says this, the Lord called the people of the earth, says this, verse 12. The vine is dried up and the fig tree languisheth, the pomegranate tree, the palm tree also, and the apple tree. Even all the trees of the field are withered because joy is withered away from the sons of men.

You see, this is a common description of someone, the difference between someone who is fruitful and thriving and healthy and well-watered versus someone who is, this is the comparison now, to someone who is withered, who is dry, who is fruitless. Right? And of course, I won’t go here, Luke 23, 31, the Lord mentions this in passing. He says, for if they do these things in a green tree, what shall be done in the dry?

Which tells us that the reason it’s not green is that it doesn’t have enough water. Now go back to Psalm 50, if you would. We’ll come in for a landing here. What kind of fruit does the olive tree produce?

Olives, that’s pretty simple, isn’t it? And what is the primary benefit of the olive? It’s certainly not for eating. No, there’s no debate, it is settled. I don’t know what you’re talking about. It’s obviously the oil, right? Oil is the primary benefit of the olive tree. Now we know in scripture that oil is one of the primary symbols of the Holy Spirit. In fact, the Holy Spirit, the anointing of the Holy Spirit, the anointing, that idea that anointing is used of actual oil in the Old Testament many, many times, even with David and Saul.

The idea of pouring oil on their head to anoint them, and then the Spirit of the Lord would come on them. So let me ask you a question. Where is the oil? Before the olives are shaken off the tree and pressed, where’s the oil? And the olives, which are in the tree. The oil’s in the tree. The oil is produced from the tree.

And so you have two things here, and they’re holding hands. You have the oil, and you have fruit bearing. Both from this picture of a green olive tree. So a green olive tree is gonna produce what kind of fruit? Good fruit, abundant fruit, plump fruit, healthy fruit, right? And that’s where you get the oil. So there’s fruit bearing and there’s oil present. And this, the oil, the fruit and the oil, and primarily the oil is a blessing to those around the tree or those who own the tree, but that is only possible if you have the oil, the fruit, the fruit, the oil, and the fruit is flourishing.

It’s only possible if the tree is producing fruit, and it’s only possible for the tree to produce fruit if the tree is flourishing. Okay? Now, Psalm 52, let’s read to you that verse eight again. So we have all these puzzle pieces and little studies of all the different terms. Now verse eight says this, but I, now this is a David, this is a believer, am like a green olive tree in the house of God.

As I said, a tree is not something you would normally find inside the fence of the tabernacle, but yeah, here it is. To us, the house of God is the church. So think about this. You have this tree is planted in the house of God, right? It’s planted in the house of God, and it’s green, which indicates that it’s fruitful. So it’s been there a while, right?

Because you don’t, we already looked at that, right? It’s been there a while. Somebody’s been taking care of it. Somebody’s been taking care of it. And because the tree is planted in the house of God, you think about what causes, there’s two primary things that cause the olive tree to flourish. What is it? We looked at them, water and care, water and care. But where is the tree planted in the house of God?

That tells us something about the house of God, because that tree is drawing its nutrients from the house of God. You see it? That’s why its location is significant. The reason the tree is flourishing is because it’s planted in the house of God. The reason a Christian flourishes is because of their association with the people of God, the church, which is the house of God. That is, it is not exclusive.

That doesn’t mean, well, we don’t have to privately worship. No, we do all that. But when you as a believer are planted among the people of God in the congregation of the saints, you will draw nourishment. You will draw nourishment from that house of God, from the saints that will cause you as a believer to flourish, to be a green olive tree. But that is also how the Lord is going to take care of you and prune you and dig about you.

And all of those, he’s gonna be actively working on your life to cause you to flourish. He uses the means of the people of God to do that. That’s studying the word together. But not only that, church is not just about the preacher. It’s also about the fellowship and the encouragement and the exhortation, one with another, that comes from the people of God. If you don’t have that, then that’s like that tree not planted in the house of God, where all of those things give it nourishment.

And that will directly affect the quality of the fruit and it’ll directly affect the tree, right? The house of God is the place where the nutrients are found that sustain the tree and cause the tree to flourish and to be green and fruitful. But it’s not just that. So that’s the way the church, the people of God, help the tree grow and flourish and bear fruit. But the reverse is true.

Because as that tree grows in the house of God, and it’s green, so it’s bearing fruit, it’s fruitful, it’s flourishing, and as a result, it bears those big olive berries. And those big olive berries have oil in them. You can eat them, you can use the oil. And who does that fruit of that tree, because of its location, to whom are those benefits given? They’re given to the house of God.

They’re given to the church. So as a believer grows, he grows from the nutrients and help of the church and the people of God, but then he also then benefits, reciprocally, he benefits the church as well, because he bears fruit. He is fruitful to them, and they are made better as a result of that person’s fruitfulness from the house of God. Not only that, the oil comes out and is beneficial to the people of God.

That is the spirit of God, not that the spirit of God comes from us, but the idea of the spirit of God is ministering to others by means of us, because we are fruitful. So the Lord is not only sustaining us and nourishing us and causing us to flourish by the people of God, he is then using us to then in turn benefit the people of God.

And this work is not a work that’s simple or easy or fast. Sometimes there is pruning and difficulty. Sometimes the Lord works on us. In fact, remember, the Lord uses the olive tree as the tree. He doesn’t use another tree that bears fruit in a year or two. He chooses this particular tree that takes seven years to bear any fruit and 17 years to come to full fruit.

What does that tell us about how long it takes us to grow to fruition, to bearing full fruit? It’s a long process. The Lord’s really, really working on us, but that’s why he planted the tree in the house of God. He expects us to stay there. He expects us to stay faithful. He expects us to grow from it and then benefit it in turn.

So we should all be able to say this. I am like a green tree, green olive tree in the house of God. Are you a green olive tree in the house of God? I wanna be one planted deep for the long haul, right? Among the people of God for good. Growing from it, blessing it also. Let’s pray together.