Like A Noisy Green Tree!

8   But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God;
I trust in the mercy of God forever and ever.
9   I will praise You forever,
Because You have done it;
And in the presence of Your saints
I will wait on Your name, for it is good.

 (Verse 8) - But I am like a green olive-tree in the house of God - I am safe and happy, notwithstanding the effort made by my enemy, the informer, to secure my destruction. I have been kept unharmed, like a green and flourishing tree - a tree protected in the very courts of the sanctuary - safe under the care and the eye of God. A green tree is the emblem of prosperity. (See Ps. 1:3; 37:35; compare Ps. 92:12). The “house of God” here referred to is the tabernacle, considered as the place where God was supposed to reside. (See Ps. 15:1; 23:6; 27:4-5). The particular allusion here is to the “courts” of the tabernacle. An olive tree would not be cultivated in the tabernacle, but it might in the “courts” or “area” which surrounded it. The name “house of God” would be given to the whole area, as it was afterward to the entire area in which the temple was. A tree thus planted in the very courts of the sanctuary would be regarded as sacred, and would be safe as long as the tabernacle itself was safe, for it would be, as it were, directly under the divine protection. So David had been, notwithstanding all the efforts of his enemies to destroy him.

We have seen that David was enabled by the exercise of faith to look down upon the worldly grandeur of Doeg with a holy contempt; and now we find him rising superior to all that was presently afflictive in his own condition. Though to appearance he more resembled the withered trunk of a tree which rots upon the ground, he compares himself, in the confidence of coming prosperity, to a green olive. We need not say that the destruction of Doeg could only communicate comfort to his mind, in the way of convincing him that God was the avenging judge of human cruelty, and leading him to infer that, as he had punished his wrongs, so he would advance him to renewed measures of prosperity. From his language it appears that he could conceive of no higher happiness in his condition than being admitted among the number of the worshippers of God, and engaging in the exercises of devotion.

This was characteristic of his spirit. We have already had occasion to see that he felt his banishment from the sanctuary of God more keenly than separation from his consort, the loss of worldly substance, or the dangers and hardships of the wilderness. David is here distinguishing himself from all his enemies, without exception, intimating that though he was presently removed from the tabernacle, he would soon be restored to it; and that they who boasted of possessing, or rather monopolizing, the house of God, would be rooted out of it with disgrace. And here let us engrave the useful lesson upon our hearts, that we should consider it the great end of our existence to be found numbered among the worshippers of God; and that we should avail ourselves of the inestimable privilege of the stated assemblies of the church, which are necessary helps to our infirmity, and means of mutual excitement and encouragement.

I trust in the mercy of God forever and ever -

(a)   I “have” always done it. It has been my constant practice in trouble or danger.

(b)   I “will” always do it.

As the result of all my experience, I will still do it; and thus trusting in God, I shall have the consciousness of safety.

(Verse 9) - I will praise thee forever, because thou hast done it - Because thou art the source of my safety. The fact that I have been delivered from the designs of Saul, and saved from the efforts of Doeg to betray me, is to be traced wholly to thee. It has been ordered by thy providence that the purposes alike of Doeg and of Saul have been defeated, and I am still safe.

And I will wait on thy name - That is, I will wait on “thee;” the name being often put for the person himself: (Ps. 20:1; 69:30; Prov. 18:10; Isa. 59:19). The language used here means that he would trust in God, or confide in him, personally, not in the deliverance or the effect of his person. All his expectation and hope would be in him. There are two ideas essentially in the language:

(1) The expression of a sense of “dependence” on God, as if the only ground of trust was in him;

(2) A willingness to “await” his interposition at all times; a belief that, however long such an interposition might be delayed, God “would” interfere at the proper time to bring deliverance; and a purpose calmly and patiently to look to him until the time of deliverance should come. (Compare Ps. 25:3, 5,21; 27:14; 37:7, 9,34; 69:3; Isa. 8:17; 40:31).

For it is good before thy saints - God is good; and I will confess it before his “saints.” His mercy has been so marked, that a public acknowledgment of it is proper; and before his assembled people I will declare what he has done for me. So signal an act of mercy, an interposition so suited to illustrate the character of God, demands more than a private acknowledgment, and I will render him public praise. The same idea occurs in Ps. 22:25; 35:18; 111:1; Isa. 38:20. The general thought is, that for great and special mercies it is proper to render special praise to God before his assembled people. It is not that we are to speak of our private affairs upon the public eye or the public ear; it is not that mercies shown to us have any particular claim to the attention of our fellow-men, but it is that such interpositions illustrate the character of God, and that they may constitute an argument before the world in favor of his benevolent and merciful character. Among the “saints” there is a common bond of union - a common interest in all that pertains to each other; and when special mercy is shown to anyone of the great brotherhood, it is proper that all should join in the thanksgiving, and render praise to God.

We must be willing both to undergo great difficulty and to give testimony to God’s gracious actions in our lives before the congregation.  This is a part of transparency, of being “real” before our brothers and sisters in Christ.  It is a part of our duty to be bearing testimony to one another concerning the great things that God does on our behalf.  The purposes served in the body are numerous and essential and we ought to take seriously the requirements of God that we be what God wishes us to be, and the we do what God wishes us to do.

I need to be more willing to give testimony and to praise God publicly for what He does in my life.