Have you ever read a Scripture passage without seeing anything outstanding in it? And then one day you'll read the same passage and suddenly a particular verse speaks to you? So it was when I read Psalm 92. I had read it many times. But this time verse 12 spoke to me: "The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree." I started wondering why the psalmist used that comparison, so I looked up palm trees in my encyclopedia and in my Bible dictionary, and this is what I learned.

The palm of the Scriptures is the date palm. It never grows wild but has to be planted and carefully tended when young. It is different from other trees in that it grows from within. Its growing, living tissue is in a column in the center of the trunk. The bark can be removed, and it can be scarred and cut, but still the palm grows up and up towards the sky. The bark is only the support and protection of the inner life of the palm. The quantity and quality of its fruit are determined by the success of the growth of that inner life.

Do you see the comparison to the righteous? Isn't that great? Our progress in our Christian life is determined by our growth within. Our "outer self" is like the bark of the palm. We can be mistreated or scarred by various circumstances, but if our inner self is healthy, nothing can slow our spiritual growth. Isn't that enough to make us shout!

Then we learn that the palm has over 200 uses. In fact, one dictionary said it has 360 uses. Imagine that. Food, timber, rope, cloth, baskets, mats, couches, brushes, brooms, shades, windbreaks. Its foliage is always green, for its roots extend far and deep into the earth, taking advantage of hidden moisture. It thrives even in dry and sandy soil.

What a comparison. We who call ourselves children of the King of kings and Lord of lords ought to be willing to be used in many different ways. Have you heard remarks like these? "If I can't teach that class then I don't want to teach at all!" or "If I can't be on the board or on the Council, I'll just sit back." They should add, "...and pout." But not so with the palm tree. It is used for food and also for the lowly mat.

Nor does it wilt when water is withheld for a season, for its roots go deep. How often, when the revival is on, church members are full of life! But after a week or two have passed, they are again dried up and lifeless. Let's drive our roots down deep into that source of living water. Then we won't have any dry and dreary days.

Then this bit of information was a glad surprise: The palm bears its best fruit in old age. The fruit is sweetest when the palm is eighty years old. What do you think about that? When an apple tree gets old, the apples get smaller and smaller and soon are almost worthless. Not so with the palm. The older it gets, the better and sweeter its fruit.

It should be that way with us too, shouldn't it? The farther along we get in our Christian life, the sweeter we should become. "The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree." What a beautiful illustration.

Author unknown (from Tract Evangelistic Crusade, Arizona)