Slices
Prepare
Pour a few drops of olive or other oil into a little container to help you reflect on this psalm.
Bible passage
For the director of music. A maskil of David. When Doeg the Edomite had gone to Saul and told him: ‘David has gone to the house of Ahimelek.’
1 Why do you boast of evil, you mighty hero?
Why do you boast all day long,
you who are a disgrace in the eyes of God?
2 You who practise deceit,
your tongue plots destruction;
it is like a sharpened razor.
3 You love evil rather than good,
falsehood rather than speaking the truth.
4 You love every harmful word,
you deceitful tongue!
5 Surely God will bring you down to everlasting ruin:
he will snatch you up and pluck you from your tent;
he will uproot you from the land of the living.
6 The righteous will see and fear;
they will laugh at you, saying,
7 ‘Here now is the man
who did not make God his stronghold
but trusted in his great wealth
and grew strong by destroying others!’
8 But I am like an olive tree
flourishing in the house of God;
I trust in God’s unfailing love
for ever and ever.
9 For what you have done I will always praise you
in the presence of your faithful people.
And I will hope in your name,
for your name is good.
Explore
Think about your olive oil and where it grew. Maybe sniff it, swirl it around, notice its colour. Have you seen olive trees growing in Mediterranean countries? Their leaves are a distinctive grey-green evergreen, and turn silvery when the wind tosses them. It is a very strong, comparatively stocky tree, able to withstand the fiercest gales, and both the fruit and wood are useful. The pressed oil has historically had spiritual, culinary and medicinal uses – think of Moses sprinkling Aaron with oil, David being anointed by Samuel and the Good Samaritan using oil on wounds.
The olive is a significant tree in the Middle East. What was it to David (v 8)? Saul has tried to kill David several times, and now David has been betrayed after he ran away. Saul orders a massacre in retaliation (1 Samuel 21,22). David is intensely pained by all this evil (vs 1–4), but what gives him confidence (v 5)?
Olive trees grow fairly wide, due to their strong, massive root system. In contrast to the weak plant of the wicked enemy, which is easily uprooted, nothing can shake the solid olive tree. This was David’s confidence because he was deeply rooted in the faithful and trustworthy God.
Respond
Anoint your forehead, cross-shaped, with a little oil, as a precious reminder that you belong to God and are firmly rooted and grounded in him.
Bible in a year
Read the Bible in a year: Ecclesiastes 1–3; 2 Thessalonians 2
Pray for Scripture Union
Give thanks that God is answering our prayers for children and young people to develop a hunger for finding out more about faith. (This weeks prayers are related this this article in Connecting You.)
