…Continued from previous post.
who trusts in man: That is one who puts his whole trust in man and in human power, to the exclusion of God, as the following words “whose heart turns away from the Lord” show.
[6]
like a shrub in the desert: Because it has neither soil nor moisture it will never produce flower or fruit. It will be as fruitless in the summer as in the winter.
I happen to live in the Sonoran desert and I can attest to the aridity of the land if there is no rainful. When it does rain here, the desert is actually very lush and green, and in its own way a beautiful and refreshing place to be. However, without rain, things very quickly bcome dry. Some varieties of bushes are particularly pathetic: spindly, brown and unattractive. But even these least of all plants grow green and flower if they have enough water. The difference is the amount of water they get on a consistent basis. So too we, if we place our trust in the things of this world that offer no nourishment rather than God who wants us to abide in him like the branches abide in the vine (
John 15), we will likewise be barely living, bearing neither flower or good and abundant fruit.
parched places…uninhabited salt land: Where nothing can grow or prosper because of the unproductive poisonous soil.
Some lands are naturally salt wastes (such as areas of Nevada) where nothing grows. Some, however, are made so purposely. When the Romans (and other conquering armies) wanted to make sure a particulary rebellious nation was not re-occupied, they would salt the fields so that the people could not grow prosperous and strong there again.
[7] **Blessed is the man: **In contrast he who trusts and hopes in the Lord will prosper, like a tree planted by water: Where the soil is fertile and there is plenty of moisture, there a tree will grow and produce fruit.
The word “blessed” means more than “happy” as it is sometimes translated. To be blessed is a form of beatitude, that is, to have more or less a share in God’s life and to be in his presence to the extent we conform ourselves to his own goodness. We do this primarily by detaching ourselves from what is not pleasing to him, and by conforming ourselves to what is pleasing to him.
For when you were slaves of sin, you were free from righteousness. But what profit did you get then from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. But now that you have been freed from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit that you have leads to sanctification, and its end is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (
Romans 6:20-23)
[8] **not fear when heat: **The changes of season will not affect it. Even a year of drought will not injure its vitality for it is planted beside the waters.
17:1-13. Using words similar to those of Psalm 1, the prophet describes the misfortune that will befall those who trust in themselves, as against the prosperity of those who trust in God (vv. 5-8). St Thomas Aquinas’ commentary on Psalm 1 fits in nicely with the simile here of the tree planted beside water (v. 8): “We are asked to consider three things in the image of the tree–its being well-rooted, its fruitfulness, and the sustaining of its life. To be well-rooted, the tree must be well-watered, otherwise it will dry up and wither away; thus, we are told that the tree is planted beside running waters, which symbolize the currents of grace. ‘He who believes in me…out of his heart shall flow rivers of living water’ (Jn 7:38). The one whose roots draw on the living waters will bear much fruit in all the good works that he does, and fruitfulness is the second aspect of the image that we are asked to contemplate. ‘But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness’, etc. (Gal 5:22). The tree does not wither away: it is sustained in life. Some trees lose their leaves, but others never lose their leaves; and thus it is with righteous men …]; they will not be forgotten by God even in their tiniest and least significant actions. ‘The righteous will flourish like a green leaf’ (Prov 11:28)” (“Postilla super Psalmos”, 1, 3).
