Flourish: Psalm 92:12-14
Part of Flourish
January 8, 2023

Flourish

Psalm 92:12-14
January 8, 2023
Chris Seidman, Lead Minister, The Branch

Psalm 92:12-14 (NIV)
The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon; planted in the house of the Lord, they will flourish in the courts of our God. They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green.

A Few Takeaways …

  • The righteous will flourish.


Romans 3:21-24 (NIV)
But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known … . This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. … for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.

  • Flourishing happens when the righteous are planted somewhere in particular – the house of the Lord.


Psalm 1:1-3 (NIV)
Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither – whatever they do prospers.


Two Things About Flourishing …

  • Vs. 1 has to do with the company we keep.

Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers … .

  • Vs. 2 has to do with the content we meditate on.

… but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night.


Psalm 92:12 (NIV)
The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon … .

Takeaways continued …

  • Flourishing involves usefulness and fruitfulness for the sake of blessing others.


Ephesians 2:10 (NIV)
For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.


Isaiah 61:1-3 (NIV)
The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion – to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor.


Isaiah 61:4 (NIV)

They will rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the places long devastated; they will renew the ruined cities that have been devastated for generations.


Isaiah 61:6 (NIV)
And you will be called priests of the Lord, you will be named ministers of our God.


Isaiah 61:10-11 (NIV)
I delight greatly in the Lord; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness … .

(vs.11) For as the soil makes the sprout come up and a garden causes seeds to grow, so the Sovereign Lord will make righteousness and praise spring up before all nations.

Takeaways continued …

  • Flourishing doesn’t have an age limit.


Psalms 92:14 (NIV)
They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green … .

One Last Thing About Flourishing …

  • Flourishing is a partnership.


Genesis 2:5 (NIV)
Now no shrub had yet appeared on the earth and no plant had yet sprung up, for the Lord God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no one to work the ground … .


Isaiah 45:8 (NIV)
“You heavens above, rain down my righteousness; let the clouds shower it down. Let the earth open wide, let salvation spring up, let righteousness flourish with it; I, the Lord, have created it.”