"But as for me, I am like a green olive tree in the house of God; I trust [confidently] in the loving kindness of God forever and ever." Psalm 52:8 AMP
David was up against a mad man. King Saul had truly left being in the presence of God and moved toward depending upon his own resources, but David depended on the Lord and His mercy. Saul and Doeg (see 1 Samuel 21-22) did something so evil. Because Ahimelech assisted David, Saul not only had this priest of God killed, but
“eighty-five men who wore the [priest’s] linen ephod. And he struck Nob the city of the priests with the edge of the sword, both men and women, children and infants…”
1 Samuel 18 b-19
David knew that God would seek justice. David stayed faithful to God. He said that he was “like a green olive tree.” Saul became an uprooted tree. But David was an olive tree. An olive tree lives for many years and it keeps baring fruit. According to GotQuestions, the olive tree is “an extremely slow growing plant. The olive tree requires years of patient labor to reach full fruitfulness.”
David was known as a man after God’s own heart. He recognized that he needed to stay under God’s protective refuge. God is the Farmer who tenderly, patiently, and lovingly tended to David’s growth. And David, even when he messed up, would always go back to God. There were times when David had to be pruned so that bad fruits would be removed. But that is the journey we take. We have to stay under the Farmer’ patient labor of love for our lives.
Jeremiah was shown this through God being the Potter:
“Then I went down to the potter’s house, and saw that he was working at the wheel. But the vessel that he was making from clay was spoiled by the potter’s hand; so he made it over, reworking it and making it into another pot that seemed good to him.”
Jeremiah 18:3-4 AMP
We were once wild olive trees. Trees that produced no fruits. But because of Jesus Christ we were grafted into “a green olive tree in the house of God.” There will always be evil roaming this earth. But just as David did, we are called to “trust confidently in the lovingkindness of God forever and ever.” God is shaping our lives and pruning us as we go through each day. It is all for His glory. Because ultimately that is our purpose, to glorify God with our lives!