The Tamarisk Tree

1 Samuel 22: 6-7

“6 Now Saul heard that David and his men had been discovered. And Saul was seated, spear in hand, under the tamarisk tree on the hill at Gibeah, with all his officials standing at his side. 7 He said to them, “Listen, men of Benjamin! Will the son of Jesse give all of you fields and vineyards? Will he make all of you commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds?”

A tamarisk tree in the Middle East grows larger than the tamarisk tree in the United States.  They cannot survive in wilderness areas and normally grow in communities where people who plant them on their property can give them the care and nourishment that they need.  

They are very slow growing trees and need much care to do well.  People who plant tamarisk trees do not plant them for their enjoyment, but for the enjoyment of those who come after them.

Saul, sitting under a tall tamarisk tree, accused his closest commanders of disloyalty.  He thought that they might have thoughts of defecting  to David.  And he thought that their  loyalty could be purchased.  

But there are things in this world that money cannot buy, such as the cool shade of a tamarisk tree, planted on a hill and cared for  by someone 50 years in the past, or the loyalty of  commanders.

David was chosen by God to be King when he was just a youth.  During that time he was nurtured and cared for by God’s Holy Spirit.  And in the near future, Israel would bask in the shade of David’s shadow.

Sometime in our lives, the seed of faith was planted in us. And someone nurtured and cared for that faith and over the years it blossomed in us  and grew. Just as God’s Holy Spirit nurtured and guided David, the Holy Spirit dwells in each believer, leading us in an ever deepening, ever growing  relationship with God.

Christians are God’s tamarisk.

May the love of Christ be with you,

Rev. Eric Lanier (Retired)