The Righteous Will Flourish

"The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree: he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Those that be planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God. They shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing; to shew that the Lord is upright: he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him." - Psalm 92:12-15

There is so much truth packed in these few, small verses in Psalms. The Bible says that the wicked will flourish as the grass, which soon withers (Psalm 92:7), but the righteous flourish as the palm tree, which is long-lived and does not change in winter. In fact, the palm tree thrives under heavy pressure or weight. The more it is pressed down, the more it grows - just as the righteous flourish under their burdens. Being rooted in the house of the Lord causes us to flourish even in the most difficult of situations. I love this excerpt from the Matthew Henry Commentary: "Where God gives true grace he will give more grace. God's trees shall grow higher, like the cedars, the tall cedars in Lebanon. They shall grow nearer heaven, and with a holy ambition shall aspire towards the upper world. They shall grow stronger, like the cedars, and fitter for use."

God wants us to be like the palm trees - deeply rooted in His clean soil, strong under pressure, growing tall and proud, and producing good fruit for Him and for His glory.

I used Distress Oxides, Tombow markers, and the Walk Humbly, Bitty Minnie Alpha, and Marquee Caps Alpha stamps sets to illustrate this page. I covered the text I wanted to highlight with washi tape and used blenders to blend three Distress Oxide colors over the page. I splattered drops of water all over the page to give it that water oxidized effect, then I stamped the Walk Humbly girl and the Bitty Minnie Alpha stamps. On a separate piece of regular computer paper, I stamped the letters to the work FLOURISH, then fussy cut them out, and used adhesive tape to apply them to the page. I then finished with some random stamping, used a couple Tombow markers to outline the girl, punched a tab, hand-lettered the title, put down some washi, and 'voila' - finished! 😍

I'm praying you are flourishing in the Lord today and throughout this week. ❤

Janelle
@journalingjoy