But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God. I trust in the steadfast love of God forever and ever. I will thank you forever, because you have done it. I will wait for your name, for it is good, in the presence of the godly.
– Psalm 52:8–9
These verses are so good at the end of this short chapter. And the context here is David is being pursued by Saul and threatened by people who want to attack and kill him. There are people who are coming after him. The first part of the Psalm is talking about their actions, working to attack him. And the last part of the Psalm is David just lifting his eyes to God. And he says, in the middle of attacks and threats against him, he says, “I’m like a green olive tree in the house of God.”
Psalm 52:8–9 reminds us we will never regret waiting for God.
The picture is beautiful, of flourishing, even in the middle of people attacking you or coming after you, pursuing you, wanting to bring you down. David’s saying, “I’m like a green olive tree in the house of God,” like evergreen, flourishing. Why? Not because David is perfect. No, because he trusts in the steadfast love of God. That’s the difference. That’s what makes him like a green olive tree. He trusts in God’s love. And he says, “I will thank you forever because you have done it.” Now, David has not been delivered at this point, but he’s trusting in God to deliver him, to provide for him, to lead him, to guide him. And he says, at the very end of verse 9, “I will wait for your name, for it is good.” Man, that’s so good.
You will never regret waiting on the name of God. You think about his name, waiting on God to show himself as Savior. For God to show himself as your Defender. Waiting on God to show himself as your Provider. Waiting on God to show himself as your Deliverer, your Sustainer, your Strength, your Refuge, your Shepherd. Just think of all his names and picture yourself.
Especially if you’re going through any kind of hard time, whether it’s like Psalm 52 when you’re feeling attacked in some way, or just walking through trials in this world, hard days where things are surrounding you and pressing down on you. I want to encourage you, there’s a way to live today like a green olive tree in the house in the presence of God. And that’s to trust today and his steadfast love for you. And to thank him in advance for what he’s going to do.
Psalm 52:8–9 reminds us that the Lord will show himself faithful.
He will show himself faithful. So, wait. This is the Word of God for you and me today. Wait for his name, for it is good. Oh God, we praise you for your Word. We praise you for the hope, the strength, the confidence, the peace, the joy, and the help we find in it. God, we love opening up your Word and hearing truth like this that we need in our hearts in so many ways for so many of us today.
And even if things are going great in some of our lives today, to hold onto this and to remember in hard days that by your grace, there’s a way for us to be like green olive trees in your presence. Oh God, we say today with Psalm 52:8, we trust in your steadfast, faithful, loyal, providing love for us today and forever and ever. And we will thank you forever.
We just confess that in faith today, that we will thank you forever for all the ways you provide and work all things together for our good and your glory. So we say today with Psalm 52:9, we will wait for your name. We love your name, we praise your name, all the names we see all over Scripture. We will wait for you to show yourself in all these ways, for your name is good. It’s infinitely good. And we will not ever regret waiting on your name.
Prayer for the Kaman People
And oh, God, we pray for people who’ve never heard your name, the name of Jesus. God, we pray for the Kaman people of Myanmar, this small remote Muslim people group in Myanmar, 5,000 people, no known believers among them. Lord, we pray that in this internally displaced group, that the name of Jesus would spread somehow. God, please, we pray that the Kaman people might… Oh, they’re waiting for your name. They need to hear your name. It’s good, it’s glorious. It’s the only name that can save them. God, we pray the Kaman people would be reached with the good news of Jesus’ name. We pray all this according to your Word in the name that’s above every name in light of Psalm 52:8–9, in Jesus’ name we pray.
David Platt serves as a Lead Pastor for McLean Bible Church. He is also the Founder of Radical, an organization that makes Jesus known among the nations.
David received his B.A. from the University of Georgia and M.Div., Th.M., and Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Some of his published works include Radical, Radical Together, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Don’t Hold Back, and How to Read the Bible.
He lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area with his wife and children.
