graceful and clinging vine, of the fragrant and
evergreen citron. Grace has made her like the palm-tree, the emblem
alike of uprightness and of fruitfulness. The fruit of the date-palm is
more valued than bread by the Oriental traveller, so great is its
sustaining power; and the fruit-bearing powers of the tree do not pass
away; as age increases the fruit becomes more perfect as well as more
abundant.

The righteous shall flourish like the palm-tree:
He shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
They that are 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 full of sap and green.

But why are the righteous made so upright and flourishing?

To show that the LORD is upright;
He is my ROCK, and there is no unrighteousness in Him.

One with our LORD, it is ours to _show forth_ His graces and virtues, to
reflect His beauty, to be His faithful witnesses.

The palm is also the emblem of victory; it raises its beautiful crown
towards the heavens, fearless of the heat of the sultry sun, or of the
burning hot wind from the desert. From its beauty it was one of the
ornaments of Solomon's, as it is to be of Ezekiel's temple. When our
SAVIOUR was received at Jerusalem as the KING of Israel the people took
branches of palm-trees and went forth to meet Him; and in the glorious
day of His espousals, "a great multitude, which no man" can "number, of
all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues," shall stand "before
the throne and before the LAMB, clothed with white robes"; and with
palms of victory in their hands shall ascribe their "salvation to our
GOD which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the LAMB."

But if she resembles the palm she also resembles the vine. Much she
needs the culture of the Husbandman, and well does she repay it. Abiding
in CHRIST, the true source of fruitfulness, she brings forth clusters of
grapes, luscious and refreshing, as well as sustaining, like the fruit
of the palm--luscious and refreshing to Himself, the owner of the
vineyard, as well as to the weary, thirsty world in which He has placed
it.

The vine has its own suggestive lessons: it needs and seeks support;
the sharp knife of the pruner often cuts away unsparingly its tender
garlands, and mars its appearance, while increasing its fruitfulness. It
has been beautifully written:--