And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he does shall prosper.
All Commentaries on Psalms 1:3 Go To Psalms 1
Thomas Aquinas
AD 1274
In this part he describes the outcome of happiness: and first he sets forth its diversity; second he assigns the reason for it, where he says: For the Lord knoweth etc. Concerning the first he does two things. First he sets forth the outcome of good men, second, that of evil men, where he says: not so the wicked, etc. Concerning the outcome of good men he uses a similarity; and first he sets it forth, then he shows how it is appropriate, where he writes: And all whatsoever he shall do etc. The similarity is taken from a tree, in which three things are considered, namely, planting, bearing of fruit, and conservation. For planting, one needs earth moistened by the waters, otherwise the tree dries up, and so he says: which is planted near the running waters, that is, next to the streams of graces, John 7:38 "He that believeth in me (as the scripture saith) out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water." And he who has roots next to this water will bear fruit in doing good works; and this is what follows: which shall bring forth its fruit. Galatians 5:22 "The fruit of the Spirit is charity, joy, peace, and patience, long-suffering, goodness, benignity" etc. In due season, that is, just when it is time to act. Galatians 6:10 "Whilst we have time, let us work good to all men." But it does not dry up, but rather is kept alive. Some trees are kept alive in their underlying substance, but not in the leaves, and others are also kept alive in their leaves: so also the just, whence he says: and his leaf shall not fall off that is, he will not be deserted by God even in the smallest exterior works. Proverbs 11:28 "But the just shall spring up as a green leaf."
