Under the Olive Tree, Psalm 37:7 Rest in the Lord Wall Art

What is painted

The tree takes up most of the picture, a thick gnarled trunk and a broad dome of silvery green leaves that throws a wide pool of shade. At its foot a lone man sits on the grass, knees drawn up, small against the size of the trunk. The meadow in front of him is sprinkled with white and yellow wildflowers, and the land drops away to a patchwork of fields, trees and a winding river under hazy hills, with a pale sun low in the sky.

The painting has the soft, slightly blurred finish of a pastoral oil sketch and fades into brushed edges on cream paper. Beneath it, in a relaxed brown script: “Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him”, and Psalm 37:7 below.

Fret not: the advice of Psalm 37

Psalm 37 is headed “A Psalm of David”, and it reads less like a song than a collection of wise sayings. In Hebrew it is an acrostic, each short section beginning with the next letter of the alphabet. Its theme is a very old frustration: people who do wrong seem to prosper while honest people struggle.

The psalm's answer comes in its first word, “Fret not”, and verse 7 repeats it. The full line goes on: “fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass.” The psalmist does not deny the injustice. He says that it will not last, and that anger over it eats away at the one who carries it. Verse 8 puts it plainly: “Cease from anger, and forsake wrath.”

Later in the psalm come two lines many people know by heart: “the meek shall inherit the earth” (verse 11), which Jesus takes up in the Beatitudes, and the old man's testimony of verse 25, “I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken.” Resting in the LORD, in this psalm, is the patience of someone who has watched God keep faith over a whole life.

For a quiet corner, a retirement or a season of grief

The open landscape and the lone figure make this a restful piece for a bedroom, a reading nook or a guest room, anywhere people come to slow down. It is often chosen as a sympathy gift, for someone who has to wait through grief, illness or uncertainty, and it also suits a retirement, when rest has finally been earned.

Like all the Christian wall art in the Psalms collection, it is a fine art print on thick archival matte paper, printed to order in the United States with free US delivery. Sizes range from 5x7 to 24x36, with metric and A sizes as well. The Christian poster is shipped without a frame and keeps a border of plain paper around the image, and a digital file is also offered.