Give me oil in my lamp, keep me burning

The Mediterranean Basin is filled with olive tree orchards. In Bible times, the oil from the olive was the primary source of light, was used in foods and medicines and was an essential element used in religious practices, symbolizing consecration. There is a lot for us to learn from the olive tree and the process the fruit undergoes to produce its oil, especially in light of oil as a type for the anointing of the Holy Spirit.

Holy, Spirit, quicken our minds as we read this description of the oil harvesting process. Show us how it applies to our lives. Thank you for using the everyday rhythms of life to illustrate Your kingdom and Your workings in us. We submit our minds to you, great Teacher. I don't want to connect dots for anyone - I want You to do that. You plumb the depths of the heart of every person who will read this. You know what they need to absorb. Help us to pause, to "selah" as we consider these truths.

(Throughout the Psalms, a small Hebrew word appears again and again—Selah . It’s easy to not pay much attention to it, but it's intended to cause a shift - it is saying “Stop. Don’t move on just yet. Sit with this truth and let it sink in.” Our world moves fast and rarely slows down for anything or anyone. Selah invites us to do just the opposite. It asks us to pause, and to reflect.)

1. The young olive tree only bears olives after seven years of growth, and it is about fourteen years before the crop reaches its maturity. Because of the damaging method of harvesting the olives by using sticks to knock off the fruit, the trees only bear a full crop every other year. Some twenty gallons of oil are often derived from the olives of one tree, and the oil is considered precious. Selah.

2. Its longevity is one of the remarkable characteristics of the tree. It lives and bears fruit for centuries. The old Olive tree is often seen to have several vibrant young shoots springing up all around it from its roots. It was this picture that the Psalmist had in mind when he wrote: "Thy children like olive plants round about thy table" (Psalm 128:3). Selah.

3. The olive tree thrives in Palestinian soil which has many rocks in it. It burrows its roots into the crevices of this rocky ground and draws from there its stores of oil. Doubtless it is to this that the song of Moses alludes: "He made him to suck honey out of the rock, and oil out of the flinty rock" (Deuteronomy 32:13). Selah.

4. Olives were harvested in the Holy Land by beating the trees with sticks to knock off the fruit. Instead of hand picking them, harvesters beat the limbs and thus caused the fruit to fall. Oil-presses comprised, in addition to the vat, an upright stone with a large hole in it. In this hole a beam was inserted. This beam rested on the olives which were to be pressed, extending far beyond the receptacle containing the olives, and weights were hung on the end farthest from the stone. Selah.

5. The Garden of Gethsemane was an olive orchard, and the word, "Gethsemane," means "Oil-Press." It was here that our Savior was pressed to the point that “His sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down on the ground.” (Luke 22:44) Selah.

6. We know of many uses for oil in biblical times; as part of the meal offering, praying for the sick, anointing the body, installing people into the office of prophet, priest or king. Selah.

7. The ram's horn, the symbol of the prophetic voice, has been used chiefly as a vessel in which liquids have been carried. The ram's horn was used by Samuel to carry anointing oil. Samuel was told to take his horn of oil and anoint David to be the future king (I Samuel 16:1). Solomon was anointed king by the oil in the horn of Zadok the priest (I Kings 1:39). Even the shepherds used oil to anoint their sheep, to protect them from insects and disease. Selah.

Understand and appreciate that your anointing has come at a great price. You have been beaten, squeezed and pressed! You have been planted in rocky places, and still you grow! You have produced life giving oil to be shared with others. The oil you carry in YOUR ram's horn is poured out for the benefit of many - it provides light, hope, protection and healing!

I challenge you to meditate on the truths represented by the olive tree and the oil press and allow ABBA to produce even more oil to enable you to fulfill your purpose IN HIM !

I’ll close with the lyrics to a song I used to sing with my children when they were small. Maybe you sang it too. Blessings to you and your household!

"Give me oil in my lamp, keep me burning,

give me oil in my lamp, I pray;

give me oil in my lamp, keep me burning,

keep me burning till the break of day.

Refrain:

Sing hosanna, sing hosanna,

sing hosanna to the King of kings!

Sing hosanna, sing hosanna,

sing hosanna to the King!

Give me joy in my heart, keep me praising,

give me joy in my heart, I pray;

give me joy in my heart, keep me praising,