The connection between trees and Scripture ultimately centers on the meaning of "law" as instruction, and how this instruction shapes the spiritual growth of God's people. In Psalm 1:1-3, the blessed man is described as one who delights in the law of the Lord and meditates on it day and night. This law can also be understood as instruction, and the blessed man's devotion to it is illustrated through the image of a tree planted by rivers of water. Just as a tree depends on a strong root system and a reliable water source to survive and produce fruit, the individual who delights in God's instruction draws continually from that source, allowing it to sustain and strengthen him. The rivers of water represent God's instruction and His Holy Spirit, the essential nourishment that allows spiritual growth to occur. Before reaching this image of the tree, Psalm 1 first describes three negative behaviors avoided by the blessed man: walking in the counsel of the ungodly, standing in the path of sinners, and sitting in the seat of the scornful. This reflects a progression both in mindset—from being unmindful of sin, to actively sinning, to mocking God outright—and in action, moving from a temporary encounter with sin toward a fixed and settled position within it. In contrast, the blessed man turns away from this progression and instead centers his life on God's instruction, choosing it continually as his source of guidance. Jeremiah 17:7-8 develops this same image further, presenting what appears to be a more mature tree, one that has grown through sustained reliance on the same source of instruction. While the tree in Psalm 1 will not wither under difficulty, reflecting a "bend but do not break" endurance, the tree in Jeremiah does not even fear the heat when it comes, showing a deeper level of trust and stability developed over time. Its root system is described as spreading out toward the rivers of water, emphasizing an established and deeply reliant relationship with that source. Its leaves remain green and it continues without ceasing to produce fruit, in contrast to the tree in Psalm 1, which will produce fruit only in its future season. This suggests a contrast between a newer follower who has just begun turning away from ungodliness toward the Lord's instruction, and one who has walked in that same instruction for a long time, becoming rooted in trust and hope. Central to both passages is the recognition that the trees do not plant themselves; they are planted next to rivers of water by another. This points to God as both the source of instruction and the source of the living water that sustains it, a connection affirmed through Christ's own proclamation in John 7:37-38. The goal of receiving and abiding in this instruction is ultimately transformation—being conformed into "trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord," as described in Isaiah 61:2-3, so that God may be glorified through the growth and fruitfulness of His people.