O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him. A familiar and well- loved passage of scripture from the book of Psalm, chapter 34, verse 8. The psalmist gives us an illustration that we can easily grasp. In a literal sense we have all tasted something and found it very tasty. But this is not meant to be taken literally. David, who wrote Psalm 34 is saying to us, to experience God, to know Him, to have relationship with Him… is to experience the goodness of the Lord. That is the point. To truly experience God is to know him and to know him is to experience him, which means to experience his goodness. It’s one thing to look at something that looks good on the plate and to smell the aroma rising from it, but it’s an entirely different experience to taste it, to savor it, especially when it is especially good.
David got it right, didn’t he? It is undeniable not only because he said so, not only because we have found it to be so, but because God said so, and if the Lord Himself said it then it must be so. If any man, any woman, boy or girl, if anyone gets a taste, a real good taste of our great God, they will share the same experience, The Lord is good! It is universally true. The passage of time doesn’t change it. Extreme conditions can’t change it. Not even a worldwide pandemic can change it. A divided nation can’t change it, not even racial strife can change it.
The opening verse of Psalm 34 states, “I will bless the Lord at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth.” This is a man who has tasted for himself, and he found the goodness of God so incredible that he said he would never stop talking about it. He said at all times! In good times and in bad. In the sunshine and in the rain. In the valley or on the mountain top, His praise shall continually be in his mouth! Why, because the Lord is that good.
The 6th verse states, “This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles.” Oh, my God, now it makes sense! He was a poor man, maybe not financially, but poor in spirit, and he cried out to the Lord. And God heard him, saw him, felt him, and extended his hand and saved him. This poor man tasted, and he experienced the love, the mercy and the unmerited favor of almighty God and he was saved from all his troubles. Not removed from all his troubles but saved out of all his troubles. What a mighty God we serve! And if He, did it for that poor man, He’ll do it for all poor men. That’s us. We cried out to the Lord, and He saved us out of all our troubles.
But there’s a problem and a concern, and the concern is two-fold. One, why does it appear that there is so much discontentment and dissatisfaction among those who say they’ve tasted? Secondarily, why does it seem like there are some who seem less interested in growing more and more like Christ in character, in devotion and in demeanor, disposition and appearance and more towards things that are trendy, in vogue and popular with mainstream society? In other words, why can’t we be content with the things of God? No, God did not call us to a life of isolation from the world, but He definitely called us to a life of separation. Shouldn’t we be passionate and excited about God and disinterested in what’s the latest and greatest instead of the other way around?
If the word is true, and we know it is, then how can we taste and experience God’s supreme goodness and still be hungry for something else?
To make things even more interesting Jesus said “ whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.: John 4: 14. Never thirst! He’s so good, He so thoroughly satisfies that we should never, ever in a thousand years, thirst or get hungry for anything else! God satisfies the longing soul, and we all have souls that long to be satisfied. Everything points to a God and a plan of God that meets all our needs, a plan that promises love, joy, peace, comfort and eternal life by a God who never lies and always delivers on his promises.
How can that not be enough? Something is wrong and something is missing. We all are tempted. We all are still in the flesh. We all have our areas of weakness that we have to work on, right? But shouldn’t the search for something good be over? When we met Jesus didn’t that do it for us? Isn’t He enough?
He is not just enough... He is more than enough. We must learn to love and enjoy what He loves and to reject what He rejects and be able to gauge what is ok and what is not ok. We have train ourselves to be able to see that which may look appealing and harmless on the surface but hidden beneath is a slippery slope leading in the wrong direction. We need not live in fear and anxiety afraid to live life and enjoy ourselves. But we must be wise, carful and prayerful about our direction and our choices.
God is who should fill us up.
Psalm 42:1 says, “As the deer longs for streams of water, so I long for you, O God.”
Get a good taste and you’ll see.