Taste & See

Psalm 34:1-8

“I will extol the Lord at all times; his praise will always be on my lips.

I will glory in the Lord; let the afflicted hear and rejoice.

Glorify the Lord with me; let us exalt his name together.

I sought the Lord, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears.

Those who look to him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame.

This poor man called, and the Lord heard him; he saved him out of all his troubles.

The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and he delivers them. Taste and

see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.”

The Psalmist, King David, reminds those who would read, or sing this Psalm that praise is not

something just reserved for the good moments, but should be a constant flow from our hearts,

unwavering and steady, consistent and persistent. This may be difficult in times of trial, but King

David goes on to note that we’re not alone in those darkest moments. He beckons us to exalt

the Lord’s name together. In other words, true praise is collective, uniting believers around

God’s goodness and faithfulness. True life, the way God always intended, is to be found within

the body of believers where the afflicted join together to be reoriented around the saving work of

Christ and encouraged and strengthened to carry on through this life. C.S. Lewis wrote that

praise is not the end of the struggle, but the strength that sustains us through it.

In the midst of the trials of this life, what greater sustaining power is there than the God who

answers, and delivers? He hears and saves. That’s it. God has done the work, he protects those

who put their trust in him, and then we are invited simply to sample the spoils of the goodness of

God as we taste it and see it. I think we’re more familiar with hearing that the Lord is good, or

we might know that the Lord is good, but I find it interesting that the Psalmist uses the words

taste and see. When do we or will we truly experience the Lord’s goodness in this way? That

may be different for each of us on an individual level in some ways, but I think we consistently

get a foretaste of it on Sunday mornings, in gathered worship, as we’re fed by the Word, and at

the Table. We don’t come to church because God needs us to, as if we’re seeking to earn

“brownie points” with God; or worse, to appease our family’s history of “this is what we always

do.” No, we are invited to come, taste & see the Lord’s goodness as a foreshadowing of the

great Wedding Feast that is to come at the end of time, when Christ and his Church are one;

when we have been delivered from all our fears, and those who take refuge in him have radiant

faces because they sit around the table of the King.

Father,

May our lips be filled with praise today, and always. In good times and in hard times. Thank you

for your sustaining love through it all. Lord Jesus, we long for the day when we will be seated at

your table tasting, and seeing your goodness in its fullness. Holy Spirit, may this picture of hope

motivate and inspire us to live lives of love, and be the hands and feet of our Savior that others

might also be welcomed into this glorious feast, and come to find refuge in you.

Amen