“Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good!
Blessed is the man who trusts in him.”
It's Friday morning. I will be meeting with my small group at a local restaurant here in Boca. As our guys talk life and dive into God's Word I will enjoy the Trifecta. It is my usual: one giant blueberry pancake, scrambled eggs, and bacon!
I love bacon.
Wednesday morning I was sitting down at a different Boca Raton eatery. I was enjoying a blueberry pancake, scrambled eggs, and bacon (do you see a pattern here?). It was a five-star day as my bacon arrived so close to perfection it probably rivaled what I will experience in heaven at the marriage supper of the Lamb.
As my taste buds did their thing, sending signals to my brain that were interpreted as "This stuff is amazing!" I thought about David's words in Psalm 34: "Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good."
Sometimes it is not enough to see something, even to smell it; we've got to taste it. God designed us to taste. We come from the factory with 10,000 taste buds on our tongues, each with 100 receptor cells that get replaced every couple of weeks.
We are designed to taste God too -- to experience the reality of who he is. David understood this and wants us to understand it as well.
“1 I will bless the Lord at all times;
his praise shall continually be in my mouth.
2 My soul makes its boast in the Lord;
let the humble hear and be glad.
3 Oh, magnify the Lord with me,
and let us exalt his name together!
4 I sought the Lord, and he answered me
and delivered me from all my fears.
5 Those who look to him are radiant,
and their faces shall never be ashamed.
6 This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him
and saved him out of all his troubles.
7 The angel of the Lord encamps
around those who fear him, and delivers them.
8 Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good!
Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!”
Taking even a cursory look at Psalm 34, you can see that David's relationship with God was very experiential:
- He blessed the Lord.
- He praised the Lord.
- He exalted and boasted in the Lord.
- He sought the Lord.
- He looked to the Lord.
- He cried out to the Lord.
- He took refuge in the Lord.
When it comes to bacon, I can tell you how good it is, I can show you pictures, I can even let you smell it, but there is nothing like tasting it for yourself. It is the same way with God.
This morning is an opportunity to "taste anew" the goodness of the Lord. It is a goodness that is not contingent on your circumstances or your feelings or your season of life.
In fact, it is God's goodness despite my circumstances, my feelings, and my season of life that sustains me in the midst of those times when I -- or my circumstances -- are not at their best. But I don't remember that and I can't experience that if I don't get a taste of his goodness. So David urges me (and you) to bless, to seek, to cry out, and to take refuge in God.
You may not care for bacon. That's okay. Pass on that meal, but you cannot pass when it comes to tasting of the Lord for yourself. Why not read Psalm 34 and do what David did. Then join God's people in worship this Sunday and discover the wonder of enjoying that meal with others.
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Here a couple of interesting articles on taste buds: "Taste Buds" and "What Are Taste Buds"