Psalm 34:8


Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him ~ Psalm 34:8

In my family, when there are times to come together and celebrate, we eat, lavishly. We as a family usually have pot-luck dinners, and the varying foods we taste on our pallets is wonderful. Each person brings their own specialty and we all down in great gulps the textures and tastes provided in the meal. The psalmist is recommending that the reader dive into knowing God the way my family dives into our food around the table. It isn’t that the psalmist is saying we literally taste God or see God, but that we experience Him, much in the same way we do when we sit down to feast. The psalmist has found in God one he can depend upon, one he has been protected by and is good to him, and all this he has experienced. He is saying to those who may not know God to try Him, test Him by your own experience, and then see for yourself whether you receive blessing and joy. Once many years ago, someone took the verse not to test God out of context, thinking that one should not challenge God to see if He were really God. Perhaps our mistake sometimes is that we don’t believe we should do that as well, and we don’t invite others to test God and see if He really is as good as we believe He is. If one could test the comforts of religion, and by that I do not mean head religion, but heart religion, then perhaps they would be led to seek their own happiness there forever. Then they would have the same appreciation we have, and they too would engage in the service of God authentically. If they were in danger, they would look to Him; if they were afflicted, they would find aid in Him; and if they are down-hearted and would cast their cares upon Him, they would all surely find what they need and put then their trust in God alone.

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