O Taste and See that Yahweh is Good!

“O taste and see that Yahweh is good.
How blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!” ~ Ps 34:8

Have you ever tasted and seen that a steak is good? That a cake is good? Have you, gazing at a vividly colored sky, tasted and seen that a sunset is good? We can taste with more than our taste buds. Think of the multitudes of provisions God grants His own–salvation, adoption, family and friends, ability to enjoy sunsets and steaks, every breath of every day, and so many moments of life we don’t even consider. Taste and see that God is good!

In Psalm 34, David testifies about God’s goodness even in a terrifying trial when his life was in imminent danger, when Abimelech was about to kill him. He urges others to partake and savor it. Read the psalm in your Bible. Paraphrasing verses 1-10, he says:

All of you who are His, indulge in God, for He is good and His own are richly blessed. For example, let me tell you of how He was good to me. I was in desperate straits. Though I was innocent, the king himself placed a price on my head and I had to keep running from his assassins. They found me everywhere I tried to hide.

Then I was caught by a neighboring thug. He and his friends were planning to kill me. I couldn’t escape. No friends could help and the king surely wouldn’t. I finally tried faking insanity. By that time, I felt crazy so it wasn’t all that hard. (1 Sam 21:1-15; 19-20; Ps 34:1).

Then I sought the Lord. He answered me and snatched me out of danger. He even overcame my fears and troubles. I’m telling you, God surrounds and guards those who fear Him. He takes better care of His children than a father does. (34:4, 6-7)

We who look to Him and make Him our boast have just cause for joy and need never be ashamed because God never disappoints. Our feelings and faces brighten because we treasure He who is joy itself (34:2, 5)!

Taste for yourself and see what I mean. He answers the cries of the righteous. He watches and guards them. He provides their needs and never disappoints. He blesses. He delivers excellently. He exercises justice. (All are listed in Psalm 34.)

In light of how good He is, if you profess to be one who is set apart to God, then fear Him. “To those who fear Him there is no want.” Compare this with young lions. They are the most able at hunting, yet they will go hungry before the Father’s children will. Those who pursue God will not lack any good thing.

This is David’s opening to Psalm 34. We get to rejoice with him. However, we also might say, “Wait, David! Believers throughout history have lacked food, clothing, and shelter, and have even died in deprivation. God’s own Son hungered and had no place to lay His head. So what does it mean that they “shall not be in want of any good thing”?

First, consider that the Lord is the ultimate good thing. If I have Him I need never be disappointed over any other lack or loss.

Second, our deprivations are temporary. One day, all will be perfect.

Third, our deprivations have a good purpose because God purposes and God is good.

Fourth, our deprivations do not negate the goodness of His Fatherly care. God is always attentive to His children’s needs and has both the will and the power to care for them in such a way that they need never be disappointed. God’s own Son was innocent, yet God directed His suffering and death. In contrast, I am guilty of infinite sins. Who am I to claim exemption from deprivations or to accuse God if I suffer? If I am disappointed in God, then it is my expectations that were wrong, not His promises or provisions.

“Yahweh is good.
“How blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!”

(To “take refuge” is psalm-speak for trusting God for salvation.)

God is absolutely good, and out of His goodness He blesses with good things those who trust Him for salvation, who believe that He is good and keeps His promises (8). Therefore, I must conclude that if it is good for me, then I will have it. If I do not have it, then it must not be good for me as God deems “good.” Further, I must conclude that the lack of it is a “gooder” good than to possess it.

If God’s glory is my highest aim (as it must be for one who truly treasures Him), and if deprivation is God’s will for me, and if that deprivation will bring Him glory, then I need deprivation more than I need what I think I lack. If God is sovereign and lovingly cares for His own, then whatever I don’t have is not truly needed, even to death.

Even so, the Lord constantly provides for the needs of His own. He saved David from the Philistines and Daniel from lions. George Mueller supported thousands of orphans by asking only God and never telling people of the food needed for that day. From her longterm consignment to a sickbed, Susannah Spurgeon provided thousands of books to poor, needy pastors around the world without seeking donations. God has provided the needs of suffering believers from Adam until now, delivering many in miraculous ways, others by quiet providence.

Do you doubt God’s goodness? Since God is the essence of goodness, doubt in His goodness is certainly not from anything He has or has not done. It is generated in our own hearts. Perhaps you have not been willing to accept God’s gifts on God’s terms. Or perhaps you have ungratefully indulged in those gifts for your selfish pleasure. Instead, taste of God!

How do you taste? “Fear Yahweh” (9). In the trenches of life like the trials David experienced, if you fear Yahweh rather than pain and suffering, you will obey Him.

How? Certainly not by angry retorts. Not by demanding justice. Not by worry or brooding. Not by self-pity. Not by attributing your less than Christlike responses to your “dysfunctional” family background. David’s counsel is this:

“Do you want to experience good and enjoy life?
“Guard your tongue from evil…and deceit.
“Depart from evil and do good;
“Seek peace and pursue it.” (13-14)

In other words, don’t seek relief or your ends through manipulation or deceit. Depart from evil like anger, resentment, and retaliation. Do good. Pursue peace. – These are the opposite of what we tend to do when we feel oppressed by another person.

Easy? No. Yet with absolute confidence, we can seek God’s hand of deliverance from our temptations. His Word promises that we can please Him with obedience (1 Cor. 10:13; Heb. 2:18). In pain and troubles, we can also ask for deliverance. Whether He delivers by giving relief or delivers by giving strength to endure, whatever answer He provides will be good because He is good. They who seek the Lord shall not be in want of any good thing. God is our greatest good.

“O taste and see that Yahweh is good.”