Scripture Daily

Context No. 1479 of 4322 · Psalms

Context · Reflection

Psalms 34:1-16: in context

1I will bless the LORD at all times. His praise will always be in my mouth. 2My soul shall boast in the LORD. The humble shall hear of it and be glad. 3Oh magnify the LORD with me. Let’s exalt his name together. 4I sought the LORD, and he answered me, and delivered me from all my fears. 5They looked to him, and were radiant. Their faces shall never be covered with shame. 6This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles. 7The LORD’s angel encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them. 8Oh taste and see that the LORD is good. Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him. 9Oh fear the LORD, you his saints, for there is no lack with those who fear him. 10The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger, but those who seek the LORD shall not lack any good thing. 11Come, you children, listen to me. I will teach you the fear of the LORD. 12Who is someone who desires life, and loves many days, that he may see good? 13Keep your tongue from evil, and your lips from speaking lies. 14Depart from evil, and do good. Seek peace, and pursue it. 15The LORD’s eyes are toward the righteous. His ears listen to their cry. 16The LORD’s face is against those who do evil, to cut off their memory from the earth.

David's psalm overflows with praise and testimony. I will bless the LORD at all times, it begins; I sought the LORD, and he answered me, and delivered me from all my fears. Those who look to him are radiant, their faces unashamed; this poor man cried, and the LORD heard him. And then the famous invitation: taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him. The psalm goes on to teach the fear of the LORD, to keep the tongue from evil, to turn from evil and do good, to seek peace and pursue it, assuring us that the eyes of the LORD are toward the righteous.

The invitation at the heart of the psalm is a striking one: taste and see that the LORD is good. It does not say hear that the LORD is good, or believe that he is good, but taste and see, an invitation to experience his goodness for oneself, firsthand, personally. Faith, this suggests, is not finally a matter of accepting propositions about God from a distance; it is a matter of coming close enough to taste, to prove his goodness in one's own experience, to find by encounter that he is good. David can issue the invitation because he has tasted himself: I sought the LORD, and he answered me, and delivered me from all my fears. He is not passing on a rumor of God's goodness but testifying to what he has found. And he invites others to do the same, not to take his word for it only, but to taste and see. There is an encouragement here to move from hearing about God to encountering him, from believing things about his goodness to proving it in our own lives, by seeking him, taking refuge in him, and finding him good. Those who only hear of God's goodness secondhand hold a thin faith; those who taste it, who seek him and find him answering, who take refuge in him and find him a refuge, come to know his goodness as a thing proved and their own. Taste and see; the invitation is to firsthand knowledge of a God who is found good by those who come close enough to try him.

Do I know God's goodness only secondhand, as something I have heard about, or have I tasted and seen it for myself, drawing close enough to prove his goodness in my own experience, seeking him and finding him good?

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