“Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good!
Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!
Oh, fear the Lord, you his saints,
for those who fear him have no lack!
The young lions suffer want and hunger;
but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.“
How do you know something is good?
You can read reviews before buying a product or ask friends for recommendations before trying a new restaurant. You can watch videos of someone visiting a place before planning your own trip.
But eventually, there comes a point when you have to experience it for yourself.
David writes,
“Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good.”
Those words come from someone who had learned that lesson firsthand.
Psalm 34 was written after David escaped from the Philistine king Achish. Fearing for his life, David pretended to be insane, and the king dismissed him instead of killing him. Looking back, David didn’t credit his own cleverness for his escape. He gave thanks to God for His deliverance.
David had tasted God’s goodness.
That doesn’t mean his life had become easy. He was still running from Saul. He still faced uncertainty. There would be many more difficult days ahead.
But he had learned that God’s goodness is not measured by whether life is free from trouble. In fact, later in the same psalm David writes,
“Many are the afflictions of the righteous.”
Christians sometimes fall into the trap of thinking that if God is good, life should be comfortable. When hardships come, we begin to question either God’s goodness or His presence.
David reached a different conclusion. He experienced both trouble and God’s goodness at the same time.
As Christians, we see that most clearly in Jesus.
On Good Friday, nothing about the cross looked good. It looked like defeat, suffering, and death.
Yet through that very event, God accomplished the greatest good the world has ever known. Through the death and resurrection of His Son, He brought forgiveness, life, and salvation to sinners.
That means we don’t judge God’s goodness only by today’s circumstances.
We judge it by the cross.
There, God has already shown us how deeply He loves us. David invites us to
“taste and see.”
That invitation still stands today.
Spend time in God’s Word. Receive His gifts. Hear His promises. Bring your burdens to Him in prayer. The more you come to know the Lord, the more you discover what David already knew.
The Lord truly is good.
Or what Paul discovered in Romans:
“For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.” Romans 8:18
Let’s pray…
Heavenly Father,
Thank You for showing me Your goodness in so many ways, especially through the gift of Your Son. Help me to trust You when life is difficult and to remember that Your love for me is certain because of the cross. Draw me closer to You each day through Your Word and Your gracious promises. Keep my eyes on you and the things above knowing what is to come is so much greater than anything we experience now.
Amen.
As part of your devotion time, I encourage you to also pray for at least some of the following:
After praying for these people, you may want to finish your devotion time with the Lord’s Prayer…
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. They will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom and the power, and the glory, forever and every. Amen.
In Christ’s Service,
Pastor Kurt
