Taste & See, the Lord is Good

Read Psalm 34.

It’s the joyful worship of a man whom God just rescued from a life-threatening crisis. It’s a song of praise and gratitude written to teach us. It's not sentimental fluff, but a firsthand endorsement of the God who delivers from death.

The message?

God saves those who fear Him, not those who flirt with Him.

We all need refuge, and there’s only One who can provide it.

O taste and see that the LORD is good; How blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him! (Ps. 34:8)

How does one “taste” God?

I have not turned aside from Your ordinances, for You Yourself have taught me. How sweet are Your words to my taste! Yes, sweeter than honey to my mouth! From Your precepts I get understanding; therefore I hate every false way. (Ps. 119:102–104)

David issues a challenge—seek God for yourself. It reminds me of Philip’s words to his reluctant, skeptical friend: “Come and see” (Jn. 1:45).

David saw God's power bring down a giant, make armies flee, deliver him from a murderous king, and reclaim his kidnapped family—but when he speaks of tasting the Lord, he points us not to battlefields, but to God’s Word.

Why? Because seeing God act isn’t the same as knowing His heart—and David wanted both.

There was another man—Moses—who witnessed God’s power in overwhelming and miraculous ways. Yet even he cried out:

I pray You, if I have found favor in Your sight, let me know Your ways, that I may know You… (Ex. 33:13)

This amazes me. Godly men who experienced the miraculous still hungered for the Word of God. Why? Because awe doesn’t equal intimacy. The miraculous may impress—but only the Word reveals.

Fast forward to today.

Could it be that people place too much emphasis on “signs” from God—eager to seize upon every “likeness” burned into their toast or tree in the backyard?

Hasn’t God already revealed Himself in a way that fully satisfies?

Many make the same mistake. Like the ancients they say, “Teacher, we want to see a sign,” forgetting Jesus’ response:

A wicked and adulterous generation demands a sign... (Matt. 12:38–39)

And where does Jesus point them? To the Word.

The men of Nineveh will stand at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now One greater than Jonah is here. (Matt. 12:41)

They didn’t need another sign. They needed to repent—just like Nineveh did.

Christians are supposed to have “tasted the heavenly gift” and “the good word of God” (Heb. 6:4–5)—not as superficial samplers, not as vague spiritualists awash in emotionalism, but as people with real, concrete knowledge of God.

That kind of knowledge comes through His Word (Heb. 4:12), through obedience (Jn. 14:21), through prayer (Phil. 4:6–7), and through faith (Rom. 5:1–2).

They’re not just readers—they’re doers of the Word who understand, apply, and benefit from its teachings (Jas. 1:22).

That’s what it means to know God. 
You don’t “feel” your way into fellowship with Him.
You listen. You follow. You obey.

Could we be asking in our hearts—as the rich man pleaded with Abraham—“If only someone is sent to my family from the dead, they will repent”?

Do you remember Abraham’s response?

They have Moses and the prophets; let your brothers listen to them… If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead. (Lk. 16:29–31)

I think it’s coming into focus:

Stop looking to the novel, the dramatic, the theatrical.

Stop looking—even—for the miraculous.

If you desire to truly taste the Lord, look no further than His Word.

David (inspired by God), Moses (who spoke with God face-to-face), Abraham (now with God in glory), and Jesus Himself all say the same thing:

HEAR AND OBEY THE WORD OF GOD.

Most people don’t (Jn. 3:19).

Like children at dinner, they turn up their noses without ever taking a bite. It’s easier to dismiss God based on gossip, hearsay, or lazy assumptions:

“He just wants me to be happy.”

“All religions are the same.”

“God knows my heart.”

People do it all the time, imagining they’ve made an informed decision. They drink the Osteen Kool-Aid of “God has a plan for your life,” vainly waiting for an imaginary, pain-free path to appear—one that just happens to lead straight to their dream job.

This is not God’s top priority.

In reality, His plan for you is the same as it is for everyone: to make you like Christ—holy, obedient, tested, and faithful (Col. 1:28).

Anything less is a cheap counterfeit—and it will ruin you.

Jesus said, “No one comes to the Father except through Me” (Jn. 14:6).

Anyone telling you otherwise is not your friend—they’re probably just selling books or afraid to hurt your feelings.

We can either keep building our lives around shallow slogans—or we can humble ourselves, open His Word, and obey the truth: “Taste and see that the LORD is good…” (Ps. 34:8)

Jesus calls you to repent and become like Him—sanctified in truth (Jn. 17:17).

If you do, Scripture says you will be “enlightened,” “taste the heavenly gift,” “partake of the Holy Spirit,” and experience the “powers of the age to come” (Heb. 6:4–5)—you will “taste that the Lord is good” (1 Pet. 2:3).

This is not just an invitation—it’s a line in the sand, drawn by the One who made you and who will one day judge you (Acts 17:31).

Jesus said, “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments” (Jn. 14:15).

Those who fear and obey the Lord, David says, “lack nothing.”

As we come to know every spiritual blessing in Christ, the things of earth grow dim. As Christians grow in their understanding of Christ—who He is, what He’s done, and what He promises—their desires for this world wither and die.

They lack nothing because they have everything in Christ.

No one drifts into that kind of life.

So what’s stopping you?

Delay no longer.

Because the One who invites you today will judge you tomorrow.