
Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good;
Blessed is the man who trusts in Him.
Psalm 34:8
We experience the world through our five senses. They give us the ability to understand our surroundings and to enjoy life. This verse from Psalms is an exciting invitation to experience the goodness of God through two of our God-given senses, taste and sight.
Taste
I love to watch all of those TV shows about cooking. The hosts often describe what their food tastes like for the viewing audience. The sweetness of strawberry shortcake, how the spongy cake mingles with the buttery cream and rich berries. The flaky crust and gooey, warm filling of a tart cherry pie. Or a spicy, hot enchilada. The way the flavors burst in your mouth and fill your taste buds with pleasure. But the sense of taste is something that you have to experience for yourself. You can listen all day long to someone else describe what they are tasting, but in order to taste it for yourself, you have to actually put the food in your mouth and eat it.
In the same way that we can taste our favorite foods and savor them, we can also enjoy the goodness of God. But just like with the sense of taste, we have to be intentional about it. We have to put the time in to develop a relationship with God first. After we have fed our minds with God’s word and have thoughtfully developed a prayer life, then we will experience the fullness of God’s goodness toward us.
Sight
The experience of tasting leads us to seeing. And seeing is believing. If we believe in our hearts that God is good, then our eyes will be open to seeing His goodness on display in our lives. God has given each of us many blessings. Through the simple things like getting us to and from work safely every day, to the big earth-shattering moments where life takes an unexpected turn, God’s goodness never changes.
We are able to see God’s goodness just like we can see the beauty of a sunset with its brilliant colors fading into each other. The vast ocean with its sandy beach. A babbling brook, cool and blue. Or a rolling hillside, lush and green. Think of all of the amazing sights God has created for us to see!
God is always good! And the outcome of both tasting and seeing is believing in the goodness of God. Through both the good and bad times, God shows His goodness by blessing us with mercy and compassion. Because He is good, we are able to taste and see His goodness surrounding us when we need Him the most. He loves us and wants to share His goodness with us.
YES!!! and AMEN! You are so right, in the same way we taste food we can taste the Word of God. One of my favorite stories is when God told Ezekiel to eat the scroll… He literally ate and tasted the very Words of God. God told Him – eat your fill – we are neighbors at #TellHisStory this week.
PS.. if you are looking for another place to link to on Thursday’s I would love if you would consider joining my linkup #TuneInThursday – it opens Thursday 3am PST and runs through Sunday night. you can find it at debbiekitterman.com/blog (Please feel free to delete the link if you think it inappropriate).
Hi Debbie! Ezekiel eating the scroll is fascinating for sure. When he ate the scroll, he said it was as sweet as honey. And the Word of God is the same for us too. (For anyone not familiar with this story, you can read about it in Ezekiel 3:3.) Thanks for the invitation to join your linkup. I’ll check it out. Blessings!
I think the biggest boost to our faith is when we ask God to help us taste Him – and then tell someone else what we tasted! God knows we are a visceral group and need to see for ourselves what He is like.
Hi Sue! I agree, it is a blessing to us and to others to taste and see what God has done in our lives. Thanks for the encouraging words. God bless!
I love this Connie, and I love those desserts, found one on Pinterest but it had all those organic ingredients, not the same at all just like the Word, we want some real flavor, and dessert in moderation.
Yes, Rebecca, all things in moderation. Except the Word, I’ll take all I can get. Saying a prayer for you and hope you have a wonderful weekend!