What Tastes Good?

Introduction

The average adult human has between 2,000 and 10,000 taste buds - most of which are on the tongue - and these taste buds have a sole function to perceive tastes and send that information to the brain. It’s interesting how all humans have these, but our views and preferences vary significantly based on our respective taste buds. You can have a dozen people try the same thing and get a dozen different answers as to if they liked it or if it was too salty or hot or things of that nature. Because of this, we taste the same things but we have different views and perspectives and preferences.

We all enjoy our food in this life, but there are some types of food that we know that we shouldn’t have. We know that we shouldn’t have them because we know that they are bad for us. One of the problems of being a human, though, is sometimes we like to do things that aren’t that very smart or very good for us and the reason why is because of sin. We are tempted by things that we know are wrong or bad for us, and often times we give into those sinful temptations - even if we’ve been raised to not do those types of things and our undoing at times are those pesky taste buds.

Just as we all are tempted to taste certain things that aren’t exactly good for us, we also are tempted to do things that we know aren’t right. Whether it be boasting in ourselves, elevating our feelings and preferences above God’s Word, being fearful of other people more than we’re fearful of our God, or failing to trust in God’s plan and in His timing - we’re all tempted to taste things that aren’t good for us, regardless of our past and regardless of how often we do what is right. This morning, as we continue walking through the book of Psalms this summer, we arrive at a beloved chapter, Psalm 34, and we’re going to look at what it means to taste and see that the Lord is good. How can we do this? Why is it hard to do this? Everyone in this world wants a good life with security and satisfaction. We want good things… but so often we look for the good thing in the wrong place. We look for something good for us but we wind up eating junk food that does the opposite. Instead of our definition of good, we must replace that with the Lord’s and taste and see that He is good and that He gives us good things. Let’s discover this truth together in Psalm 34.

Psalm 34 CSB

Concerning David, when he pretended to be insane in the presence of Abimelech, who drove him out, and he departed. 1 I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise will always be on my lips. 2 I will boast in the Lord; the humble will hear and be glad. 3 Proclaim the Lord’s greatness with me; let us exalt his name together. 4 I sought the Lord, and he answered me and rescued me from all my fears. 5 Those who look to him are radiant with joy; their faces will never be ashamed. 6 This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him and saved him from all his troubles. 7 The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and rescues them. 8 Taste and see that the Lord is good. How happy is the person who takes refuge in him! 9 You who are his holy ones, fear the Lord, for those who fear him lack nothing. 10 Young lions lack food and go hungry, but those who seek the Lord will not lack any good thing. 11 Come, children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord. 12 Who is someone who desires life, loving a long life to enjoy what is good? 13 Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from deceitful speech. 14 Turn away from evil and do what is good; seek peace and pursue it. 15 The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their cry for help. 16 The face of the Lord is set against those who do what is evil, to remove all memory of them from the earth. 17 The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears, and rescues them from all their troubles. 18 The Lord is near the brokenhearted; he saves those crushed in spirit. 19 One who is righteous has many adversities, but the Lord rescues him from them all. 20 He protects all his bones; not one of them is broken. 21 Evil brings death to the wicked, and those who hate the righteous will be punished. 22 The Lord redeems the life of his servants, and all who take refuge in him will not be punished.

Taste and See that the Lord is good - aren’t you thankful that we serve a good God this morning? Regardless of how you’re feeling today, this is a text that leads us to rejoice because the Lord is near to the brokenhearted and He redeems those who take refuge in Him and serve Him faithfully. Let’s give Him thanks for His goodness right now.

Prayer

This morning, we’re going to see 4 observations from this passage of Scripture in relation to what matters most in our lives. As we’ve looked at throughout Psalms thus far, we’ve seen that God’s Word is the path to wisdom and worship, while the path of the godless world leads to self-exaltation and pride. This morning, our text guards against self-exaltation by reminding us of our need for God and His grace. Because of this, we must first care more about:

Worshiping the Creator than Worshiping Creation (1-3)

Everyone worships something, it’s part of being human. Many worship themselves more than they know, but we all worship other things in this life. This week I was researching this question in depth and found some interesting results regarding what people in the United States worship in addition to self:

The Past

Constantly reliving the “good ole days” often makes you loathe the present day that God has given you

Creation

Billions worship mother nature and the universe at the expense of their Creator

Authority/State

Millions in our country and millions more around the world care more about their personal power and spend more time watching the news than they do in their Bible’s, at church, or in prayer

Sports

As a country, we spend billions of dollars on athletic equipment and sports tickets and spend hundreds of hours traveling for ball and do so gladly when an hour or two a week at church sounds boring and like a waste of time

Stuff (cars, homes, boats, etc…)

People invest time, talent, and treasure into stuff instead of making Kingdom investments into disciples

Money

Money has become the Master for many in our world and Jesus says that we cannot serve 2 masters… that He is the giver of what we have and we must use what He gives us to honor Him

There were dozens of things that people listed regarding what people worship in our world over or equal to our worship of God… but, church, this is idolatry. Not that these are all bad things - they’re blessings from the Lord! But, if we’re not careful, we begin to worship them instead of the Lord and this is something we must guard against. Even in the Bible times, people were tempted to worship power and stuff and money and creation over or equal to God and whenever this happened, disaster often followed closely behind. This is why we must heed Psalm 34:1 and bless the Lord at all times and boast in Him and His greatness - not the greatness of our hands or our stuff.

This is one of 14 Psalms that has a given historical context given to us in the superscript before verse 1. This Psalm is in reference to the events of 1 Samuel 21-22 as King Saul is persecuting David so much that David flees to Gath… a major city of the Philistines. Does David and the Philistines ring a bell to anyone? David slayed Goliath earlier on and Goliath was a Philistine giant from… Gath. Why on earth would David run to Gath? Because the persecution from Saul was so severe that he believed it would be better to run to another country and pretend to be insane than to stay in Israel and escape Saul’s sword. We have to understand this context in order for the rest of the Psalm to make any sense. David isn’t saying whenever life is easy, bless the Lord. Whenever everyone likes you, sing His praises. Whenever He blesses you and your possessions and health are blossoming, boast in the Lord. David has had to flee his homeland. He’s nearly been killed. Now he’s had to seek refuge with the people that absolutely hate him. Yet, here he is saying to bless the Lord and proclaim His greatness. David did this in exile and he calls upon the people of God to do this together at all times, good and bad.

See, this is why we worship. Not because our circumstances are always ideal… but because God’s character never changes! We must care more about worshiping the Lord than being worshiped ourselves. We must care more about worshiping the Lord the way that He instructs us to worship Him than we do remaining comfortable or only doing so when its convenient. We live in a world that is drowning in bad news - and we have the best news of all to share but so often we don’t share it because we’re not prioritizing it. We’ll fit worship into our schedule where we have free time or whenever we don’t have anything better on the agenda - then we’ll gather to proclaim God’s greatness together… but that’s not the Biblical command here. Instead it’s to bless the Lord at all times and to have His praise always on our lips. The reason that we sometimes struggle with worship is because we fundamentally misunderstand it. Worship is more than Sunday morning from 10:15-11:40. Worship is more than singing songs. Worship is more than the preaching of God’s Word. Worship is more than hymns in a book with 4 lines and a chorus. Worship comes from an old English word “worth-ship” meaning that worship is praising God because He is worth that praise. People worship God however they feel God deserves that praise… Show me a person who neglects to study God’s Word at home, who fails to spend time in prayer, who rarely comes to corporate worship with God’s people and you’ll find someone who finds God not very worthy of praise.

We’re all praising something. We’re all worshiping something. We can examine what that is with our time, talent, and treasure. David shares that we must worship the Lord individually and corporately not because God is in heaven begging for us to do that… He isn’t needy. He lacks in nothing. But what worship does is it deepens our relationship with the Lord. Worship satisfies our souls. Proclaiming the Lord’s greatness with your brothers and sisters in Christ should be a highlight in your week regardless of how you feel and regardless of how good or bad your week has been. Over the last 2 years, I’ve so looked forward to this gathering with you all because I am encouraged whenever we gather to worship together and from this gathering, I am convicted and strengthened to continue worshiping the Lord on Monday. Worshiping the Lord matters and this is something that a follower of God must prioritize because God doesn’t change and He always deserves our praise.

Second, followers of God care more about

Fearing the Lord than Fearing People (4-14)

Whenever I was in high school, everyone started to get cell phones if they didn’t already have one because that was the thing to do in the early 2010s. Cell phones were great - especially as a teenager because you thought that you could have all the answers for all your homework at the touch of a few buttons and you could text and tweet and snapchat with your friends, even at school… Earlier on, though, cell phones didn’t always have the best of service. There wasn’t 5G towers like we have in our area with lightning fast speeds. In fact, where I lived in the South side of Ozark, we didn’t always have the best of cell service, just a block or two outside of city limits. There would be times that I’d be talking with someone and the call would suddenly drop. In fact, there was one time in particular where there were severe storms and in the cow field across the street, we could always see the storm clouds as they came into town and it was obvious that this was going to be a bad one… I get on my phone to call my dad whose working at FBC Ozark and the call doesn’t even go through. Not only does he not answer, but now I’m even more afraid than I was before. If you’ve ever been in a similar situation where you need an answer from someone but you can’t get ahold of them for whatever reason, you know the fear that can overwhelm in those moments…

Aren’t you thankful that God isn’t subordinate to or affected by bad weather or poor internet connection? He always answers. We have many fears in this life - if you don’t believe we do, just listen to people talk. I’m afraid about this politician. I’m afraid about the weather. I’m afraid about this person not liking me. I’m afraid about the future… So many people are afraid and the reason why is because they try to find security in self. That’s a contradiction, though. We can’t find security in self because we’re not that powerful. David is fleeing for his life, and he knows that he can’t find security in self… so instead he seeks the Lord in his moment of need and the Lord answers. Not only does God answer, though, He rescues David. He heard him and He saved him. David praises God in verses 1-3 in part because the God of the Bible answers the prayers of His people and delivers them.

Rather than looking to self or society, we look to our Savior and He alone saves us from our troubles. As the song says, we “Turn our eyes upon Jesus, look full in His wonderful face, and the things of earth grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace.” As we turn our eyes to Jesus, we realize how desperately we need Him and how little other things matter. David shares an invitation in verse 8 to taste and see that the Lord is good. This is a command in the Hebrew - not a suggestion - and it demands action. Think about how we usually taste things… You might see things that you wish you hadn’t. You might smell things that you really wish you hadn’t… but when it comes to tasting things we usually have some control over that because we make the decision to put things in to our mouths. Sometimes we get tricked out a little bit and something doesn’t taste like it is supposed to, kind of like whenever you’re at Sonic and you get a soda and it turns out to just be carbonation - that’s a surprise for the taste buds! But we taste because we choose to. Jesus tells us in the Gospels that we are to taste Him - to experience His goodness whenever we partake of the Lord’s Supper (for this reason, some Romans thought that Christians were cannibals for a period of time!). Jesus wants His people to not just study Him and know about Him, but to experience Him and to know that He abides with them through the Holy Spirit. The person who experiences Jesus, who tastes His goodness, who experiences His peace and salvation, is blessed because He finds refuge in Jesus. He is blessed by Jesus because He realized His need for Jesus. The person who realizes that the need Jesus and seeks Jesus is the one who lacks no good thing.

What does it mean to fear the Lord? So often in our world, people view God as nothing but love and if He is only love, what would there be to fear in the first place? Yes, an attribute of God is love. We see that in 1 John 4:16

1 John 4:16 CSB

16 And we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and the one who remains in love remains in God, and God remains in him.

But we also see in Scripture that God is more than love. He is holy - so holy in fact that if a sinner were to be in His sight, he would be destroyed.

Isaiah 6:5 CSB

5 Then I said: Woe is me for I am ruined because I am a man of unclean lips and live among a people of unclean lips, and because my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of Armies.

Because God is holy, and we are not, there should be a healthy level of fear because we are hopeless apart from Jesus. One of the best illustrations of the fear of the Lord is from CS Lewis’ Aslan, the Lion of Narnia. The people of Narnia talk about Aslan in glowing ways and one of the human girls, Susan, asks if Aslan is safe… Would you ever call a Lion safe? Of course not! But as one of the animals remarks, Of course he isn’t safe… but He is good. This is our God. He is holy. He isn’t safe. Think of the Sun - it’s good that we have the sun in our solar system or else we’d die… but the sun isn’t safe. So it is with the SON - He is good, but He isn’t safe. We must not deceive ourselves into thinking that He is a cute, cuddly, cupid and nothing more. He is holy. He is sovereign. He is the King of Kings and we must obey His Word. The fear of the Lord must lead God’s people to a life of obedience! As we obey and seek His face, His Word promises that He will provide what we need… on the converse, for those who do evil and those who celebrate what is wicked, there is destruction. What we must do is check our hearts and see what our lives bear testimony of… Is our fruit that of Christlikeness or Christlessness? Do we fear the Lord and walk in obedience of His Word, or do we fear the world and walk in obedience with what is popular?

How can we pursue what is good as Psalm 34 instructs? One of the ways is by checking what we eat - spiritually speaking. Americans love to eat unhealthy meals and I say this as an American who loves to eat unhealthy food. Our problem at times with what we eat is we think subconsciously at times that if we have 1 good meal, suddenly we’re now ok if we have 5 bad ones. As if that’s how the scales balance out! So often, spiritually speaking, there is a temptation to treat church as if it is our 1 healthy meal for the week and it will undo the 20 unhealthy meals we’ve tasted throughout the week. If we really want to experience and taste what it means to know God and experience His provision, we must obey Him and line ourselves up with His Word and only then will He satisfy the cravings of our heart as He alone is capable of doing. We must fear the Lord, not people as Acts 5:29 reminds us.

Third, followers of Christ must care more about

Their Provider than Their Problem (15-18)

David has many problems at this point in his life - he was kicked out of his homeland, he had a powerful king who wanted him dead, he was surrounded by people who believed him to be, understandably so, their enemy. David was no stranger to problems! Yet, in the midst of his sorrow and suffering, David knew that he served a God who not only heard his cries, but who answered his cries and was near to him in the midst of his problems. What David is doing in verses 17-18 is taking his situation and sharing that the reason that God heard him and rescued him wasn’t because he was special or unique… it is because this is WHO God is! God is the sovereign provider of His people. The Lord IS near to the brokenhearted. The Lord DOES save those crushed in Spirit. The Lord DOES rescue His people from all their troubles. Because of this, His people must care far more about the Provider than the problem.

It’s easy to look to our problem and be overwhelmed. Whether it be stress, health, relationships, finances, jobs, or family, we all face problems… but if you’re a born again follower of Jesus Christ, you can rest with assurance that your God is with you, for you, and will save you. Romans 8:31

Romans 8:31 CSB

31 What, then, are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us?

This isn’t David’s way of saying that we don’t face problems or that they don’t matter… they are real and they must be faced, we can’t ignore them… but we must address them properly after surrendering them to the Lord. Matthew 6:33

Matthew 6:33 CSB

33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you.

We seek first His Kingdom, we know that our God rules, reigns, and rescues His people. David was in trouble for a long time, Paul was locked up for years of his life, Jesus was crucified, many of the disciples died horrible ways… we will face problems… but our Provider saves our souls and we can always trust that He is with us and He is near when our hearts are broken and discouraged. Therefore, we care more about His goodness and provision than we do temporary problems

Finally, we must care more about

Suffering Well than Avoiding Suffering (19-22)

We must experience the Lord - we must pursue the Lord - and only then will we be fully satisfied in the Lord. This is our hope and our confidence! We know this because God created us to be in union and relationship with Him. As we pursue Jesus and as we do the things that He wants us to do, we might expect everything to go our way because, after all, we see in our text that those who seek the Lord will not lack any good thing! But we see in Psalm 34:19 that those who are righteous, those who have been bought by the blood of Jesus and adopted into God’s family, those people who serve Jesus well and who worship Him well with their time, talent, and treasure, those people who say, “Here I am, Lord send me!” Those folks… have many adversities. Even faithful followers will face adversity! Sometimes it’s people who are opposed to the things of God. Sometimes it’s our own sinful nature rearing its head in our lives. Sometimes it’s people who simply disagree with us. We all will face adversity in this life - we shouldn’t run away from it and we shouldn’t be confused whenever it strikes. Instead, we rejoice in knowing that the Lord rescues His people. He redeems His servants. All who find refuge in the Lord will not be punished. The question that we have to ask is this: How does this happen? If we have all sinned and if we all have fallen short of the glory of God, how are we not punished for the things that we have done?

So many want God to wipe the slate clean and forgive without there being a consequence, just cancel the debt, right? If God did that, He would no longer be just. If a judge let a murderer walk away whenever the evidence clearly shares that he is guilty, we would say that the judge wasn’t just. The same principle exists here. How are we rescued and redeemed? Through another person taking our punishment upon Himself.

2 Corinthians 5:21 CSB

21 He made the one who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Jesus suffered on the cross so that those who repent and seek His face and obey His commands would not suffer for eternity. Notice verse 19, though, the righteous person still has adversities. David still was kicked out of his country. Paul still was locked up in prison. Peter still was crucified upside down. But the Lord rescued them… how does this make a lick of sense? The punishment being talked about here is condemnation. God is present with His people, even in the valley of the shadow of death. He is with His people even in our suffering and sorrow. Our goal in life can’t be to avoid all forms of suffering and live this middle class life free from opposition in our air conditioned, comfortable, padded chairs and pews… that has never been true of God’s people. There has always been suffering and adversity. We should expect both and whenever we experience them, we strive to live out 1 Peter 4:19

1 Peter 4:19 CSB

19 So then, let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust themselves to a faithful Creator while doing what is good.

Let us suffer well and keep our eyes on Jesus. The One who redeems His people and punishes those who do what is wicked. As a Christian, your suffering doesn’t win. It might last your whole life, but this life isn’t all that there is. As Justin Peters shared, “If I have to live my entire life with a chronic illness, that’s ok… I have all eternity to live without it.” Our hope in our suffering isn’t that it doesn’t hurt or isn’t real - we have real adversaries and real adversities. But our hope is that our Savior came and had real adversaries and suffered real adversity. He was killed on the cross, but John 19:33 tells us that His bones weren’t broken as was customarily done to crucifixion victims to speed up the process. This righteous Savior who did no wrong, took our place on the cross and suffered… in order to redeem us from the punishment our sins deserved. Regardless of what we face in this life, we can find refuge in Jesus and we can endure suffering well because we know that our God is near to us in our time of need.

As we think on this truth, we must remind ourselves of several things.

Each Day, We Must Remember:

God is Good

God Gives Us Good Gifts

All Things Work for the Good of Christians

Finding Refuge in the Lord is Good

This is the invitation for all of us today regardless of our past - to taste and see that the Lord is good and to find refuge in Him and in Him alone! No running to the pantries of junk food that smell good and our taste buds crave… but fail to satisfy and provide what our bodies need. Instead, we must accept this invitation and eat the meat of God’s Word. We must experience the goodness of God and find refuge in Him today, tomorrow, and until He calls us home. Because only this good God can satisfy our searching hearts. Maybe you’re here and you’re a follower of Jesus Christ but you’re being tempted to find refuge in something other than God’s Word and in the God of the Word… friend, stop searching. Seek the Lord and find refuge in Him today. Maybe you’re here and you’re not a follower of Jesus Christ - maybe you’ve heard of Jesus many times before, but you’ve viewed Jesus as a means to an end to help you rather than changing you. Friend, there are things in this life that we cannot face alone. There are things in this life that we all lack. There is a craving in our souls that needs more and more and this world is incapable of quenching that hunger. Today, though, God has brought you here and you’ve heard the Gospel message that Jesus alone saves us from our sins and satisfies our souls. This Psalm of invitation invites you to come to Him as you are and to taste and see that the Lord is good. He knows your past, He knows your present… and the invitation exists all the same. Come to Jesus - and be changed forevermore!