The Soul's Desire Week 3

Souls Desire wk 3 "cultivating the want" Something about acquired taste - coffee, tea, an instrument - enjoyed only after repeated exposure. "Nobody is born loving black coffee. You learn to want it." When I worked at Toro Toro- WD steak story I. Psalm 34:8(nasb). 'O taste and see that the Lord is good; How blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him! Psalm 34 is an acrostic (each verse begins with the next letter of the Hebrew alphabet), written after David feigned madness before Abimelech to escape danger (1 Samuel 21:10-15). That backstory matters - this isn't abstract praise poetry, it's someone praising God for real deliverance from a genuinely humiliating, dangerous moment. Psalm 34:1-3(nasb) 'I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul will make its boast in the Lord; The humble will hear it and rejoice. O magnify the Lord with me, And let us exalt His name together. ~ Vv. 1-3 - Resolve to Praise (the vow) David commits to continual blessing ("at all times... his praise shall continually be in my mouth") before he explains why. Verse 3 turns it communal - "magnify the LORD with me... let us exalt his name together." ~Worship here isn't a private mood, it's a public invitation.- David resolves to bless God as a discipline, not just a spontaneous feeling. I sought the Lord, and He answered me, And delivered me from all my fears. They looked to Him and were radiant, And their faces will never be ashamed. This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him And saved him out of all his troubles. The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him, And rescues them. O taste and see that the Lord is good; How blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him! O fear the Lord, you His saints; For to those who fear Him there is no want. Vv. 4-7 - Testimony (the evidence) This is the personal case David makes for verse 8's invitation: * V. 4 - "I sought the LORD, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears." Note the completed action - this is retrospective testimony, not a promise yet to be proven. * V. 5 - "Those who look to him are radiant" - the language of reflected light, echoing Moses's face after being with God. * V. 6 - "This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him" - David identifies himself with the lowly, not the powerful, which matters given how the psalm was occasioned (he was fleeing, humiliated, pretending madness). * V. 7 - the angel of the LORD "encamps around those who fear him" - military/protective imagery, appropriate for someone just delivered from danger. O taste and see that the Lord is good; How blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him! O fear the Lord, you His saints; For to those who fear Him there is no want. O fear the Lord, you His saints; For to those who fear Him there is no want.The young lions do lack and suffer hunger; But they who seek the Lord shall not be in want of any good thing. ' Vv. 8-10 - Invitation (the appeal to others) * V. 8 - "Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good!" - the pivot from testimony to invitation. David isn't just reporting; he's inviting others to verify it themselves, the appeal is explicitly sensory, not argumentative. * * V. 9 - "Oh, fear the LORD, you his saints, for those who fear him have no lack!" - connects "tasting" directly to reverence, not casual sampling * * V. 10 - young lions (apex predators, presumably well-fed) still "suffer want and hunger," but "those who seek the LORD lack no good thing." A deliberate contrast: * ~even the strongest, most self-sufficient creatures in nature go hungry; those who seek God don't. II. You Can't Argue Yourself Into Desire ● Psalm 34:8 - "taste and see," not "reason and conclude." ● 1 Peter 2:2-3.(nasb) 'like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation, if you have tasted the kindness of the Lord. ● Hebrews 5:14(nasb). 'But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil.' ● Discernment is trained by constant practice. Tasting Stations: The Means of Grace ● Scripture - Psalm 119:103 ("sweeter than honey"). Suggest a slow daily reading plan, even five minutes. ● Prayer / seeking - Psalm 63:1-5, written in a dry and weary land, ending in satisfaction. Suggest a simple prayer rhythm. ● Community - Hebrews 10:24-25. Invite people into or back into a small group rhythm. The Lifelong Trajectory ● Philippians 1:6; 2 Corinthians 3:18 - gradual, not instant.