O Taste and See
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Psalm 34:8-10
Psalm 34:8-10
We Elevate God when we are committed to His Praise. (1-3)
The Psalmist is setting a course for his life. When others blame coincidence He has chosen to praise God. When others think it was good luck. He points to God.
He has moved beyond caring what others around him think
he will praise the Lord at all time.
He will make his boast in the Lord.
Exalt Defined: to actively raise, to bring up; extol, heave high; to Hold up
Magnify: to be large, advance boost boast, bring up, exceed, promote
The Bible never flatters its heroes. Here is David, anointed to be king; destined to rule over great lands and wealth, but living in caves on the run begging for food and fearing for his life. Anointed! But alone.
The Glory of God…
The Glory of God is said to be both essential and declarative.
Essential or intrinsic states that God is glorified whether you or I know it or not. Glory belongs to Him as light and heat belong to the sun. it therefor becomes a misrepresentation of infinite proportions to withhold from God a worthy acknowledgment of His glory.
Declarative glory states that all His creation, as all his works, declare to a certain degree that glory. You can see his glory reflected in what he has created. And even in the creation of his creations.
Jesus the only begotten of the Father is the Glory of heaven. Jesus is the Glory of God hidden in Human Flesh
Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;
And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory; and his disciples believed on him.
But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.
Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour: but for this cause came I unto this hour.
Father, glorify thy name. Then came there a voice from heaven, saying, I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.
The people therefore, that stood by, and heard it, said that it thundered: others said, An angel spake to him.
Jesus answered and said, This voice came not because of me, but for your sakes.
Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out.
And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.
This he said, signifying what death he should die.
No one better understood the need Essential Glory of God than David the Psalmist.
Account:
Psalm 34 is a gift from David to us. It gives us a rare and honest glimpse into the heart of a Godly man who was overwhelmed by fear and fatigue and for a moment panicked … just as we are being constantly being overwhelmed and worn down by what seems like a non-stop barrage of bad news lately.
After David killed Goliath, David became something of a teenage celebrity in Israel. The number one hit on all the music charts was a song celebrating David’s stunning victory over the Giant of Gath. The chorus went like this: “Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands” (1 Samuel 18:8). Everyone … especially the women … were singing it … and King Saul became very jealous of David’s growing popularity.
Saul’s fear rested on the fact that David clearly had God’s favor … a fact and a fear that was confirmed by David’s growing string of military victories. In fact, says the Bible, David had more success than all the servants of Saul (1st Samuel 18:30) … making David more popular with the people than ever.
After Saul made several attempts on his life, David decided the smartest thing that he could do would be to split and leave town. For several years, David lived as a fugitive with a price on his head. He never had a moment’s peace … always having to look over his shoulder … always wondering if someone had sold him out or would betray him … always on the run … always wondering if Saul was waiting to ambush him and his men around the next bend or in the next town. And the same went for his loyal comrades who followed him from one place to another … either fighting or fleeing but never safe. At one point, Saul commissioned 30,000 of his crack soldiers to bring David back to Jerusalem … dead or alive.
During this harrowing and difficult time of his life, David’s trust in the Lord was rock-solid … God was his champion. David only did what God told him to do. He only went where God told him to go … and he always had the sense that God was with him … beside him … always giving him strength in the midst of all his trials. Like all of us, however, David was a human being made of flesh and blood. All that running … all that paranoia … the constant fear of capture … the possibility of death hounding his every step ... well, that would take a toll on anyone, amen? If only he and his men could catch a break. If only there was somewhere they could stop … catch their breath … collect their thoughts … and come up with a new plan.
Unfortunately … we don’t always make our best decisions when we’re tired, hungry, stretched to the limit, or running on empty, do we? Decisions made in the midst of our fears are usually rash and short-sighted. And standing there on the main street of Gath, surrounded by angry Philistines … well, maybe they should have given their plan a bit more thought, you think?
Actually, their plan might have worked … if it weren’t for Goliath’s sword. It seemed like maybe Goliath was going to get his revenge from beyond the grave. Why would David do that? Fear perhaps. It was the only weapon that they had at the time. Pride? I doubt it. Perhaps he carried it with him for reassurance … the weight of it in his belt … the sound of it dragging on the ground behind him reminded him of its presence and how he came to have it. The sword was a powerful symbol of God being with him and giving him the victory against impossible odds.
Unfortunately, it was a symbol of humiliation and defeat to the Philistines … something that David and his men failed to consider when they made their plans … but as I said, these poor guys were only human, amen?
David needs to come up with plan … and quick. Coming to Gath was clearly insane … maybe acting insane will get him out of Gath … and that’s exactly what David does … act insane. He starts acting cuckoo for cocoa puffs … looney tunes. He begins to growl and spit … then babble incoherently. He runs around the courtyard and begins clawing at the doors of the king’s palace like a wild animal caught in a trap. It was a pitiful sight … a great warrior like David acting like the town idiot … actually, even the town idiot felt pity and disgust for him.
When David emerged from the To make sure that he never forgot the lessons that he learned in Gath, David wrote them down in a poem … we know it as Psalm 34.
In this text we find three experiential metaphors.
Metaphor #1 - Taste and See...
Metaphor #1 - Taste and See...
Taste and sight are physical senses, ways in which we interact with the material world. In some ways, faith is like a spiritual sense, and with it we interact with the spiritual world. To taste and to see are like trusting God, loving Him, seeking Him, looking unto Him.
And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come,
If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious.
“Taste, i.e. consider it seriously, and thoroughly, and affectionately; make trial of it by your own and others’ experiences. This is opposed by those slight and vanishing thoughts which men have of it.” (Poole)
“Both Hebrews 6:5 and 1 Peter 2:3 use this verse to describe the first venture into faith, and to urge that the tasting should be more than a casual sampling.” (Kidner)
David would know of the goodness of God because he has experienced God’s goodness.
The Lord Heard
The Lord Delivered
The Lord Filled them with Joy
The Lord Saved
The Lord Protected
The Lord Delivered
All of this in spite of his obvious lack of faith before the king of Gath.
Metaphor #2 - Fear the LORD...
Metaphor #2 - Fear the LORD...
The command fear the Lord is a full and complete picture in itself.
To the Jew is was part of the Law of God. Paul commanded it. Jesus modeled it.
Consider So how does fear of God, who is perfect love, take away fear? William D. Eisenhower puts it this way in his article 'Fearing God" in Christianity Today:
Unfortunately, many of us presume that the world is the ultimate threat and that God's function is to offset it. How different this is from the biblical position that God is far scarier than the world …. When we assume that the world is the ultimate threat, we give it unwarranted power, for in truth, the world's threats are temporary. When we expect God to balance the stress of the world, we reduce him to the world's equal …. As I walk with the Lord, I discover that God poses an ominous threat to my ego, but not to me. He rescues me from my delusions, so he may reveal the truth that sets me free. He casts me down, only to lift me up again. He sits in judgment of my sin, but forgives me nevertheless. Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, but love from the Lord is its completion. William D. Eisenhower
The fear of God provides a cure to want. Not that he has to provide but that the work taking place changes the wanter.
Metaphor #3 - Seek the Lord...
Metaphor #3 - Seek the Lord...
The young lions lack physically - but the saints seek the Lord for fulfillment:
Hunger and Thirst
Then there is the matter of Hungering and thirsting. There is a simple principle here that I want you to remember.
· Everyone hungers/thirsts for something. Say it this way. Everyone has an appetite. Everyone is seeking satisfaction in one of two places.
· You will either hunger/ thirst after righteousness in the world or.
· Hunger and thirst after righteousness defined as: The mental assent and pursuit of God’s priorities over anything in this world.
For almost a decade I have worked with a definition of faith.
I define faith as: Us seeking after God
But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
For they themselves shew of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God;
And that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men: for all men have not faith.
But the Lord is faithful, who shall stablish you, and keep you from evil.
It is this that secures God’s Elevation and Magnification in our lives.