Taste and See

If you have your Bible (and I hope you do), please turn with me to 1 Samuel 21. Yes, you heard me correctly. 1 Samuel 21:10-15 records this odd moment in David’s life:

1 Samuel 21:10–15 NIV

10 That day David fled from Saul and went to Achish king of Gath. 11 But the servants of Achish said to him, “Isn’t this David, the king of the land? Isn’t he the one they sing about in their dances: “ ‘Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands’?” 12 David took these words to heart and was very much afraid of Achish king of Gath. 13 So he pretended to be insane in their presence; and while he was in their hands he acted like a madman, making marks on the doors of the gate and letting saliva run down his beard. 14 Achish said to his servants, “Look at the man! He is insane! Why bring him to me? 15 Am I so short of madmen that you have to bring this fellow here to carry on like this in front of me? Must this man come into my house?”

Do you remember that story? That interesting moment in David’s already interesting life?

Well, it seems that the LORD was at work in some significant way at this moment in David’s life, answering his cry for help, delivering him from this strange predicament David got himself into.

We know the LORD was at work in this moment in David’s life because we know the LORD is constantly at work. But also, because David writes a song about everything the LORD has done for him in this particular instance.

Here’s the title or heading of Psalm 34.

Psalm 34:title NIV

Of David. When he pretended to be insane before Abimelek, who drove him away, and he left.

This is a very helpful introduction to the psalm because it helps us to envision what David’s doing—acting a fool, clawing at the walls, making spit run out of his mouth and down his beard. We know what he’s going through: running for his life from Saul who is hunting him.

David acting insane would have earned him an Academy Award (if that was around then); at least a nomination and some Oscar buzz. What David’s little ruse actually accomplished was his escape from the Philistines in Gath:

1 Samuel 22:1 NIV

1 David left Gath and escaped to the cave of Adullam. When his brothers and his father’s household heard about it, they went down to him there.

In this cave, alongside his family and about 400 others who joined him there (1 Samuel 22:2), David wrote Psalm 34, the psalm before us this morning.

This psalm—Psalm 34—is divided into two clear parts:

A testimony, full of encouragement to praise and trust God, and

Some observations based on David’s experiences.

C.H. Spurgeon called the first 10 verses a “hymn” and the last 12 verses a “sermon.”

If you would, and if you’re able, please stand with me as we read the first 10 verses, the song David sings:

Psalm 34:1–10 NIV

1 I will extol the Lord at all times; his praise will always be on my lips. 2 I will glory in the Lord; let the afflicted hear and rejoice. 3 Glorify the Lord with me; let us exalt his name together. 4 I sought the Lord, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears. 5 Those who look to him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame. 6 This poor man called, and the Lord heard him; he saved him out of all his troubles. 7 The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and he delivers them. 8 Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him. 9 Fear the Lord, you his holy people, for those who fear him lack nothing. 10 The lions may grow weak and hungry, but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.

May God add His blessing to the reading of His Holy Word!

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Testimony and Invitation

If we take the heading/title as the actual occasion for this psalm—and there’s no reason not to—how David begins this psalm is right on. It’s absolutely perfect.

Think about David, drool still fresh on his beard, saying “See ya!” to the Philistines once they let him out of their grip, running toward the cave.

Or, consider David retelling this story to his family and those who came to gather with him. Can you imagine David owning up to his behavior?

“I don’t know what got into me, I just starting acting like a lunatic. Strangest day of my life…”

As David is remembering this event, as he’s retelling this strange moment in his life to his father and countrymen, he remembers, before anything else, praise.

“I will extol the Lord at all times; his praise will always be on my lips.”

At all times, David is going to praise the LORD. At all times must mean even in times like those of 1 Samuel 21.

People like me find it pretty easy to praise the LORD in good times, when everything’s going my way. But it’s hard to glorify the LORD, to boast in Him when our circumstances are crummy, when we’re down and out, when we’re afflicted, and on and on.

These, though, are precisely the people David invites to hear and rejoice.

David, himself afflicted, is praising the LORD. David, whose life at the moment is the ancient equivalent of “living in a van down by the river,” is boasting in the LORD.

And now, David invites others to join him: glorify the LORD with me; let us exalt His name together.

One translation of verse 2 is: My soul makes its boast.

This boast is connected to the praise he’s offering the LORD. David isn’t boasting in his clever scheme, as if he somehow rescued himself.

David is boasting in the LORD.

David is praising the LORD and inviting others to join him as they exalt God’s name together.

This is what praise does. Praise doesn’t stand by itself. Praise isn’t content with just one voice. Praise is greedy.

Have you ever been to a ballgame and seen a fan stand up, turn around waving their arms, trying to rouse the rest of the crowd to join with them?

That’s what David is doing.

Boice writes: “The person who has experienced God’s mercy naturally looks to others to praise God with him. Corporate worship is one of the natural instincts of the new life of Christ in God’s people.”

There’s an implied invitation to join David in praise.

In verses 4-7, David shares his testimony. It’s clear and simple. It’s powerful. In light of his circumstances, it’s a really good testimony.

If we read the appropriate chapters of 1 Samuel carefully (something we did this past February, March, April), it’s pretty obvious to see this was the worst moment in David’s life up to this point.

David and hist best friend, Jonathan, had to part ways, in large part because Jonathan’s father, the madman and king, Saul, was determined to kill David.

David was alone. He had nothing—no armor, no food, no weapons. It makes total sense that David refers to himself the way he does in verse six: this poor man.

This is a poor man’s testimony, a poor man’s song.

This is a psalm for poor men and poor women, for all the poor and powerless. Those who are alone or destitute, those who don’t have much, those who are at the absolute lowest place in their lives.

This is where David was. I would wager we can all call to mind the lowest moment in our lives, the darkest time, the hardest set of circumstances.

If you could sit down with David over a cup of coffee and explain your situation to him, this is what David would say to you:

Psalm 34:4–7 NIV

4 I sought the Lord, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears. 5 Those who look to him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame. 6 This poor man called, and the Lord heard him; he saved him out of all his troubles. 7 The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and he delivers them.

David experienced trouble, fears, uncertainty for a good, long chunk of time.

And then David prays. He sought the LORD and called up on Him.

And the LORD delivers; He answers David’s prayers. The LORD answered. He delivered. He heard. He saved.

And, lastly, David’s life became radiant with the joy of being in the care of such a good God.

We need to get something straight. David’s circumstances did not all change immediately. He was still a fugitive and in danger. He was still alone, but the LORD did deliver him from the Philistines. The LORD preserved his life.

Praying does not mean that God will change every difficult thing in your life. But it’s a realization that He will preserve your life and use whatever you’re facing to glorify Him and to work good in your life.

This is David’s testimony. His invitation is implied and stated clearly.

His testimony makes clear: we should trust David’s God—the LORD Yahweh. We ought to follow David’s lead. We should believe that the LORD hears us when we pray, that He answers us, that He has delivered us. That’s the implied invitation.

But then, David states it clearly; he gives us a direct invitation. In verse 2, David wants others to listen to his boast—let the afflicted hear and rejoice. “Listen,” he says, “Listen to my boasting in the LORD. Listen as I glorify Him.”

In verse 8, we have another clear invitation to experience God’s goodness, to try God for oneself.

Psalm 34:8 NIV

8 Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.

Taste and see. Isn’t that interesting?

Some faith traditions do a better job of engaging all the senses than we do; they burn incense to engage the sense of smell.

There’s plenty here on a Sunday morning to see and to hear.

But there’s nothing here to smell other than Folger’s Coffee and a musty, old church building.

Our sense of touch is engaged when we greet one another with a handshake or a hug.

We taste the bread and the cup, and even though this verse is not about communion, the principle might still apply.

David invites us to hear and to taste and to see how good God is.

Each summer at church camp when I was a kid, we played a game called “Taste and See,” a game thought up by my pastor, Carl Helm.

Do any of you kids want to play this morning?

[Jelly Beans?]

Taste and see that the LORD is good.

David wants us to act upon what we know of God and His goodness, to experience how good God truly is.

“I found Him to be good,” says David. “He delivered me from all my fears and enemies, and provided for me, too. I want you to experience Him as I have.”

That’s David’s invitation, indeed the invitation of the whole Bible—that we would experience the goodness of God.

Peter, a disciple and apostle of the LORD Jesus Christ, when writing his first letter to the scattered Christians was obviously thinking about and meditating on Psalm 34.

Peter encourages those who read his letter to keep longing for the LORD and His Word,

1 Peter 2:3 NIV

3 now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.

Many, if not most of us, have tasted that the LORD is good. We know, in Him, we lack nothing. In Him, we have everything we need. This is David’s testimony and his invitation to us, that we might experience this with him.

As I mentioned earlier, Charles Haddon Spurgeon said this psalm was laid out in two halves: a song and a sermon.

Verse 11 begins the sermon. It’s going to read more like Proverbs than Psalms. The theme is even the same as Proverbs: the fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom.

Psalm 34:11–22 NIV

11 Come, my children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord. 12 Whoever of you loves life and desires to see many good days, 13 keep your tongue from evil and your lips from telling lies. 14 Turn from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it. 15 The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are attentive to their cry; 16 but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil, to blot out their name from the earth. 17 The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles. 18 The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. 19 The righteous person may have many troubles, but the Lord delivers him from them all; 20 he protects all his bones, not one of them will be broken. 21 Evil will slay the wicked; the foes of the righteous will be condemned. 22 The Lord will rescue his servants; no one who takes refuge in him will be condemned.

Fear and Understanding

For David, as for Peter, the fear of the LORD is more than an attitude; it’s action. It’s not a mere emotion; it’s doing what the LORD has instructed.

David says, in the second part of verse 11: I will teach you the fear of the LORD.

And then he gives concrete action: keep your tongue, don’t tell lies, turn from evil, do good, seek peace, etc.

One very concrete way to enjoy the LORD, to fear the LORD, is to obey the LORD.

It’s counter-cultural. It’s upside down. It’s the exact opposite of what people think.

But this is the truth: living in obedience to God, obeying Him, that’s where true enjoyment lies.

So many people think that God is restrictive: He’s a buzz kill, a kill-joy.

It’s quite the opposite. Life goes better when you follow and obey the Author of life, not when you follow and obey your own sinful inclinations.

The LORD provides for those who fear Him, this is true. However, we still suffer.

Verse 17: He delivers them from all their troubles

Verse 18: The righteous person may have many troubles.

This isn’t mere poetry; it’s true. It’s accurate.

Being a Christian does not mean a trouble-free existence, contrary to what some people claim.

“The fear of the LORD is indeed the foundation of life, the key to joy in life and long, happy days. But it is not a guarantee that life will always be easy. It may mend the broken heart, but it does not prevent the heart from being broken; it may restore the spiritually crushed, but it does not immediately crush the forces that create oppression. Deliverance is one thing. Exemption from trouble is another.” - P.G. Blaikie

This is the tension of this life; this is what we must understand. Those who belong to the LORD aren’t free from trouble.

And then here, in the last verses of the psalm, David speaks of ultimate things, of death and rescue, of condemnation and refuge.

Psalm 34:21–22 NIV

21 Evil will slay the wicked; the foes of the righteous will be condemned. 22 The Lord will rescue his servants; no one who takes refuge in him will be condemned.

David wants his readers to understand these truths. He knows personally, and better than most, what it is to suffer. He’s in trouble when he’s writing the words of this song. He is hiding in a cave, praying that Saul (who’s hunting him) doesn’t find him and kill him.

David knows that the fear of the LORD is proper. And even as he puts his faith and trust in the LORD, he realizes that trouble is just part of life.

Life, because of sin, will end in death.

The wicked will be undone by their own evil. The enemies of God’s people will be condemned.

And the LORD will rescue His servants—maybe not immediately, but eventually and absolutely.

Whereas the enemies of God’s people will be condemned, no one who takes refuge in the LORD will be.

This, of course, finds its fulfillment in the gospel. Those who belong to the LORD, those who take refuge in Him will be delivered.

This points us to Jesus and His death on the cross.

“This the power of the cross Christ became sin for us, took the blame, bore the wrath We stand forgiven at the cross.

Or as Paul would write:

Romans 8:1 NIV

1 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,

David wrote rather prophetically here. He wrote about the unimaginable cost of the LORD’s rescue and the great reward and freedom of the LORD’s people.

Look to the cross of Christ. Taste and see that the LORD is good.

This is the invitation of this psalm—to hear David’s story and his resulting praise; to taste and see that the LORD is good.

What’s your testimony?

What has the LORD done for you?

What could you share this week with those around you about the LORD’s goodness to you?

Finally, friends. Be encouraged.

This life is hard. You will have many troubles (it says so right in this psalm).

But understand: the same LORD who rescued/delivered David sent His son, Jesus to rescue His people—all His people who were once condemned, now justified in His blood. Forever.

Learn to fear the LORD. Obey Him. Live your life for Him.

And taste and see that the goodness of the LORD.