Taste and see that the Lord is good. Psalm 34:8

Psalm 34: 8  "Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him."

I just love the imagery used by Old Testament writers.  It reflects the Eastern way of thinking that calls upon the senses, images and analogies to express important truths.  Instead of saying that the Lord takes care of us Scripture says, "The Lord is my Shepherd I shall not want." Psalm 23:1

  Instead of saying that God is dependable and faithful Scripture cries out, "The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold."  Psalm 18:2

Instead of saying that those who read and obey the Law of the Lord will be blessed Scripture proclaims, "He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither.  Whatever he does prospers."  Psalm 1:2

So it is that we are encourage to taste and see that the Lord is good.

There is nothing more memorable then the sense of taste.   My guess is that if I would tell you the names of certain Pizza restaurants you could remember the distinct taste of each one even if you haven't had that pizza in many years.   I can still remember or "taste" the Big Red Tomato pizza that I had with my roommates in College.  But it's not just the good tastes we remember because I can still remember the taste of hominy that we used to eat when I was growing up.  Yes our taste buds are powerful senses sometimes for good and other times.... not so good.  

There is also something very intimate about tasting.  Think about it isn't this the reason we love to take our dates out to eat wonderful foods.   The taste adds to the intimacy of the experience.   Having friends over for instance is that much more joyful and yes intimate when we share and taste wonderful foods together.  Some have even equated eating chocolate to some of the most intimate of experiences.

In addition when we taste or eat something we make a commitment of ourselves.  When I go to the market I "see"  lots of different foods.  I might even "smell" quite a few of them but it is an entirely different thing to sink my teeth into the food.   Usually the first thing we do is to use our eyes to see if something looks appealing.  With some foods we might actually squeeze them to see if they are fresh.  Others we will smell and if a food passes all those tests we make the commitment to buy the food and further commit ourselves to taste and eat it.   Which by the way when it comes to food eating it is the only true test to see if we like something or not.

For this reason it only makes sense that David requests that we "Taste and see" or that we taste and see for ourselves that he Lord is good! 

Today I encourage you to enjoy intimacy with the Lord.  Go beyond simply seeing and considering God.  Taste and see! Fully devour God in the same way you might enjoy a sirloin steak at Applebee's. Taste and see that the Lord is good!  Trust the Lord and be blessed as you take refuge in God!  After you have truly tasted God's goodness you'll ever forget it and you'll surely have no regrets.

These are the lessons we learn as we walk through the Word together.