Oh Taste and See That He Is Good!

Psalm 34:15 The eyes of the LORD are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry.

Psalm 34:4 I sought the LORD, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.

Psalm 34:9 O fear the LORD, ye his saints: for there is no want to them that fear him.

Psalm 34:10 The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger: but they that seek [follow] the LORD shall not want any good thing.

Romans 8:32  He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?

1 Timothy 6:17  Trust in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy.

Psalm 34:8  O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.

I do not want to be accused of preaching a "health, wealth, and prosperity" doctrine.  But these verses just keep piling up and they cannot be ignored!  

Who is this God that we worship and why do we worship Him? 

Is it out of duty?  A sense of allegiance?  Is it in an effort to “be a part of something bigger than us”? 

Why did God create us?  Why does He want our worship?

Please understand, God did not create us because He lacked something…we were not created out of a need on His part.  Scripture is clear that His intention was to reveal His glory!  He is glorified when we see who He is, when we experience Him, and delight IN HIM!  

He is not good to us because we deserve it; He is good because He is good! And when we fail to see this, when we fail to recognize His wonder and glory, we fail to offer up genuine worship of the one who truly deserves it.  

“Oh taste and see that He is good!”

This verse is the basis of a somewhat silly analogy that I’ve used with my kids in children’s church to help them understand worship and the proper attribution of our worship.  As a woman who LOVES good food and drink, this is an obvious example. 

How do we react when we eat something delicious?   When we are treated to a homemade birthday cake with layers of our favorite flavors and textures, we can’t resist an “Oh my word, this is SO GOOD!” response, or even a wordless moan of pure pleasure…but do we then look at the cake and say, “Cake, you are FANTASTIC!  I am soooo thankful for you.  You’ve sure made my birthday a great one!”  

Umm…as a cook who loves to serve people with my food, I may just slap someone for that!

Certainly not, we look at that friend who prepared the cake for us—knowing what we like and how we like it—that friend who took her own time to shower us with her love in a way that would speak to our hearts and satisfy our desires, and we say, meaning every word, “Thank you SO MUCH, that was delicious!  YOU made my day!”  We probably take every chance we get over the next few days to tell our friends and family what a special treat that cake was too!  And then we not only recognize that friend’s love for us once again, we in turn appreciate and love that friend more!  

I believe that it’s in this way that we will spend our heavenly moments in worship.  It was always difficult for me to understand how we would spend an eternity worshipping God (boy how fun that sounds…); but when I think about how quick I am to worship things that I enjoy here on earth (like ice cream, pastries, and coffee) it seems clear to me.  When we’re in His presence we will be so overwhelmed by the wonder of His goodness, we will be awed and pleasured to worship just as we are when we enjoy those little moments in life that cause us to praise here.  It is here on earth that God gives us a taste of that.  He gives us glimpses of His goodness, even in the midst of sin and sin’s consequences in a fallen world.  

If He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?  How much do we miss out on because we fail to recognize God as a loving father who would no sooner give us a serpent when we ask for a fish than our earthly father would?  How much might we be missing out on because we lack faith in God’s goodness?

Just as a note: I think we lack this faith because we don’t usually lack confidence in God as just.   We understand that we really, truly don’t deserve such goodness, so it’s difficult to accept.  Especially when we have this notion that we should be satisfied with salvation and then we let everything else in life go flat.  Don’t get me wrong, His grace in salvation should be sufficient to evoke our genuine worship!   But we need to look past ourselves and remember once again that it’s NOT ABOUT US.  It’s about HIM and HIS GLORY!  Over and over I read these words of God’s goodness, I read His promises, I see what kind of plans He has for men…and I recognize that we can easily miss it.   Let’s not miss it!  Let’s taste and see that He is good!