Amen. Our second reading of scripture comes from the Psalms. Psalm 34. If you’re able to stand for the reading of God’s word, that would be wonderful. If not, please be seated. I’ll be reading the whole Psalm. I believe this is on page 588 of your two Bibles. Let’s give attention to the very word of God. Of David, when he changed his behavior before Abimelech, so that he drove him out and he went away.
I will bless the Lord at all times. His praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul makes his boast in the Lord. Let the humble hear and be glad. Oh, magnify the Lord with me and let us exalt his name together. I sought the Lord and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears. Those who look to him are radiant and their faces shall 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 delivers them. Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good. Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him. O fear the Lord, you his saints, for those who fear him have no lack. Young lions suffer want and hunger, but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing. Come, O children, listen to me. I will teach you the fear of the Lord. What man is there who desires life and loves many days that he may see good? Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit. Turn away from evil and do good. Seek peace and pursue it.
The eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous and his ears toward their cry. The face of the Lord is against those who do evil to cut off the memory of them from the earth. When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles. The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.
Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all. He keeps all his bones. Not one of them is broken. Affliction will slay the wicked, and those who hate righteousness will be condemned. The Lord redeems the life of his servants. None of those who take refuge in him will be condemned. Amen. Praise be to Lord.
Please be seated. Would you pray with me? Father in heaven, as we have read your word now, we ask that you would add your blessing to it. That by your spirit, you would guide each one of us this morning, for you know exactly what we need. And so we pray, Father. Work in our hearts. Change our hearts. Help your servant, weak and frail as I am, to be able to proclaim your message. Only your message. We ask all this in Jesus’s name. Amen. Are you doubting the goodness of God? It’s a serious question. In fact, it’s actually a critical question for each of us. Are you doubting the goodness of God?
It seems that the rich young ruler was. So you read that passage earlier this morning. I’m sure you’ve heard preaching on it. I’m sure that you’ve taken many things away from it. But did you take away the fact that it was all about the goodness of God? You see men, fallen men, lack goodness.
And in a sense, the rich young ruler was actually asking the question, where can I find goodness? That was the problem. As he approached Jesus Christ to inquire about eternal life, what good thing must I do, what good deed must I do to inherit eternal life? And as he calls Jesus good teacher, the theme of that particular passage appears to be the very goodness of God. Who is good? What?
In essence, that brings us to our passage this morning in Psalm 34. David experienced the goodness of God. He tasted and knew immediately of the goodness of God, even as he was suffering affliction. And that’s exactly what he was suffering, as the title to this particular psalm informs us.
He was fleeing from Saul. And as he fled from Saul, he went into a foreign land, a land of enemies, and he goes to the king of Achish and knows that now these men might understand who I am. And so he feigns or fakes insanity. He disguises himself. before them, and as a result, the king lets him go. As a result of that event in David’s life, as he tasted the goodness of the Lord, he pens this particular psalm. He tasted, he knew of God’s goodness as he was released from the enemy’s hands.
This morning, while I would like to preach through this whole psalm, I think that might take too long. And so we’ll be focusing on one verse in particular, and that would be verse eight. Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good. David seems to focus his thoughts, his heart upon the goodness of God as he pens this by the work of the spirit.
So as we go through this verse, and we will be referencing other portions of the psalm as well as we go through this this morning, I’d like you to see that the goodness of God woos weary sinners to salvation in Jesus Christ. That the goodness of God woos weary sinners to salvation in Jesus Christ. We’ll see that in two points this morning, the first being the wicked reject the goodness of God, and then secondly, very simply, the righteous taste and see the goodness of God. As we go through this passage, or maybe even this one verse this morning, I’d like you to continually ask yourself that question, am I doubting the goodness of God?
Well, first, the wicked reject the goodness of God. It seems that David, as the psalmist, the inspired psalmist now, here knows that people who would read this psalm, whether they be his contemporaries or even us today, had doubts, had questions regarding the goodness of God.
If that were not the case, why would he pen this in verse 8? Exclamation point. Taste and see that the Lord is good. What need would there be if, in fact, everyone already believed in the goodness of God for him to pen this? Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good.
If you’re trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ this morning, maybe there have been times when you’ve questioned the goodness of God. Maybe you’ve experienced doubts concerning the goodness of God. I think that might describe each and every one of us as we go through afflictions or seasons of our lives. Indeed, part of our corruption flowing from Adam’s fall from grace is justice. We doubt the goodness of God. Consider the rich young ruler again.
He came likely to Jesus with doubts. He came at least with questions, but also possibly with doubts. He was curious as to how he could earn eternal life, and he thought he knew he could do so by and through his good work, achieving life through his own efforts. And so he asked that question, what good deed must I do to inherit eternal life?
And when Jesus speaks of him giving up his worldly treasures, his worldly goods, so to speak, he doubts whether eternal life, whether being with Jesus, whether Jesus himself is really good. Is Jesus enough for me to give up all of this? But if you’re here this morning and you’re not believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, if you have not confessed Him, I want to speak to you now.
Consider Eve as she engaged with the serpent in the Garden of Eden. She came to cast off her trust in her Creator God and seemed to come about as she doubted and discounted the goodness of God. As the serpent tempts her, you will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it, your eyes will be opened. You’ll be like God, knowing good and evil. And I just heard a sermon by someone, I can’t remember the name, who indicated that Satan was really just saying, God is a jealous God. And he doesn’t want what is good for you. And he believed that. God was no longer good as he denied her the pleasure of this fruit. That was Eve’s conclusion. She rejected and denied the goodness of God. And if you’re not believing in the Lord Jesus Christ this morning, you’ve done the very same thing, you’ve come to the same conclusion.
And it’s not because you don’t know of the goodness of God. It’s because you suppress the truth in unrighteousness. For what has been made known about God to you is plain to you from creation. The heavens declare the glory of God and the sky proclaims his handiwork.
You see, you not merely doubt, you are rejecting the goodness of God as you reject the Lord Jesus Christ. Because if you had not rejected the goodness of God, you would now be trusting in him. You would be placing your trust in the shed blood of Jesus Christ because you would have confessed his goodness. Do you see the connection between the goodness of Christ and confessing him as Savior?
Do you see this is a serious nature that you must consider this morning, this topic, this belief you have regarding the goodness of God? And so if that describes you this morning, I want you to see that those who reject the goodness of Jesus Christ end in death.
That’s the parable of the talents, isn’t it? The one who received the one talent came forward saying, Master, I knew you to be a hard man. You see, he didn’t say, I knew you to be a good man. And his master answered you, wicked and slothful servant, cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. That is the end of denying the goodness of God. So if you’re not believing in the Lord Jesus Christ this morning, I want you to listen. And those of you who have doubted the goodness of God, listen. Listen to this.
Because it brings us right here to verse 8. Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good. Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him. For both the believer and the unbeliever this morning, whether you are doubting or have doubted in the past or are now rejecting the goodness, the goodness of God, listen, taste and see that the Lord is good. The psalmist is urging his readers, he’s urging you this morning by and through the spirit to consider the goodness of God. And he’s doing so in a very compelling way.
In a sense, he could have written, if you are doubting the goodness of God this morning, taste and see it. If you’re questioning the goodness of God, then the solution is to taste him for yourself. If you’ve rejected the goodness of God. If you disbelieve that God is in fact good, then you must taste him so that you can see.
That’s the urging. That’s the urgency this morning of this passage. This timely call. For many of us have forgotten how to taste the Lord. And many others have determined simply not to allow yourself To taste the Lord. These are actions tasting and seeing their actions that the psalmist is calling you to this morning.
We could combine this or we could rephrase this and say, Oh, experience the Lord and know that he’s good. Experiencing is that which we do as an action or are acted upon in such a way that we apprehend, we gather the thing that the one has become known to us through our senses. So how do we taste God? How do we experience the Lord, believer or unbeliever, to know that he’s good? For the next several minutes, I want the spirit to open your minds and hearts to the word of God and taste his goodness. Brings us to our second point.
The righteous do, in fact, taste and see the goodness of God. Throughout this psalm, The Spirit is actually calling. David is proclaiming the goodness of God in various ways. Verse 4, I sought the Lord and he answered and delivered me from all my fears. Verse 7, the angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him and delivers them. Verse 15, the eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous and his ears toward their cry. The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit. David knows goodness. He’s tasted the goodness of God. But how do you know it? How do you taste it?
These are imperatives. These are commands. They aren’t suggestions. They’re actions. David is not merely suggesting that you might want to try this. No, he’s saying, do this. It’s a call to action. He was calling all those in the nation of Israel, all the people of God everywhere who would take up this psalm to sing it, to pray it, to meditate upon it, to act. It was a call for action, a call to participate, a call to the listener to experience the goodness of the living God through his son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
That’s how you can taste the Lord. It’s an experience, isn’t it? It’s a physical action which results in either pleasure or the opposite of pleasure. It’s a sensory experience of the mouth and the tongue transmitting either delight to the mind and heart or dislike and rejection or displeasure of whatever is being eaten or consumed. We enjoy the things that God has given to us. And one of the reasons we enjoy food is because we can taste it.
If you contracted COVID a couple of years ago, you might have lost your sense of taste. It was gone for a time. Some have lost it and it hasn’t returned. The pleasure of experiencing the goodness of the food that God has given us was taken away, at least for a time. And it gave us an appreciation, didn’t it, for that which we took for granted. The goodness of food. So the psalmist uses that imagery for us this morning, that sensory perception of goodness to help us to understand the goodness of God.
Taste the Lord, experience the Lord, experience Jesus Christ. In other words, interact with God the Father through his son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Engage with him in a way that would be similar to trying food or some new drink or a different flavor of ice cream. Here, taste this and tell me if you think it’s good. Now, the psalmist sets forth at least three ways. You could probably point out more, but at least three ways that you can taste the goodness of God through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
First, taste the Lord as He provides for you. Secondly, taste the Lord as He communes with you. And thirdly, taste the Lord as He delivers you. I’ll take those up in that order. First, taste the Lord as He provides. Look at verse 9. Oh, fear the Lord. You as saints, for those who fear him, have no lack. The young lions suffer want and hunger, but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.
We usually think of lack or the provision of God as being that reference to food and clothing and shelter. As you went to the grocery store this week, there was fresh food. I would imagine that. As you opened up your refrigerator this morning, the food had been kept, your stomachs had been filled. As you went to your closets to get dressed for the worship service, you found clothes to wear for the day. Your shoes had not worn out on the way to this building or to school this week or to work, wherever you went, the Lord provided. But you say, wait, I wanted, I desired this other thing and it wasn’t given to me.
Consider the passage, though. Those who fear him. Those who seek the Lord. That’s the qualification that the psalmist puts on this passage. Oh, fear the Lord, you as saints, for those who fear him have no lack. Those who seek the Lord lack no good thing. Were you asking in fear? Were you seeking the Lord as you asked?
See, there’s a connection between this and tasting. The Lord isn’t there. But you object again. I do fear. I was seeking. Then whatever you asked for was not given because you didn’t need it. The Lord has determined your need. He knows what’s good for you. You don’t. That’s part of the goodness of God, isn’t it? He knows what’s good for you individually. And he provides that constantly because he’s good. And we know not all good things are actually physical.
Consider Joseph. What did Joseph receive? Hatred. Injustice. Thrown into jail, thrown into a pit by his brothers, hated by them. That’s what he received. That was his affliction. But yet in it, even as Joseph reflected on his afflictions, he was tasting the Lord.
As he finally tasted the goodness of the Lord, through his afflictions and had come to the conclusion that while his brothers meant evil for him, God meant it for good. Even in affliction, I can taste the Lord, see his goodness. Secondly, taste the Lord as he communes with you. Yes, taste the Lord as he provides for you, but taste the Lord as he communes with you. You see this in this passage, don’t we? The Lord does commune with those who fear him, those who seek him.
And he does so because the veil’s been torn in two, because Jesus Christ, his son, has torn the veil in two, separating us from the throne room. And now that veil has been ripped apart by the blood, by the sacrificial flesh of the Lord Jesus Christ as he cries out to his father, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? And gives up his spirit. Shortly thereafter, the veil is split. That separation because of our sin from a holy God has been repaired. Our communion. has been restored in Christ Jesus. The veil was torn in two. That which was blocking the way to the Holy of Holies now had a gaping hole through it that we can now enter into the throne room with confidence in Christ to commune with our God. We see it here in this psalm.
I sought the Lord, verse four, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears. Verse six, the poor man cried and the Lord heard him and saved him out of all his troubles. Verse 15, the Lord, the eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous and his ears toward their cry. And 17, the righteous cry for help and the Lord hears and delivers them.
I don’t know how David could be more adamant and enthusiastic about this communion that he had and has and that we can have with God. You have to be asking yourself this question this morning, why? Why would the living God desire to commune with you? Is it because you’re good?
Answers no. It’s only because of the goodness of the Lord Jesus Christ. You see, you should begin to see the double goodness here of God as he communes with you, as he actually hears you as saved a sinner only by grace. He hears you because of the goodness of his son who poured himself out for you such that you can now be heard. Every single time you enter into prayer, into communion with your maker, you’re tasting the goodness of the God, the father of the Lord Jesus Christ and your father. And the only reason you can taste that is because Jesus offered up his goodness to his father.
You see, certainly no sinner deserves to commune with the living God, but this reality, this truth, this daily tasting of the Lord actually defines goodness, doesn’t it? For God is so good that we’d open up a way through his son, the Lord Jesus Christ, the one who gave up his fellowship with his father so that you could have fellowship with his father. That’s good. But let’s not leave this truth yet.
If you’ve been a Christian for any time, you know that the scriptures tell us very plainly, very clearly that the Lord hears your prayers. But prayer has wrongfully become a commonplace event in our hearts. Brothers and sisters, this should astound you this morning.
The truth that the one who made you, that made all things, actually hears you and enters into communion with you individually and corporately. It should be that which is so good you can hardly wait to get home this afternoon and enter into your prayer closet, shut the door, and fellowship and commune with the living God who made you. To pour out your heart to him, confessing your sins, praising him for his attributes, many of which we just don’t grasp or even understand completely, knowing that he’s listening. He’s truly hearing you, your innermost thoughts and desires and struggles. Indeed, the Lord is near to the brokenhearted. He cares for you.
Have you ever sat down with a good friend and started to describe your day? Maybe your spouse? The struggles that you’ve been having? And as you look up, you can tell that the interest just isn’t there. His or her thoughts are elsewhere, while he or she is physically present with you, not really hearing you. They have their own thoughts, they have their own struggles, they have their own concerns.
But the Lord Jesus Christ cares. He really cares. He really hears. He’s the one who’s promised never to leave you nor forsake you. And he’s granting his name to you so that the father will hear. The father always hears his son. And if you’re praying in His name, He’s always hearing you. He doesn’t sleep. He never becomes so concerned about other things or other people or what’s happening to your neighbor in lieu of or in place of listening to you and caring for you. Never. So each time you pray in the righteous name of Jesus Christ, you’re heard, you’re communing, you’re fellowshipping with the God of creation. And that’s tasting. That’s experiencing the Lord.
As he provides, he communes with you, and finally, he delivers you. And there are two kinds of deliverance set forth here, temporal and eternal. Look at verse 18, the Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit. Saves the crushed in spirit. The Lord delivers him out of all of them. Verses 18 through 21 appear to be speaking to the temporal deliverances of the work of the Lord in delivering his children from troubles and afflictions in this life. Verse 22 seems to speak to eternal deliverance or eternal life, but let’s stick with the temporal for a moment here.
We know that this whole psalm was written as a result of the temporal affliction of David. As he’s fleeing from Saul and now is in Abimelech’s hands and feigns that insanity so that Abimelech drives him out, knowing that it’s been the work of the Lord.
He’s been delivered. And so he writes, this poor man cried. The Lord heard him and saved him out of all his troubles. David was delivered. David was a man of affliction. We think of him as the king, but he was a man of affliction. He experienced more than once deliverance after deliverance after deliverance.
Think of Goliath, think of Saul, think of David’s own son, Absalom, each time delivered out of the hands of each one. And he ends with this most comforting verse, a description of tasting the Lord, verse 19. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all.
What does that mean? Think of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego for a minute. Those three who were called to bow down and worship before that idol, that golden idol that King Nebuchadnezzar had established. They were faced with death if they didn’t do so. Immediate death in the fiery furnace. The king even said to them, who is the God who will deliver you out of my hands? We might consider the fiery furnace to be their affliction. But actually their affliction was fear, wasn’t it? Fear of the anger of the king. Fear of death in the fiery furnace. Fear of man. That was their affliction. That was what they were faced with. That was their spiritual affliction. And the Lord delivered them out of it.
How do we know? Well, this is what they said to Nebuchadnezzar, O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter, if this be so, our God, whom we serve, is able to deliver us from the burning, fiery furnace. And he will deliver us out of your hand, O king, but if not, there it is. You see how they had conquered fear? See how the Lord had delivered them out of that affliction of fear? But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.
That was deliverance. That was before the fiery furnace. They were delivered. David speaks of the same thing. Look at verse four. I sought the Lord and he answered me. and delivered me from all my fears.” See, deliverance is trusting in the Lord that he will work out all things for your salvation. Everything.
Just like Paul, as he was experiencing that thorn in the flesh, whatever that was, and asked the Lord to take it away three times, and yet the Lord determined Not to do so, but to leave him in that affliction so that it would be used to keep him from boasting. You see, sometimes the Lord uses afflictions to keep us, to deliver us from sin. And that’s exactly what the Lord did with Paul. The Lord was allowing Paul to taste his goodness. Even as the thorn was still present, even in the depth of deep waters. Lord does that with us too. Has he done that? Has he done that with you? Have you seen how he’s delivered you? Sometimes you have to look really closely, don’t you? Like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
They had to see that the Lord had delivered them even before they were taken up to the fiery furnace. Even before, Paul had to see that the Lord had delivered him from the possibility of entering into sin. Yes, the Lord does deliver. And every single time he does, if you’re watching, you can taste him and see that his His goodness is being poured out upon you. And then there’s that eternal deliverance, isn’t there? Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all.
He keeps all his bones. Not one of them is broken. The psalmist is speaking here about Jesus Christ, isn’t he? This verse is used. As we know that on the cross, the father kept all of his bones. It was typical for the Roman soldiers to break the bones of those who’ve been crucified, but not Christ’s, not his son’s. You see, Jesus was able to go to the cross because he knew the goodness of his father. And here we even see it. As David writes, of how his father kept his son even on the cross.
That’s eternal deliverance. And he kept Jesus Christ so that you could be kept, so that you could be eternally delivered. The Lord redeems the life of his servants. None of those who take refuge in him will be condemned. So you can taste Christ here in this passage as you trust in him, knowing that you have eternal deliverance even now, even today. Brothers and sisters, the call this morning is so clear. Taste the goodness of your Savior. And as you do, you’ll know. You’ll know that He’s so good. The goodness of God does woo weary sinners to salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ.
The rich young ruler was looking for that which was good. He failed to see Christ who was right before him. He failed to taste the one who was right before him. But if you’re trusting in Christ this morning, he’s given you the ability to taste him. And you know of his goodness. And if you haven’t tasted him yet, the call even now is so powerful. Taste Christ. He’s the only good one. Praise be to the Lord. Amen.