Psalm 34:8 says “Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!” This verse encourages us to personally experience and “taste” God’s goodness for ourselves. Here are 9000 words exploring what this verse means and how we can taste and see God’s goodness in our lives:
To “taste” something means to experience it directly through your senses, rather than just hearing about it secondhand. The psalmist is inviting us to encounter God for ourselves and “taste” His goodness, rather than just taking someone else’s word for it. When we spend time seeking God in prayer, reading His Word, worshipping Him, and obeying Him, we begin to directly experience His presence and good qualities. We “taste” His mercy when we cry out to Him and receive comfort. We “taste” His faithfulness when we walk through trials and sense His abiding presence. We “taste” His power when we obey Him and see miraculous changes in our lives and circumstances. We “taste” His love when we read about Christ’s sacrifice for us and are filled with grateful awe.
The more we “taste” God’s goodness for ourselves, the more our faith grows. Someone can tell you God is good, but it’s when you actually lean into Him during hard times and sense His peace and strength holding you up that your faith becomes unshakable. You move from a secondhand knowledge about God’s goodness to a firsthand experiential knowing of His goodness that changes you from the inside out. The psalmist knows that if people will just draw near to God and begin regularly “tasting” His goodness, they will be unable to deny His wonderful qualities and amazing love for them.
Why does the psalmist urge us to “taste and see” that God is good? Because people can know something in their heads without really experiencing the transformative power of that truth in their hearts. We can know the fact that God is good without ever leaning into Him during painful situations to truly “taste” His comfort and support ourselves. We can know with our minds that God is loving while still living as though we do not fully trust in His care and provision. When our experience of God’s goodness is limited to head knowledge alone, our faith remains shallow and ineffective.
But when we determine to regularly “taste” God’s goodness – when we carve out time to seek Him, talk to Him, listen for His Spirit’s voice, and rely on Him in all things – our faith grows exponentially. As we taste His goodness in a crisis, His faithfulness through long seasons of waiting, His mercy when we confess our sins, and His inexplicable peace when life seems uncertain, our confidence in His character fortifies. Our experiential knowledge of Him anchors us when circumstances feel tenuous. The psalmist knows that taking refuge in God requires moving beyond facts about Him to actually tasting His goodness in our everyday lives.
The word “taste” here implies an active savoring and pondering of God’s goodness. We are not merely to grab quick bites, but to intentionally and contemplatively focus on recognizing and appreciating when God demonstrates His good qualities to us. When we receive an answer to prayer, do we pause to thank Him and meditate on what that reveals about His attentiveness to us? When we face a challenge and feel His peace and strength wash over us, do we stop and reflect on what this shows about His faithfulness in hard times? A “taste” should be satisfying and savored. Do we slow down and give thoughtful focus to the flavors of God’s goodness we experience each day?
Additionally, this verse calls us to “see” that God is good. Of course we “see” and discern things through all our senses, including taste, but adding the word “see” emphasizes the clarity with which we can discern God’s goodness when we earnestly seek Him. His goodness is not vague, hard to decipher, or questionable. When we carve out time to experience God personally, the unmistakable goodness of His character will be evident to us just as surely as the sun is clearly seen at midday. The combination of “tasting” and “seeing” conveys full assurance and confidence that time spent with God will undeniably reveal His exceeding goodness to our hearts.
There are over 500 references to God’s goodness in the Bible. Here are just a few:
– “The Lord is good to all, and his mercy is over all that he has made.” (Psalm 145:9)
– “You are good and do good; teach me your statutes.” (Psalm 119:68)
– “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights.” (James 1:17)
– “God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.” (1 John 1:5)
– “Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever!” (Psalm 107:1)
– “The Lord is righteous in all his ways and kind in all his works.” (Psalm 145:17)
Clearly, Scripture consistently reveals the goodness of God’s character. But it is only when we determine to regularly “taste and see” this goodness for ourselves in our everyday walk with Him that the transformative power of knowing His goodness begins to change us from the inside out. How do we “taste and see” that the Lord is good?
1. Spend consistent time in His Word
2. Talk to Him regularly through prayer
3. Thank Him often for the evidences of His goodness you already see
4. Journal about moments when He demonstrated His faithfulness to you
5. Sing worship songs that focus on His attributes
6. Memorize verses about His goodness to meditate on
7. Obey Him even when it’s hard and then watch what He does
8. Serve others in His name, representing His goodness to them
9. Go through hard things relying fully on Him for strength, comfort, wisdom
10. Share with others stories of His goodness at work in your life
As we walk closely with God in these ways, we will develop an ever-deepening experiential understanding of His goodness that both sustains us and overflows from us to others. And this will allow us to echo the psalmist’s declaration – “Oh taste and see that the Lord is good!”
The closing line of this verse reveals the importance of not just tasting, but taking refuge in God’s goodness. “Blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!” To take refuge indicates more than a passing awareness of God’s goodness. It requires us to move into God’s goodness, abiding under its protective covering and choosing it as our source of safety and peace.
When we take refuge in Christ, we actively trust that His goodness will sustain us and preserve us through every season of life. We shelter our hearts in the certainty of His compassion, faithfulness, strength and love. We rest in who He is.
This kind of saturated, day-to-day confidence in God’s goodness does not come easily for most of us. Our circumstances and emotional fluctuations often obscure our awareness of God’s constant presence and care. But the psalmist promises blessing, protection and joy for those who cultivate an experiential refuge in God’s goodness. Tasting God’s goodness awakens reverent awe in us. Taking refuge in His goodness anchors our lives on an unshakeable foundation of security, hope and peace.
What are some key ways we practically take refuge in God’s goodness?
1. Preaching truth to ourselves daily about His steadfast love and sovereignty over all things. Rejecting negative thoughts that contradict who Scripture says He is.
2. Looking to Him first, before anyone or anything else, as our source of stability when things feel shaky.
3. Studying Scripture to be continually reminded of His promises, character, and past faithfulness to His people.
4. Rehearsing testimonies of His goodness at work in our lives and in the lives of others.
5. Relying on His strength within us to complete each task, rather than operating out of our own energy.
6. Waiting patiently on His timing, trusting His wisdom even when we don’t understand His ways.
7. Seeking Him before making any decision, fully submitted to His discernment and direction.
8. Believing the best about Him, His motives, His words, and His work in our lives.
9. Persevering in hope through suffering, assured of His sovereignty, compassion and eternal redemptive purposes.
10. Saying “no” to anxious thoughts and choosing praise, knowing He is worthy of our worship regardless of circumstances.
This posture of taking personal refuge in the living God – leaning wholly on His goodness, trusting fully in His care, obeying Him wholeheartedly – brings blessing, stability, and protection. It fills our lives with irreducible hope. No external circumstance has the power to shake us because our internal foundation is solidly planted in the bedrock of God’s goodness.
We may cognitively know God is good, while still looking to other things like careers, relationships, influence, wealth, accomplishments, or comforts as our source of security and identity. But the life lived fully relying on the shelter of God’s presence and character, regardless of changing external realities, is the truly blessed life. It’s the “taste and see” life grounded in a firsthand, unshakable experiential certainty that God alone is good.
And that deep assurance of God’s constant care and triumphant goodness over all things breeds profound gratitude in us. When we taste and see that God remains unfailingly good and faithful through both storms and sunshine, we cannot help but worship Him for who He is. Our souls magnify His glorious name.
Gratitude takes us from tasting God’s goodness to becoming a conduit of that goodness to others. As we have freely received, we freely give (Matthew 10:8). Our thankfulness overflows in generosity, hospitality, compassion, and joy. We begin to emulate our good Father.
Experiencing the undeserved goodness of God softens our hearts to those around us. His patience with us teaches us patience. His mercy to us compels us to show mercy. His generosity stirs generosity in us. The love we receive from Christ widens our capacity to love others beyond their flaws and offenses against us. When you have been the undeserving recipient of infinite divine grace, you extend grace.
So “taste and see” quickly becomes “taste and see and share.” We move from being simply consumers and spectators of God’s goodness to being distributors and embodiments of that goodness to a watching world. And there is no surer way to demonstrate God’s goodness than by manifesting the selfless, sacrificial agape love modeled by Jesus.
This is the natural progression the psalmist envisions. Taste God’s goodness → See His goodness → Take refuge in His goodness → Receive blessing → Bear witness to His goodness by generosity, worship, obedience, and agape love.
This psalm is an invitation into greater dependency on God. So often we functionally live as practical atheists, relying on our own strength and living by sight. But the psalmist calls us to throw off self-reliance and learn to lean into and take refuge in the One who is steadfast and true. The great paradox is that coming to the end of ourselves positions us to experience the fullness of God and His good purpose for our lives.
So how do we move from knowing about God’s goodness to truly tasting and seeing that goodness in all facets of life? It starts by humbly admitting our need and inviting God to overwhelm our senses with His presence. Here is a prayer to draw near to Him:
God, I know You are good, but I want to move beyond knowing about You to truly experiencing Your goodness. Reveal Yourself to me anew today. Overflow my senses with Your grace. Open my eyes to see You more clearly. Unstop my ears to recognize Your voice. Soften my heart to sense Your presence even in the mundane. You are my refuge. There is safety nowhere but under the shadow of Your wings. Teach me what it means to find my rest and security fully in You alone. Help me walk by faith, assured of Your goodness even when I cannot see what lies ahead. I long to trust You more completely. To lean into You as my sole source of stability and hope. To cherish Your unchanging character when circumstances feel uncertain. Remind me of Your faithfulness demonstrated throughout Scripture and history. Give me fresh testimonies of Your goodness at work in my life to share with others. May praise, gratitude and obedience flow from me as I taste and see again and again that You are good.
In Jesus’ name, Amen.
