Scripture
Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man that trusts in Him! -Psalm 34:8
Knowing God is different from experiencing God. We can know that He is good without experiencing His goodness. We can know that He can provide without ever knowing Him as the provider. As I matured enough to discern the difference between theoretical knowledge and experiential understanding, I told the Lord that I didn’t simply want knowledge about the Trinity; I wanted to experience a relationship with them. I’ve noticed that some brothers and sisters in the Body possess extensive knowledge about God, scripture, and spiritual principles, but lack experiential understanding of these things. How do I know? Because of the fruit of their lives. It’s impossible to experience a personal relationship with God and stay the same. To taste and see is like trusting God, loving Him, seeking Him, and looking unto Him. We can’t do any of these things without a relationship with Him.
“There are some things, especially in the depths of the religious life, which can only be understood by being experienced.” (Charles Spurgeon). Think about it like this: ‘taste’ is an action of trying something out to perceive its quality with your senses, and ‘see’ is to perceive and understand with your mind and heart, not just with your physical eyes. The scripture encourages us to do more than just hear and know of God’s goodness, but to indulge to the point of satisfaction and fulfillment. We can explain the goodness of God to a person, but they’ll never truly understand until they experience Him for themselves.
Beloved, David is inviting us to a deeper relationship with the Lord. He says, “Come see for yourself that He is good.” The result of tasting and seeing God’s goodness through a relationship is blessing. It’s a deep, settled happiness that comes from finding safety and security in Him. The word for ‘blessed’ in Hebrew indicates a state of profound and lasting joy. So, when we enter a relationship with God, we find profound and lasting joy. Perhaps this scripture was the push you needed to pursue a relationship with God. Or, you will find yourself ministering to someone about how great God is. Use David’s words to plant the seed in their hearts.
Prayer
Father, we praise you for your goodness and faithfulness. We desire to deeply experience more of your presence. We are thankful that we can find refuge in You. In Jesus’ name. Amen
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