Last week, I reminded you that we’d be spending some more time in the Psalms. For many, heading into the Psalms wasn’t new territory, as you’ve been following along with the Read Scripture app, and have already read through Psalms once this year. Therefore, you’ve probably spent time on the Bible Project page on the Psalms, benefitting from the wonderful big-picture resources available for this praise and prayer book of God’s people (if you haven’t done that, I highly recommend you at least check out their nine-minute overview video).
This past Sunday we took a look at Psalm 34 as both a window in the rest of the Psalter, and how we can apply it to our lives, as well as discover that in the Psalms we find complementary material to the wisdom literature we have already studied: Job, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes. In other words, we find here lyrical wisdom. And we discovered what many of us already know—songs have a delightful and wonderful way of teaching us about life, and how to live it. Psalm 34 is a powerful example of this. For in its verses we find the answer to two of the most important questions in our day-to-day living that we can consider.
How can I taste, sense, that Yahweh is good?
And how can I see, apprehend and know and identify, that Yahweh is good?
I had a handful of people share with me after this week’s sermon that this part of Psalm 34—Taste and see that Yahweh is good (v. 8)—had been frequently quoted to them over the course of their lives. That it had usually been kind of dropped as one of those knee-jerk responses to people that Christians sometimes say, “Yes, but, taste and see that God is good!”
And what they appreciated in the sermon was that we spent the whole time really digging into what it actually means. What does it mean to taste that God is good? What does it mean to see that God is good? Really?
By God’s grace, I think it was a good start at understanding what a lifetime of tasting and seeing God can be like. King David was a skilled guide, and the lyrics of his song provided an accurate and detailed map. If you’d like to consider these questions, and begin the adventure of tasting and seeing, you can watch or listen to the sermon here.
And if you have any questions or feedback, I always appreciate hearing from you, and having the opportunity to further serve you.
Finally, if you’d like to prepare for this coming Sunday, be sure to read and check out all the resources at The Bible Project on the Song of Songs, the last book in our study of the Wisdom of Israel.
Seeing and Savoring with You,
Pastor Matthew
