1 I will bless the Lord at all times;
his praise shall continually be in my mouth.
2 My soul makes its boast in the Lord;
let the humble hear and be glad.
3 Oh, magnify the Lord with me,
and let us exalt his name together!
4 I sought the Lord, and he answered me
and delivered me from all my fears.
5 Those who look to him are radiant,
and their faces shall never be ashamed.
6 This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him
and saved him out of all his troubles.
7 The angel of the Lord encamps
around those who fear him, and delivers them.
8 Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good!
Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!
9 Oh, fear the Lord, you his saints,
for those who fear him have no lack!
10 The young lions suffer want and hunger;
but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.
I am the second youngest of seven siblings. As a result, I did not spend a lot of time with small children in my home growing up. I was one of the small children. That changed when my elder siblings started to have families of their own, when I was an adolescent. I was charged with watching my nephews one afternoon. While my mom and sibling went out, we were equipped with books to read and age-appropriate toys to occupy us.
I remember being amazed at how many things my nephews put into their mouths. Books had all been chewed on, the extra-large Lego pieces were a favorite, but so were the various other things in the room, including a large inflatable ball. My younger nephew who was clearly teething could not of course get this in his mouth, but it was not for lack of trying.
There is something fundamentally human about what I was seeing. I was taught this later in developmental psychology courses in college. We learn a great deal as children by putting things in our mouths. Before we can make sense of what see or hear, we taste it. Of course, this can get us in trouble. We have to watch what babies put into their mouths lest it be unsafe; yet, when it is safe for them to chew on, we let them do it. It is an important way they are learning about the world.
The psalmist gets this. Did you notice in vs 8 that he urges us to taste and see that the Lord is good? Tasting is the most primitive and fundamental of our human senses, far more trustworthy to us than sight and hearing, which are often used to deceive us. Taste it and you know for certain, then you can see the truth. This is surely why Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper for us. He knows us well. He understands our weaknesses and wants to communicate his love in the strongest terms. It is also why our Bible frequently refers to him in food imagery, including the bread of life, water of life, and more. Even a sacrificial lamb was roasted and consumed by the priest and the penitent. Read your Bible, listen to the words of forgiveness spoken by a friend or your pastor, come the Supper, hear a sermon, taste and see that the Lord is good.