Taste and See That The Lord Is Good Passage: 1 Samuel 21:10-22:1; Psalm 34 Calvary Baptist Church of Holland The Church @ Hamilton Sunday November 12, 2017 Pastor Trent Broussard

The inscription above Psalm 34 begins with these words: Of , when he changed his behavior before , so that he drove him out, and he went away.1

Backstory 1 Samuel 21:10-22:1

Achish and Abimelech are the same person, so keep that in mind as we read.

And David rose and fled that day from and went to Achish the king of . And the servants of Achish said to him, “Is not this David the king of the land? Did they not sing to one another of him in dances, ‘Saul has struck down his thousands, and David his ten thousands’?” And David took these words to heart and was much afraid of Achish the king of Gath. So he changed his behavior before them and pretended to be insane in their hands and made marks on the doors of the gate and let his spittle run down his beard. Then Achish said to his servants, “Behold, you see the man is mad. Why then have you brought him to me? Do I lack madmen, that you have brought this fellow to behave as a madman in my presence? Shall this fellow come into my house?” David departed from there and escaped to the cave of Adullam. And when his brothers and all his father's house heard it, they went down there to him. (ESV)

David was on the run from Saul. He feared for his life as Saul intended to kill him. As he is hiding, David goes into the camp of Achish or Abimelech, and is identified by the servants of Abimelech. Rather than be taken prisoner, held hostage or worse, David feigns insanity and secures his escape.

I find this one of the oddest occurrences in all of the Scriptures. Here is David, called a man after God’s own heart, the greatest king in Israel, the man who defeated Goliath, God’s anointed leader, the writer who penned “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want,” acting like a crazy person, perhaps appearing possessed to get out of trouble.

Whenever we read an OT narrative, it is important to trace it back to God’s purposes. God promised in Genesis 3:15 that the seed of the woman would bruise the head of the serpent. God is protecting David because the line of Christ comes through David.

It is upon his successful escape that David is inspired to write these words.

Psalm 34 [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!

1 All Scripture quotations are from the ESV. David is calling the reader to worship with him. He is saying that the Lord has been good to him, has blessed him, has delivered him and he wants everyone to join in praising the Lord. This passage has in view the votive feast of Leviticus 7, where the offering of Thanksgiving and the offering of Vows are intended to be shared for perhaps multiple days. The one making the offering was not to keep his happiness to himself but was to share and spread that offering with his servants and those in need.

The idea here might be similar to a hunter who bags a big buck and shares the meat with others so that many can rejoice in his success.

[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.

The beginning of Psalm 34 says, “I am praising the Lord, join me.” Verses 4 and 5 tell us why David is praising the Lord. The word ‘fears’ in verse 4 is not the idea of reverence but of terror. David was genuinely afraid and God delivered him.

Perhaps my favorite verse in this Psalm is verse 5. Those who look to Him are radiant. When Moses came down from his meeting with the Lord, his face was glowing, shining. Perhaps you have noticed the faces of parents with a newborn child or the look on a child’s face on Christmas morning. There is a radiance, a joy, a glow emanating from their faces. This is the idea of the believer who is looking to the Lord. Their faces glow with radiance and they are not ashamed.

I remember distinctly reading this verse from Psalm 31 the day I put my faith in Christ:

[17] O LORD, let me not be put to shame, for I call upon you; let the wicked be put to shame;

Looking unto Jesus is a cause for radiance and not for shame. When we seek the Lord in His Word, we should radiate His glory. When we seek the Lord in prayer, we should radiate His glory. When we seek the Lord in worship, we should radiate His glory. This doesn’t mean that every circumstance in our lives will be good or desirable. Today there is a congregation gathered in Sutherland Springs, Texas who are looking to Christ in the midst of their extreme suffering, yet even they are radiating the glory of the Lord.

[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.

The idea behind these verses is that God delivered me and He will deliver you too. Isn’t this the heart of our sharing the Gospel? We don’t share some arbitrary truths or facts. We share that Christ has redeemed us and He can redeem you too. When you share your testimony, when you share about your deliverance from walking in darkness to walking in light, you are doing the same thing that David is doing in this Psalm. You are proclaiming that if God has the power to save me, He certainly has the power to save you too.

Look at verse 8. Taste and see that the Lord is good. This isn’t an invitation to try a sample. Perhaps you are like me and enjoy going to Sam’s Club when they are offering products to sample. You try a bit of everything to see what you like and what you don’t. For me, that means sometimes tasting something and finding a napkin as quickly as I can to spit it out. A few weeks ago, I had this experience with LaCroix.

This is not what it means to taste and see that the Lord is good. Rather, David is calling us to dive in, to make the Lord our entire diet. This is not the Sam’s Club sample but the whole lifestyle change. It is not “taste and see if the Lord is good” but “taste and see that the Lord is good.” Put your trust in Him! Put your faith in Him! Surrender for the long haul!

David’s tone changes as he now encourages the reader to live for the Lord. David is almost fatherly here as he describes the good life, the flourishing life as one lived in the fear or reverence of the Lord.

[11] Come, O children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the LORD. [12] What man is there who desires life and loves many days, that he may see good? [13] Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit. [14] Turn away from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it. [15] The eyes of the LORD are toward the righteous and his ears toward their cry. [16] The face of the LORD is against those who do evil, to cut off the memory of them from the earth. [17] When the righteous cry for help, the LORD hears and delivers them out of all their troubles. [18] The LORD is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.

There is blessing from living for the Lord. That blessing is the Lord Himself. We find our greatest joy in Christ. We find our hope in Christ. We find our deliverance in Christ. That deliverance may not be in this life. We are never promised a life free from hardship or a life free from sorrow. But we are promised an eternity with Christ. We are promised eternity without sin, sorrow or suffering. Deliverance may not look like we would choose, but we are promised that the eyes and ears of the Lord are toward the righteous and He sets His face against the wicked. Even when the wicked seem to be winning, there is coming a day when all the wrongs will be undone. J.R.R. Tolkien asks the question, “Is everything sad coming untrue?” The answer is a resounding YES!

Last week as we gathered in worship, we sang these words:

Blood-bought children who are suff’ring It won’t be long, It won’t be long Storm-tossed pilgrim, if you’re struggling It won’t be long, It won’t be long Though your flesh is now decaying It won’t be long, It won’t be long A new body God is making It won’t be long, It won’t be long Glory awaits for all God’s redeemed Glory awaits and we’ll be free

And while we long for that day, while we look to that day with anticipation, God is calling us to live for Him now. God is calling us to endure hardships and suffering. God is calling us to a life of obedience and righteousness. God is calling us to declare as Martin Luther did, “The body they may kill, His truth endureth still, His kingdom is forever!”

David gives us a view of the ultimate righteous one, Jesus Christ, as he closes the Psalm.

[19] Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers him out of them all. [20] He keeps all his bones; not one of them is broken. [21] Affliction will slay the wicked, and those who hate the righteous will be condemned. [22] The LORD redeems the life of his servants; none of those who take refuge in him will be condemned.

There is a great divide between those whom the Lord rejects and the Lord accepts. Ultimately, the only difference between the two camps is Christ. Romans reminds us that there is none righteous, no, not one. It is only in Christ that we are made righteous. I have often said that when the church gathers, it is full of a bunch of losers who have a very bright future, and anyone can get in on it.

So, what can we learn from David in Psalm 34? Here are five applications that we should consider as we begin a new-normal phase known as transition:

1. Pray – The Lord hears our prayers and answers them. Praying for our staff, for our leadership, for our search team and for our brothers and sisters in the congregation is not an optional, good idea. It is a necessity. We must cast our cares upon the Lord. We must ask for His grace and His provision.

2. Look to Jesus – Our mission is to passionately pursue Christ. We should passionately pursue Christ in His word, in prayer and in worship. Don’t be half-hearted or reserved. Go all in for Christ. We are not to sample Him and see if He works. We must taste and see that the Lord is good.

3. Share your faith – The second part of our mission is passionately pursuing others for Christ. We need to actively share what Christ has done for us. We don’t need to wait for a new lead pastor before we tell others how we have been redeemed.

4. Live for Christ – Pursuing personal holiness and righteousness is not an optional add-on to your faith. It is the expectation of your life of faith. We cannot pick and choose when and where to be righteous. We must be righteous today, knowing that eternity is in the balance.

5. Serve – Do you want to know how to encourage your church leaders? When the phone call, text or email comes asking you to serve, say YES. We are making changes in our Sunday morning routines that will cause us to need some new volunteers or cause our volunteers to serve in a different way. To quote the famous NIKE ad, JUST DO IT. We will have needs in our Children’s Ministry. Say yes. You may be asked to usher or teach or sing or pray or give. Say yes.

I do not know what the future holds for Calvary, but I know who holds the future, and we can trust Him.