“Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.”
(Psalm 34:8)
We experience the world through the five senses God has designed into our frame—sight, sound, smell, touch, and taste. Each brings its own dimension of awareness and interaction, enabling us to respond to our world in rich and varied ways. The Scriptures, with divine intentionality, often draw on these very senses to communicate spiritual realities as well, using language we understand to reach our heart with truth.
Psalm 34:8 stands out among such passages. The psalmist does not merely say, “Look and see,” as we might expect. Rather, he writes, “Taste and see that the LORD is good.” There is a deliberate order here. Spiritual tasting precedes spiritual seeing. That is, the experience of God—the inward apprehension of His grace and presence—awakens the soul to truly perceive His goodness.
It is not through detached observation, but by partaking of the Lord through faith that the eye of the soul is opened to behold His glory. “Indeed, God the Inexhaustible Fountain of Living Waters, is freely and communicatively good to all that sincerely seek and serve Him. David therefore exhorts to such a seeking and serving of God. Psalm 34:8-10, “O taste and see that the Lord is good,” there is no want to them that fear him — they that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing.”[1]
“Taste” suggests personal engagement. It is one thing to hear of bread, to behold it from a distance, or even to analyze its contents. But it’s quite another to put it in your mouth and be nourished. Many hear of the Gospel, study the doctrines, or witness the lives of believers, but they have not tasted. They have not partaken.
And yet, when the Spirit causes a sinner to be born again, the first taste of the goodness of God floods the soul with new sight. The veil is removed. The Word becomes radiant. The Son is revealed. As Thomas Goodwin said, believers are given a true and proper spiritual sense—a judgment, a discernment, a tasting that rightly stirs the affections and moves the heart toward what is excellent. They begin to savor the things of God. The truth is no longer mere data; it is sweetness to the soul.
Thus, to “see” the Lord’s goodness is much more than an intellectual agreement with doctrinal propositions. It includes the Spirit-given apprehension of God’s character, His faithfulness, His mercy, and His love in Christ Jesus. It is an inward persuasion of His truth, which becomes spiritual sight. And with this sight, we begin to discern His goodness not only in His Word but in His works, His providence, and even His chastening. The believer becomes like the babe longing for milk—ever hungering, ever tasting, and through that tasting, ever seeing more clearly the beauty of Christ.
But this tasting and seeing is not once and done. We must go on tasting. Go on seeing. Go on being spiritually nourished. For as the writer of Hebrews reminds us, those who are mature “have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil” (Heb. 5:14). So the Christian life is not just possessing truth, but exercising our spiritual faculties to delight in it. And the more we delight in the Lord, the more of His goodness we will perceive.
God alone enables the soul to taste. He opens the eyes. He awakens the senses of the inner man. And yet, the exhortation remains: “O taste and see.” That is, come. Partake. Trust. Feed upon Him who is the Bread of Life. And as you do, your heart will overflow in praise and trust, for you will know—deeply, certainly, sweetly—that the Lord is good.
Contemplations:
- Spiritual tasting is a gift of grace. I cannot awaken my own soul to the goodness of God, for God Himself must first enable me to taste. So I must ask the Lord to give me the hunger and the appetite. I must seek the sweetness of Christ by faith, knowing that God delights to feed His children with the riches of Himself.
- Sight follows taste in the Christian life. The world wants to see before it believes. But the soul born of God tastes first—by faith—and then sees the reality of His goodness. This reorders my expectations. I should not wait for perfect clarity before I trust and obey. Rather, I must taste first. Through obedience, in prayer, and in the Word I engage with God by faith, and then He gives me clearer sight of His glory.
- I must not live on yesterday’s taste. God’s goodness is not static, nor is my need. He has set His table before me daily. I cannot survive today on yesterday’s experience. I must come again and again, to taste afresh the goodness of the Lord. His mercies are new every morning, and so must my seeking be. The one who hungers will be filled, and the one who tastes will see more and more of the Lord’s beauty.
- Spiritual senses are to be exercised. It is not enough to have a knowledge of doctrine. I must seek an experiential knowledge of God. I must ask the Spirit to make my spiritual senses sharp—to discern what is excellent, to savor what is holy, to reject what is false. This is the mark of those who grow in grace. Lord, help me train my heart to love what You love and to see Your goodness everywhere You are pleased to show it.
Prayer (Supplication):
Merciful and gracious Father, we come before You as those who have tasted, and yet hunger still. You are good beyond all we can comprehend, and yet our affections are often dull and our hearts slow to perceive. We ask You, Lord, stir within us a greater appetite for Yourself. Make us to hunger after righteousness, to thirst for the knowledge of the Lord, to pant for You as the deer pants for water.
Cause us by Your Spirit to taste more deeply of Christ. Let the sweetness of His person, the sufficiency of His work, and the beauty of His holiness press into our souls in fresh and vivid ways. Help us not live by sight but by faith. Let our partaking come first, and from it grant us clearer spiritual vision to see that the Lord is good.
O Lord, we ask You to sharpen our spiritual senses. Let us be those who, by use, have our faculties trained to discern good and evil. Make us sensitive to Your presence. Attune our ears to hear Your Word. Draw our eyes to behold wondrous things out of Your Law. Fill our mouths with praise, and let our lips speak of Your glory. May we smell the fragrance of Christ in Your Word, in Your people, and in Your providence. Touch our hearts, Lord, and let us sense the tenderness and nearness of Your hand.
Father, give us an insatiable desire to know You more—not merely to know about You, but to taste and see that You are indeed good, and that in You is all our satisfaction. And may our prayers rise from a longing not for what You give, but for You Yourself.
Help us to walk each day feeding on Christ, communing with the Spirit, and abiding in the love of the Father. Let this experience not be rare or occasional, but the regular practice of our lives. Let Your goodness be the theme of our thoughts, the song of our worship, the strength of our hearts. And may we, by Your grace, spread the fragrance of the knowledge of Christ wherever we go.
Lord, pour out Your Spirit upon our congregation, that together we may taste and see, rejoice and declare, that the Lord is good. Let no one in our midst be content with secondhand knowledge. Give us true spiritual sense. Let the light of Your face shine upon us. And let us all, with unveiled face, behold Your glory, being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another.
In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.
Further References for Psalm 34:8
Ps. 2:12; 1 Peter 2:3; Heb. 6:5; Ps. 40:4, 84:12; Isa. 63:7
[1] Benjamin Colman et al., A Course of Sermons on Early Piety. (Boston: in N.E.: S. Kneeland, for N. Buttolph, B. Eliot, and D. Henchman, and sold at their shops, 1721), 1–2.
