Tuesday 29th April
Read Psalm 34:8
“Taste and see that the Lord is good;
blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.” (NIVUK)
When David’s life was in peril he turned to the Lord. It was not a mere intellectual acknowledgement that God was on his side and would look out for him, it was a visceral knowledge, true spiritual understanding. When I use the word visceral it is not unintentional. David knew within himself that God was good.
Jonathan Edwards spilled much ink reflecting on this verse. He recognised that there is a difference between knowing something with one’s head and knowing something truly with one’s heart. Salvation is found in the latter. What does this spiritual understanding consist of?
“It consists in a sense of the heart, of the supreme beauty and sweetness of the holiness or moral perfection of divine things, together with all that discerning and knowledge of things of religion, that depends upon, and flows from such a sense.” (Religious Affections).
It is loving God because He is in Himself lovely in every sense. To taste and see that the Lord is good is to long to spend time reflecting on His perfection. It is to consume Him and be consumed by Him in every way before all things.
