Taste the Goodness

Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him! -Psalm 34:8

I love apologetics, the art, and science of defending the Christian faith. I love talking about all the philosophical arguments for the existence of God with my skeptical friends. I love sharing the various pieces of evidence for the resurrection of Jesus Christ. I love the fact that Christianity does not call us to “just shut up and believe what we’re told,” but to trust in real eyewitness testimony that took place in a real place at a real time.

But sometimes …

Sometimes, no amount of evidence, argumentation, berating, or anything else will do it for us (even though there are plenty of good arguments and evidence for the Christian faith). Sometimes, there’s no better response to skepticism than the words of our Psalm: “Taste and see that the Lord is good.”

I basically have the palate of an eight-year-old boy who is just fine eating mac and cheese, SpaghettiOs with franks, and hamburgers every day. But living in New York has forced me to expand my palate. A little while back a friend of mine offered to buy me and a friend lunch at this really nice restaurant. But there was a catch: being aware of my little boy taste buds, my friend said, “I get to order for you, and you have to eat everything they bring out.” I was extremely cautious, but hey, it was a free lunch, so I agreed to his dictum. Soon, things were being brought out to our table that I never dreamed of trying, scary-looking things whose name I still don’t know.

At that moment, no amount of reason would have gotten my picky eight-year-old palate to eat any of those things. No matter how much they told me it was delicious or that it was good for me, I wouldn’t have believed them. I just had to taste and see. I had to experience it. And you know what? Most of it was really good!

Perhaps you’re reading this today struggling to see that the Lord is good. Where can you go to “taste” of his goodness again?

You’re probably expecting at this point to receive a few different suggestions:

1. Spend a long time in prayer.

2. Read a bunch of scripture that deals with what to do when you’re struggling.

3. Turn on some worship music and sing along loudly.

All of these things would be good, right, and almost undoubtedly edifying. But you know there is a place where you can literally “taste” and see that the Lord is good—a place where you don’t have to do anything but simply receive what is given. That place is at the communion table.

There at the table, the sacrifice Christ endured for you is made visible. There at the table, you hear it declared to you again that yes, it’s really true: your sins are forgiven. There at the table, you’re brought into a fellowship bigger than yourself. There at the table, you get a foretaste of the feast that awaits us in heaven.

Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed are you who takes refuge in him.