To the cautious type,
I so get it. There are a million things that could go wrong. What you know feels safer for certain, because it is certain. It’s easier, it’s known, and it’s better to keep control in yourself, because you know yourself. But what happens when you don’t have it? What happens when you aren’t enough? What happens when trouble or chaos envelopes you and you feel like you’re alone and ill-equipped? If things are slipping already, how could you possibly hand over more trust than you’ve already given?
I’ve often seen this verse pictured on various decorative items in southern women’s kitchens. We used to have it handwritten on a chalkboard in our old house artistically styled with a fork and spoon. I think because I’ve grown accustomed to seeing it primarily in this setting, I’ve inferred an interpretation over time somewhere along the lines of ‘savor his goodness.’ I love that notion, because as a society rushing towards the next task, we need that reminder in the very rooms adjacent to our overfull yet underused laundry rooms where we are hangrily trying to get the next meal on the table in between soccer practice and choir. I think that’s definitely the result of the verse, but that one word ‘taste,’ has really caught my attention lately like it never has before. I think because I started to ask, why ‘taste’? And why is it necessary to do so in order to see his goodness?
If we are talking the five senses, which do you perceive as the most vulnerable? I can think of many negative sensations attached to all 5. For instance, touch. There are many sensory issues that are real, like for those of us facing PTSD due to stirrup pants in the 3rdgrade. I mean, yes sure, my pants did not come untucked, but my sanity failed to stay as in tact. Same with wet socks in the dugout of a game that, let’s be honest, I wasn’t going to play in anyways. Or take sound for instance, how about the incessant crying of your newborn baby even after all his needs have been met? For hours. The list could go on for all five, but to me, hands down, the most vulnerable sense is taste. Think about it. We are really selective with that specific sensation, albeit some of us are pickier and more hesitant than others, and for good reason.
But what is taste exactly? I do know it to be a trial and error process, but I was surprised to find that it involves a lot more than we often think. The first part we know. We must actively choose to put the new food in our mouth. This alone is a test of trust in which we either use previous experiences or rely on a trusted source or recommendation. It’s a purposeful and willful choice to pick up a new food and place it in your mouth. And then the taste buds kick in. BUT taste buds, specific to each person not only in makeup but also in number, are a bit more complex than we give them credit for. They are really just a beginning of the progression—one I barely understand enough to process much less regurgitate. But here’s what I know: through taste buds, ion channels, receptor cells, and neural pathways, your perception of taste, although starting in the mouth, actually happens in your brain.
But it gets even more complicated. You may have heard that so much of taste is found also in the way a food smells. This is true. In fact, without this part, much of the flavor is missed. This is why when we have a cold, often times nothing tastes good anymore. But furthermore, there are also taste receptors in our throat and also our gut. So, your brain and mouth could get together and decide something is good, but your gut could tell you something altogether different. For instance, this chemical reaction in the gut has less to do with “taste” as we know it, but using the same process as our tongue’s taste buds, it regulates certain signals such as feeling full, glucose level, nutrient intake, and the like. And this is also a familiar phenomenon to us (looking at you 12 hot and fresh donuts). It seemed like a good idea at first, because they initially tasted good, but after a while, our gut in combination with our brain and how it made us feel said otherwise. And this is all before we’ve ever unlocked food allergies, food sensitives, and other health issues. In summary, the step to simply taste something, is reliant on more than just preference, smell, or the way food feels, it affects you entirely and therefore makes it even more of a step of faith and even more personal preference.
For some of us, even the beginning step of this process feels risky. A great and ever-present example in my life would be feeding toddlers. It’s blissful is it not, moms? And what moves the endeavor from mildly challenging to altogether maddening is I HAVE NEVER LED YOU ASTRAY! I bathe you, I clothe you, I feed you, I’ve literally given you life, please eat the food I have carefully selected and prepared for you. Amen? We as parents are so meticulously attentive to our children, even distinguishing between the children under our same roof. We cater to tastes, textures, and most definitely food allergies and sugar levels. And it doesn’t matter that I’ve had a perfect track record in all these ways, if the food in front of them looks anything other than appetizing and familiar, they ain’t trying it. Even though the foods placed in front of them have been deemed good by me, and my definition of good varies. Sometimes I deem food as good, because I know it’s what they will like. Other times it’s because I know it’s what they need. Never do I give them something harmful, because I love them and I know them and want what’s best for them. Always.
Anyone else getting uncomfortably convicted? Yea, me too. God has never once let me down, but yet still, I struggle. I hold onto these few things just a little too precious to hand over. And we do this, buying the lie in fear that if we were to ever muster up the courage to open our hands and put our full trust in him, he would snatch it from us and put our newfound faith to the test. But according to this verse, that is not what will happen. What I’m finding is that ‘taste’ here is more a step of faith than simply a state of relish. However, when we actively do this, the rest of the verse holds promise. And the promise is this: when we choose to taste, and therefore purposefully trust, we will see that he is good.
Does this imply all things in life are good for those purposed to his will? We’ve all lived long enough, seen enough, experienced enough to know this isn’t so. David, the author that penned these words in the 34th Psalm knew this by experience. The second line reinforces this notion. “Oh, the joys who take refuge in Him.” There’s no need for refuge if there is no perceived threat. Yes, there will be hardships in this life, yes there will be reasons to take refuge, but it is where or who we take refuge that makes a difference. Although good and true, David wasn't saying let's marvel at his faithfulness, he was saying it's okay to jump.
There will be many things in life ranging from hard to flat out despicable. How many times have we said and wondered “why do bad things happen to good people?” The answer is both simple and hard. Because good and bad people all live in the same world with sin. This doesn’t mean they’ve committed sin that brings their circumstances upon them (although sometimes we do this and David could certainly relate). It just means while we exist here in the presence of imperfection, imperfection will occur. The truth is it just doesn’t make sense when bad things happen to good people, and David references this phenomenon in verse 10, “Even strong young lions go hungry.” And while we can’t always control our life circumstances or the things that happen to us, we have a choice in whom we will place our trust amidst the struggle. David ends this stanza with “but those who trust in the Lord will lack no good thing.”
Just as taste isn’t merely the first impression of whether something is sweet or good, so also trust is a long an arduous process that God will be faithful in, showing evidence of his goodness in every single step. Yes, we do savor his goodness. Yes, we will have hardships. But if we take that next leap of faith, he proves to be good. And the one after that, he will be good. And the promise is this: never in the process will we look back and see that he was otherwise. Taste is trust, but unlike taste, trust is not left up to our own whims and fancies. It’s entirely and completely up to him and his steadfastness. Oh, the joys of those who take refuge in him, but first, we do have to taste. And perhaps the savoring of his goodness will be even richer when our trust in him has truly been tested and when his faithfulness and steadfast love has endured time and time again.
To the cautious type, you can trust. He’s got this. You already know you don’t have control anyways, so why not fully surrender what you already know to be his? Trials will come either way. And in every single detail, in every single circumstance, he will. Not. Fail. You. On the contrary, only then when you acknowledge his sovereign leadership and provision in your life will you lack no good thing.
I prayed to the Lord, and he answered me.
He freed me from all my fears.
Those who look to him for help will be radiant with joy;
no shadow of shame will darken their faces.
In my desperation I prayed, and the Lord listened;
he saved me from all my troubles.
For the angel of the Lord is a guard;
he surrounds and defends all who fear him.
Psalm 34: 4-7
The righteous person faces many troubles,
but the Lord comes to the rescue each time.
For the Lord protects the bones of the righteous;
not one of them is broken!
Psalm 34:19-20
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