Sermon:
May 12, 2002
Sunday Night Alive!  

Scripture:
Psalm 34:8

“O, taste and see that the Lord is good.” Have you ever noticed how many people who are Christians seem so eager to get people to “worship the Lord” with them? Have you ever noticed how so many of the Psalms are always telling us to “Praise God,” or “Praise the Lord with me,” or various forms of that? Is it that God has some sick ego to be fed, like a tyrannical dictator, or a crooked politician? I pray not. C.S. Lewis sheds some light on how even these point us to the truth of God. 

He quotes the Psalms. “It is right to praise God.” What does that mean? 

It is perhaps easiest to begin with inanimate objects. What do we mean when we say a picture is “admirable?”…The sense in which the picture “deserves” or “demands” admiration is rather this; that admiration is the correct, adequate or appropriate response to it. Admiration will not be “thrown away,” and that if we do not admire we shall be stupid, insensible and great losers. We shall have missed something (p. 92). It is in the process of being worshiped that God communicates his presence to people (p. 93)… Except where intolerably adverse circumstances interfere, praise almost seems to be inner health made audible…

I had not noticed either that just as people spontaneously praise whatever they value, so they spontaneously urge us to join them in praising it: “Isn’t she lovely? Wasn’t that awesome? Don’t you think that’s great?”…I think we delight to praise what we enjoy because the praise not merely expresses but completes the enjoyment; it is its appointed consummation. It is not out of compliment that lovers keep on telling one another how beautiful they are; the delight is incomplete until it is expressed. It is frustrating to have discovered a new author and not to be able to tell anyone how good he is. 

Thus, in reaction to his circumstances, David writes, “Taste and see that the Lord is good.” What is interesting are the circumstances surrounding this beautiful Psalm. 

David was in the midst of a horrendous situation when he wrote this. David had killed Goliath of Gath. It was a great triumph for David, and it was trouble as well. It meant trouble with King Saul, king of Israel, because Saul was instantly jealous and began hunting for David in order to kill him. David had to hide. 

David ran, but soon ran out of faith. He went to a priest named Ahimelech. He told a bunch of lies to this priest, conning him into giving his men the bread consecrated for the temple as well as the sword of Goliath, because they were on the run from Saul and were starving. Then David made a huge decision. He would go where Saul and his men would never look for him. He went down to Gath, the home of the enemy! He sought asylum with Achish, one of the great Philistine lords.  

David may have had a heart for God, but he sure made some dumb decisions in his life. Can you imagine this young Israelite showing up with the sword of Goliath, asking for help? They threw him in prison. David feared for his life. So he pretended to be insane, and he did it so well that Achish was disgusted and released him and threw him out of Gath.

Once he was safely back in Israel, David went to the cave of Adulam in the hill country of Judea.  He waited while his band of fellow outlaws gathered there. Then he picked up his harp and sang out the words of Psalm 34. 

Psalm 34 is an acrostic poem. In the Hebrew, every one of the 22 verses begins with a different letter of the alphabet. David wanted his experience and his escape and the lesson he learned to be remembered. 

The first half of the Psalm is a song of thanksgiving. David lifted his heart in gratitude to God. The second half is a sermon, highlighting wisdom.  David told his outlaws how he would govern his camp. 

1-3: What David Resolved. 

-         He would praise the Lord, no matter what happened to him (and he had been through the wringer!), an effective antidote to the poison of doubt, depression and despair. 

-         God has said, “All things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to his purpose.” (Rom. 8:28). How quickly we forget. 

4-6: What David Remembered. 

-         (1 Sam. 21) David was very afraid of Achish, the king of Gath. David had faced a lion, a bear and a giant. But he knew his danger in Gath was greater than any he had faced before. He had taken matters into his own hands (instead of trusting in God), and was lost.

-         “I sought the Lord, and he answered me, and delivered me from all my fears.” David had been looking at Goliath’s sword. He had been looking at Achish. He had been looking everywhere except to the Lord. (Don’t we do that? We look at everything else and try everybody else’s advice before we turn to God for answers.)

-         Even when pretending to be insane, David was praying in his soul: “Have mercy, Lord! Help me! Save me!” That’s what David remembered. And God stepped in and set him free! 

7-10: What David Realized. 

-         God protects. The “angel of the Lord” was the Lord Jesus in a form before being born to Mary. If we could see with spiritual eyes, we would see the spiritual realm and the warfare being waged in the world for the welfare of the people. 

-         God provides. 

To experience God, we must lead to godliness. Thus the second half of the Psalm calls us to live in godliness.  

The Six-Million Dollar Man and God. 

Have you felt like God is distant lately?  
Have you had times when you felt like God is just “dead?” 
Or have you thought that church is just irrelevant to you?   

If you answered “yes,” then realize three things:

1.      You are like a whole lot of people.

2.      You are in deep trouble in your spirit and faith.

3.      You need to “come home.”  Read on… 

A few days ago I was thinking about The Six-Million Dollar Man (Steve Austin – this was way before “Stone-Cold”) and The Bionic Woman (Jamie Summers). Those were classic TV shows from the ‘70s. Very cool (at the time, at least!). In elementary school, I used to wish I could be the bionic boy. I remember being in about fourth or fifth grade and having a debate with my friends about who would win if the Bionic Man and Bionic Woman ever had a fight. They both had one bionic arm, one bionic leg. (Can’t you hear those sound effects when they used their bionics? KuhnKuhnKuhnKuhn…) Steve Austin had a bionic eye, and Jamie Summers had a bionic ear. So he could see really far, and she could spy on people using her ear. The only way one of them would win would be to get close to the other and surprise him or her. He could spot her coming a mile away, but she could listen for him around corners and stuff.  

Now I suppose you could have a bionic nose, or a six-million-dollar enhanced touch. But none of us kids ever thought about having a bionic sense of taste. What could you do with that? 

Hearing. Seeing. Smelling. Tasting. Touching. Martin Luther (who started the Protestant Revolution in the 1500s) said, “God gave us five senses with which to worship him and it would be sheer ingratitude for us to use less.” That includes taste. Then I thought about Psalm 34:8, “Taste and see that the Lord is good….” In order to taste something, you’ve got to get really close to it.  You have to make it almost a part of you. And if we’re talking about God, what does that mean?  If you want to taste God’s goodness, you’ve got to allow yourself to get close to God. Even those bionic people who could see and hear from such a distance would have to get close to God, in order to taste God’s goodness. 

You have to get close for that one. Close to God, and close to other believers. And close to those who need someone to be close to! 

Wayne Watson has a powerful song, called “Untouched by Human Hands.” Listen to the words: 

The plague, generation’s leprosy, unspeakable shame, untouchable lives.
Much in need of love, but these days, who’s got much to give?
Give in to the pressure, cross the street on the other side.
When Jesus told the listening that those that follow him
Could bear the strike of the serpent, could drink the poison in,
Was his vision some spectacular scene, some exhibition, some display?
Or a reminder as I live and breathe to reach out and not be afraid?

I try to be a Godly man, I try to walk in the steps of Jesus.
I disregard the Lord’s command when I walk through my journey      
Untouched by human hands.

I despise your evil way, have no part in such things.
From such obvious violations, I keep my hands clean.
But inside this heart of mine, oh, there dwells little good,
Only the flow of Calvary, only the Lord and his blood. 
God bless the child and lest I forget, God save the dying ones
Who must live with regret.  Out on the street, out there where no one can see,
Oh, Lord, stretch forth your hand, and reach them through me.

I try to be a Godly man, I try to walk in the steps of Jesus.
I disregard the Lord’s command when I walk through my journey
Untouched by human hands.

It’s so easy to look the other way. It’s so easy to walk around other people. It’s so much easier not to get close. It’s much cleaner not to get involved. At home, in your neighborhood, at work, at school, or even at church. But think about this: your very presence at church says something positive to other Christians. Whenever one of God’s children chooses to be gone from worship and fellowship, he or she is saying to the rest of the family, “It’s really not important to come to the Father’s house to worship. The family can get along without me.” Change the image. A Christian soldier is saying to the rest of the troops “It’s perfectly acceptable to go AWOL!” 

Or think about this: your very presence in someone’s life may be how that person experiences God. Christ works in us and through us as believers. To heal, to help, to make things right.  WWJD ought not just to mean “What would Jesus do?” It ought to also mean “What will Jesus do through me, right now?” If I have Jesus Christ living in me right now, what am I allowing him to do through me? You may be the only Jesus somebody will ever know. And in order for them to taste God’s goodness, you and I need to be close enough to be a part of their lives. In order for us to be close enough to taste God’s goodness, we must be close to others. 

God is waiting, longing to be with you in ways you can’t even comprehend. He is not a distant God any longer. He is not aloof, or above it all. He did not remain in his personal peace. He came as Jesus to love us with a love everlasting, more powerful than a thunderstorm, more gentle and healing than a mother holding her baby. And he wants to love that way through us. But we must stay close, abiding in that love, that grace, that mercy, that truth, that forgiveness. 

Don’t you want a taste???