Four ways to savor God.

One summer in my early 20’s I worked at a specialty Tea, Coffee, and Chocolate shop in North Dallas.  This wasn’t one of the hip coffee shops that has popped up over the past decade.  I’m talking about tea imported from a French purveyor, chocolate imported from Belgium, and Maseratis parked outside. Fancy.

One night the owners took my wife and me out to a dinner that was much nicer than we could ever have imagined or afforded.  The restaurant boasted a renowned chef and a dining room that seated about 50 people total.  The meal was something like 7 or 8 courses and it was exceptional. Each plate they brought out built upon the one before it.  The flavors developed and complemented each other from course to course.  This was really something for a married couple in their early 20’s who often enough had instant oatmeal for lunch. 

At the time I was entertaining the idea of trying to work in the world of specialty tea.  What’s that? You’re not familiar with the world of specialty tea?  We can talk about that another time.  Most of the courses of the meal were paired with a different single origin tea.  That night the chef paired an Autumnal Darjeeling (tea) with one of the more savory dishes and I commented that I thought that the pairing was particularly artful because a regular Darjeeling would have been overly acidic.  The owner of the shop who handled the tea just about jumped out of his seat with delight at my observation.  He almost couldn’t contain himself when the chef came out to speak with us.  He hurriedly encouraged me to repeat my comment to the chef to which the chef replied, “Wow, a sophisticated palette.”

Now, I felt like such an imposter at this fancy dinner that my observation and the praise it received didn’t go to my head.  I’m sure my wife had a good time making fun of me about it for a long time afterward.  But that meal was really something.  The way the flavors worked together from course to course was incredible.  So much so that you couldn’t help but savor each bite.  You couldn’t rush to get the next fork-full in your mouth, you let the flavors of this mouthful contrast and develop from the last one.  Each element was chosen specifically for what it added to the dish.  Here a sweet flavor contrasted a salty one, here a smooth texture was met with something crunchy.  Every single element was important. 

In Psalm 34 the Psalmist says Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! 

If we’re not paying attention, we’ll pass over this statement in the Scriptures and file it away in the drawer labeled General Praise Language of the Psalms.  But is this just a general exhortation?  For that matter, are any of the Scripture’s exhortations general or mundane?

No.

Do you savor the Lord’s blessings?  Do you grab hold of His goodness extended to you and marvel at its sweet gentleness and its salty wisdom?  Or do you consume it and move on to the next issue without a moment's reflection?  It is so easy to be distracted by other concerns or circumstances to the point that we fail to acknowledge that the Lord has indeed heard and answered our prayers. 

Have you ever watched a dog eat a dish of high quality meat?  The dog consumes it in such a frenzy you wonder if he tasted a single morsel.  Before the flavors even get the chance to travel from his tongue to his brain he’s nearly inhaled four more big mouth’s-full.

We probably receive the Lord’s blessing this way more often than we know.  The fever breaks, we actually make it home safely through the rain, the check actually clears and we move on without a second thought.  Days or hours earlier we were begging the Lord for help and deliverance but the moment that particular concern is out of the way, we’re on to the next problem. 

Taste and see that the Lord is good.

Friends, this is deliberate.  Christians must resolve to grab hold of those blessings and savor them!  It’s not only intentional, it's an act of warfare.  As we grab hold of the Lord’s blessings we refuse the distractions of the world around us.  As we grab hold of the Lord’s blessings we deny the enticements of the deceiver.  As we labor to grab hold of the Lord’s blessings we say with greater trust, deeper affection, and appropriate boldness - the Lord IS good! 

What a mistake it would be to miss those blessings simply because we didn’t take the time to savor them.  How, then, can we taste and see?  Here are four ways:

Meditate[Psalm 119:15]  This isn’t emptying yourself, it is being filled with the truth of God’s Word.  As you read the Scriptures select a manageable portion and immerse yourself in it.  See your circumstances through it.  Read it over and over, emphasize different words, ask questions of it, write it in your own words.  In short, bring it into the present of your own life.  It's more than simple application - (what am I supposed to do with this today?).  It’s a practice that is profoundly shaping but it doesn’t require hours and a yoga mat.  Add a few moments of intentional reflection upon the truths that you’re reading and be changed by His Word.

Mourn[Matthew 5:4]  You were designed with purpose.  That doesn’t mean that our feelings are ultimate.  It does mean that the Lord intends to grow, sanctify, and mature us through every season of life.  So don’t miss that by bottling up or denying hard things.  Feel and express sorrow over your sin, over brokenness around you, invite the people of God to grieve with you,  and identify God’s mercy in the midst of it all with the hope that He is perfectly true to His character and promises.  

Rejoice[Philippians 3:1]  When the fever breaks, bless the Lord.  When you make it home through the rain storm, bless the Lord.  When whatever fear gripped you the night before loses its grasp, bless the Lord.  Don’t let the coughing keep you from rejoicing over the fact that the Lord heard your desperate prayers to bring the temperature down.  Don’t let the warm dry house distract you from the fact that the God of Heaven answered your prayers and, once again, brought you home safely.  Don’t believe the lie that you just feel better than last night according to the regular pattern of things.  Bless the Lord, He heard you.    

Recount[Joshua 4:1-7]  Call to mind with your spouse, children, or close friends the ways the Lord is working in your lives.  Mark the calendar.  Invite friends over to celebrate the anniversary of the Lord’s deliverance.  A successful surgery, a reconciled relationship, clarity where there was once confusion.  Make much of Him and His mercy.

Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good.