TASTING THE GOODNESS OF GOD

Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.

Fear the Lord you his saints, for those who fear him lack nothing. Ps. 34:8-9

How great is your goodness, which You have stored up for those who fear you. Ps. 31:19

In these verses we see that God stores up his goodness for those who fear him. Do you want to taste his "great" goodness? Then let's consider what it means to fear Him. Psalm 34:11-14 reads like this:

Come, my children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord. Whoever of you loves life and desires to see many good days, keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking lies. Turn from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it.

What It Means to Fear God in Plain Language

Here's my interpretation of what constitutes the fear of the Lord:

1. Keep my tongue from evil:
   Don't harm others with my words, even when I'm feeling cranky
   
   
2. Keep my lips from speaking lies:
   Don't lie, even when it makes me look bad to tell the truth
   
   
3. Turn from evil and do good:
   Deliberately do the kind thing, even when I don't want to
   
   
4. Seek peace and pursue it:
   Don't react in anger in a tense situation but look for the peaceful way out, even when I've been insulted or offended

If we practice these four activities, then we know we have the fear of the Lord and we qualify to taste his goodness, which includes lacking nothing and seeing many good days.

Hope in His Mercy

In all honesty, I often fall short. So do my friends. Some are more established and mature than others. But none are perfect. When we fail, it's time to activate the part of our first scripture that invites us to take refuge in Him. When we mess up, we need to run TO Him, not away from Him. We need to "hope in His mercy" as it says in Psalm 33:18:

Behold, the eye of the LORD is upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy.

To summarize: let us keep the truth before us and exert ourselves to line up with it. But when we fall short -- let us repent, wrap ourselves in His mercy and start over. The reward is too great to quit! As we continue in this way, the fear of the Lord will increase in our lives and we will enjoy more and more of his goodness.