Psalm 34:8
This transcript was generated automatically and may contain errors.
Good evening. I do not like chaotic battle scenes in movies. At least not if they're long, and not if they're too chaotic. But I really, really, really like what they do in a story. When you have a good filmmaker who has made you care about a character, has made you care about their interests, care about their safety, and then that character or that team, the good guys, are thrust into a dangerous situation and your heart starts to race as they're in danger, as they're in peril.
You care about them. And then you can take a deep sigh of relief as they find a refuge, as they find at least some temporary safety from that peril they were in. The din of warfare is muffled, the sounds of battle, the tumult and danger of it is shut out, and the camera slows down and moves in, and the good guys can put their head back and take a well-earned drink of water, they can regroup, they can tend to their wounded, they can think about their position, but of course, a good filmmaker doesn't stop there, right? He's safe. And then all of a sudden, from far away, an arrow comes in, a well-aimed arrow or sniper shot, or the wall of their stronghold is shook by a cannonball. Or maybe, especially you as the audience, you realize slowly and with horror that your hero isn't as safe as he had thought.
maybe the enemy had come around via a back entrance they'd entered by by stealth they'd penetrated that stronghold well tonight we're going to look at psalm 34 psalm 34 8 where we read about the lord's goodness and about a refuge and a stronghold in times of trouble one that will never fail us so you can look at the front of your bulletin or turn in the bibles in front of you to 464 psalm 34 we'll look at a couple other verses so that might help you. Psalm 34, 8. Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good. Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him. Taste and see that the Lord is good. Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.
I want to talk about this verse tonight in the following framework. One doctrine, two truths from our verse, and then three charges for us. One doctrine, the Lord is good. Two truths, we can taste and see the Lord's goodness, and we can take refuge in Him. Those are the two. And then three charges, I'll tell you those when we get there. So first, one doctrine, the Lord is good. The Bible shows us a God who shows steadfast love from generation to generation, a God who is patient with us and who always keeps his promises even when we are wayward and stubborn and even when we raise our fists in his face, he's still faithful. The Bible shows us a God who comforts us and who shelters us under the shadow of his wing. Jesus says in Luke 18 that no one is good but God alone. The psalmist in Psalm 119 says that he is good and he does good. We read elsewhere that his will is good and that he works
all things for good for his people. And then James tells us that every good gift comes from him. And we read just two verses after hours tonight. If you're in Gospel Project with me ever, if you're old enough to have not gone to the story but you've been in Gospel Project with me, you know that one of my favorite songs is the lions may grow weak and hungry. So two verses down from our verse about the lions, we read that those who seek the Lord lack no good thing. The Lord is good. That's one doctrine for us to dwell on. We lack no good thing. He desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of him. So he's good to us in his patience, and he's good to us in his mercy.
He's good to us because he gives us what we don't deserve, and he does not give us what we do deserve. The Lord is good, and we should dwell on that. One doctrine, the Lord is good. Two truths from this passage. One, we can taste and see the Lord's goodness. So the Lord could be good, but he could withhold that from us, but he doesn't. We can taste and see his goodness. Have you ever considered just the astounding nature of what he allows us to partake in with him. It's astounding. When you think about who you are, I know when I think about who I am, my smallness, my sin, my stubbornness, my persistence in my own way, and you think about who he is, the creator of the entire universe, who is good and just and perfect, and all he does is good and right. But he cares for us, and he allows us to know him. First, he hears us when we cry. And he doesn't only hear us, but he actually says that he turns his ear to us. He turns his ear
to us. That is an amazing privilege. And then he allows us, just mere creatures, to actually hear his voice, and he reveals himself to us. He allows us in Christ to see him. And not only that, he doesn't stop there. He invites us to dine with him. We talked about that in Sunday school this morning about the intimacy of having a meal together and what that means. It's a show of intimacy and care and belonging. And not only that, but like two nations allying together, there's this understanding of I've got your back or I will protect you. It's an amazing invitation that we can dine with him. We were far off and he brings us near. We were clothed in dirty rags and he clothes us in splendor. In Christ, we're seated in the heavenly places and we're invited to his table. That's amazing to think about, to meditate on, to try to massage into the nooks and crannies of our heart. That's a truth from this verse, that we're invited to taste and see the Lord's
goodness. The second truth is that we can take refuge in him. I know that some of you are really hurting. Some of you have experienced great loss recently. Some of you are feeling pressed by the world and its cares. Some of you have had things happen in your lives, even recently, that might make it easy for you to start to doubt the Lord's goodness or to wonder if he cares for you. Maybe those things are true for others, but it's not true for me. He doesn't care for me.
We're people, we are people who need a refuge. And all the havens that the world offers to us, all the refuges that the world offers to us, the escapes from the difficulties of this world, we all know from experience, even if we don't think about it all that often, that they will fail us and fail us and fail us. I know some of you have experienced that even recently. Popularity and power and friendship and esteem in the world's eyes, respect, influence, comfort, leisure, money. All these securities are not things that will last.
They will all fail us. So what an invitation we have from the Lord that we can go to him for refuge. So if you opened your Bibles when I started, I want you to just let your eyes fall over a few verses as we see some manifestations of what finding our refuge in the Lord means. Look at the beginning of verse 4. I sought the Lord and he answered me. He hears us. The beginning of verse 6. This poor man cried and the Lord heard him.
Verse 15. The eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous and his ears toward their cry. Our God is a God who sees us and hears us and a God who answers us. In 18 and 19, we see how he delivers. If you look down at the bottom of the page, The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit. And then many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all. He sees and hears and answers, and he delivers. And then look at verse 7.
The Lord protects. The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him and delivers them. And then lastly, in this left column, I think of your Bibles, look at verse 10. The Lord provides. The young lions suffer want and hunger. The lions may grow weak and hungry, but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing. We have a God who provides a refuge for us that is a refuge that we need. It's the only true refuge that we have and he offers it freely.
What an amazing God we serve. So two truths. We can taste and see the Lord's goodness and we can take refuge in him. So three charges for us tonight. Three things for us to do. If you are someone who has found your refuge in the Lord, then hear the three things. Taste and see that the Lord is good in his word. Taste and see that the Lord is good in your life. And taste and see that the Lord is good in the lives of his saints. So first, taste and see that the Lord is good in his word.
Spend some time tonight or this week dwelling on and meditating and like I said earlier, Massaging into the nooks and crannies of your heart, into your different life experiences, your different struggles, that doctrine of God's goodness. Read the Psalms. Even if all you can do is cry out, well, your mouth is open so you can taste and see the Lord's goodness. Meditate on the doctrine of God's goodness. And then see, specifically in the lives of different characters in the Bible, God's goodness. Particularly for me, I think about the life of Israel, the collective life of Israel.
Over and over and over they disobeyed the Lord. Over and over and over, they promised that they would obey, that they would follow Him. But they went after other gods. They disobeyed. They tried to do things on their own. They were stubborn and wayward. But the Lord was faithful to them and good to them. So look at the doctrine of God's goodness in specific instances in Scripture. And even His goodness and forbearance. He's not slow in keeping His promise, but He's patient. That's God's goodness.
Dwell on that this week. taste and see that the Lord is good in his word. Number two, taste and see that the Lord is good in your life. And I know for some of you tonight, for many of us, you might think, how can I do that because of this? How can I do that because of this struggle? How can I do this because of this loss that I've had? That should make us think of one thing, like we hear often here at Third Avenue, that we should do some of this prep work beforehand.
right if you are not struggling now if you're not doubting God's goodness do this prep work in advance thinking about specific instances in your life where the Lord has been good to you so that when it might be tempting to doubt his goodness you've already built up those things in your heart to help you trust in God's goodness in your life look at his faithfulness in your life over time look at the kindnesses that he's shown you look at the victories over sin he's already given you. And of course, remember when you do that, that those victories were his victories.
That way it's easier to trust in the middle of struggle that the future victory that you're going to have, whatever that looks like over sin in your life or over some trial, will also be the Lord's victory. It will not be because of your own ingenuity, because of your own creativity, because of your own strength. And look at the comfort that he's provided in your life. taste and see that the Lord is good in your life. And then thirdly, taste and see that the Lord is good in the lives of the saints. Spurgeon said that to taste and see is language of experience.
You would never offer someone a piece of fruit and say, taste and see how good this is if you didn't already know how good it was. You'd already experienced it. And you say, come with me, taste and see. And that's this offer in Psalm 34, taste and see that the Lord is good, coming from the language of experience. David already knew that the Lord was good. He's saying, come with me, taste and see. Taste and see with me. So we should do that. We should taste and see that the Lord is good in the lives of the saints.
This requires some work too. It requires community. It requires vulnerability. It requires time. It requires knowing people's struggles. we should be telling people about how the Lord provided for us and how he's been good to us because we're doing this work for them and then we should be receiving that from them too, asking them how the Lord has worked in their lives. We should tell people and we should ask about how the Lord has been good and faithful to them. Remember that taste and see one time in the Garden of Eden brought death, but taste and see now brings life and we should do that together.
So taste and see that the Lord is good in his word. Taste and see that the Lord is good in your life, and taste and see that the Lord is good in the lives of the saints. So what has the Lord given to us? What's amazing is that once he gives these gifts to us, he never takes them away. You didn't deserve for the Lord to listen to your cry, but he hears you and he answers. You didn't deserve salvation, but he gives it freely. You didn't deserve to be at his table, but he seats you there. And you didn't deserve adoption into his family, but he welcomes you and he calls you his own. We have forgiveness of sins. We have a new heart. We have life everlasting. We have the Holy Spirit. We have adoption through Christ's blood. And not only that, we have the church and the communion and the fellowship of the saints, and we have his promises. So we lack nothing. Like Psalm 34 10 says, we lack nothing.
So, brothers and sisters, Christians, go to him for refuge. Taste and see that he is good. Even as the waves of this world threaten to dash you against the rocks, they threaten to drown you. They threaten to take away your last breath. They threaten to batter you and bruise you. Remember that our foundation is in Christ, and it is deep, and it is strong, and the walls of that refuge are thick and solid, and they will not give way to the waves. They will not erode. They will not give way to the battering ram or to fire. or whatever trials the devil might send your way.
Because remember, those trials come through God's hand in the first place. The walls of this refuge cannot be breached. So we can rest better than that afflicted hero in the film can. Lastly, very quickly, you can't talk about a refuge without talking about at least Psalm 46 a little bit. Psalm 46 doesn't stop with its declarations that God is our refuge and our strength and our fortress. Psalm 46 also says that God is the Lord of hosts who breaks the bow and shatters the spear and who makes all wars cease.
The nations may rage, but he utters his voice. So like Psalm 46 calls us to do, come behold the works of the Lord. Taste and see that he is good and Christian. Tonight and this week, take heart. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, you are our refuge and our fortress and our strength. So in sorrow and suffering and the difficulties and afflictions of this life, may we remember what you have done for us and what you have promised us.
And may that fill our hearts with gratitude and joy and hope. Tonight and this week and forevermore. In Jesus' name, amen.