Are You Experiencing His Goodness? —Part 2 (Psalm 34:8-22)
GIST: Experience His goodness and grace by giving yourself to Him completely, being good ☺️ (Don’t worry, it’s not what it sounds like!), and looking forward to the ultimate goodness to come!
This morning we’re going to pick up with Psalm 34. Last week, we saw this was written after David experienced God’s goodness in a very tangible way. We then walked through how having our identities all wrapped up in being His allows us to face fear and shame as we walk in His goodness— fully known and fully loved.
The rest of the psalm continues along the same vein and shows us a bit more about what our lives will look like if we’re experiencing His goodness. Basically, we’re given three phases here. The first and the last we love to talk about, but the middle one goes a bit against the grain. We see that experiencing God’s goodness will change how we live— forever. In other words, instead of restricting your earthly experiences, following after God and doing the good He’s called you to is the path to the fulfilled life. So, here’s the gist: Experience His goodness and grace by giving yourself to Him completely, being good ☺️ (Don’t worry, it’s not what it sounds like!), and looking forward to the ultimate goodness to come!
Let’s just dive into this. First, you can experience God’s goodness and grace by→
I. GIVING YOURSELF TO HIM COMPLETELY (8-10)
We ended with verse 8 last week, but I wanted to open up with it again today because it helps set the stage for the rest of this passage. “8 Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good!” This is pointing to our need to experience God’s goodness for ourselves. Last week I compared this to the guy from “Green Eggs and Ham” who never got their goodness until he tried them for himself. In the same way, we’re called to a personal relationship with Jesus that isn’t dependent on the testimonies of others but on us surrendering to His love!
We didn’t touch as much on the next portion of this verse, but it’s equally important. “Blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!” We’re blessed, truly happy, if we seek protection, provision, and belonging in Him. These have to be more than words. I know I say this often, but it’s something that hits home for me. If we claim to seek Him for stability and belonging and provision, but in reality, we’re looking to fix everything ourselves, we’re not really seeking Him. And it’s sad because we’re the ones missing out. Look at what he says next→
“9 Oh, fear the LORD, you His saints, for those who fear Him have no lack!” Here David is calling us to have a holy reverence for the LORD and then to experience true provision. It literally says if we are living in awe of God, we won’t lack anything truly good. How does that work? What this is pointing to is the fact that we are prepared to see our needs met when we have an understanding of what our actual needs are, when we have the right perspective on needs! If you don’t understand what you need, how will you know if you’re missing out on stuff? So much of what we’ve been programmed by society to feel like we need doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface. That’s why many of the wealthiest and most worldly successful people have admitted to being unsatisfied, because what they really need is the hope that only comes from being rescued from the sin that is killing them. They have some nice stuff and live a comfortable life, but we were made for something better. David emphasizes this next by saying→
“10 The young lions suffer want and hunger; but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing.” Young lions are a picture of strength. They seem to be completely capable. They seem to have it all together, but they can’t stop calamity from overtaking them. Neither can we, but we can walk through them with God and experience goodness in its perfect form! That’s what a life with God is. So, you can experience God’s goodness and grace by first actually coming to Him as your Savior and giving Him your life. You can then continue experiencing that goodness and grace by→
II. BEING GOOD ☺? (11-14)
I know this one sounds off for several reasons, so let me explain a few things. First, I’m not calling for works-based salvation. You are not saved by doing the right stuff. You’re saved because you come to Jesus who rescues you from your sins. You’re also not “kept saved” by doing the right stuff. That’s legalism. That’s what the Pharisees were condemned for teaching. HOWEVER, there is an expectation for doing good when you’ve been saved simply because you’ve experienced a heart change! Jedidiah and I were talking about this just the other day, and I tried to explain it like this. I love him because he’s my son, and he loves me because I’m his dad. Nothing changes that. I know I don’t need to do special things to somehow make sure he still loves me. However, because I really love him, I want to treat him differently, and I want to do things that deliberately make him happy. These aren’t actions that secure his love. They are actions that flow from both being loved and loving him. Though on an even higher level, David points to the same kind of truth here→
“11 Come, O children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the LORD.” Here’s how it works. Now, he could be addressing children or just young people here in a sort of cry for them not to miss out on this. As a dad, I can definitely sympathize with that heart. “Guys, don’t just hear what I’m saying, come and experience this yourself!” However, this is something for all of us to hear, not just the young ones. In fact, he goes on to say→ “12 What man is there who desires life and loves many days, that he may see good?” He’s stating a common truth: we all want long, happy lives. So, here’s how that’s going to happen: “13 Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit. 14 Turn away from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it.” It’s a summarized call to live righteously! Let’s break it down a bit.
Guard Your Tongue. This brings us back to our James study, right? ☺️ We need to watch how we use our mouths, being intentional to build people up rather than tear them down, being intentional to speak truth instead of engaging in lies. We should also→
Actively Turn From Evil. We’re told to turn away from it...purposefully. We need to set up safeguards in our lives to keep us from even stumbling into wickedness. Guys, let me just be real with you. Here’s some stuff I do that some people might think is silly. I’m by no means a perfect example. In fact, I need many more safeguards, but here are two. I won’t ride in a vehicle alone with a female colleague, and I won’t be on my computer alone in a room at night. If Melissa goes to bed and I still have work to get done, which is nearly always the case, I bring it into bed with her. Why? I’ve never had an affair or been inclined to do so. I’m not visiting pornographic websites. But, I could. To actively turn from sin, for me as well as you, means to first realize how susceptible we all are to it, and then to intentionally live in such a way to avoid it at all costs!
The flip side of that is to also→
Actively Do Good. I really like this quote from Tim Keller’s The Songs of Jesus: “To enjoy a good life (verse 12) you must live a good life (verses 13–14). This challenges the lie of the serpent in Eden that if we obey God fully we will be miserable, that rich living lies outside God’s will, not within it. This lie has passed deeply into every human heart: that we would be happier if we, rather than God, were free to choose how our lives should be lived. But the ultimate good is knowing God personally, and the ultimate punishment is just as personal—to lose the face of God (verse 16), the only source of joy and love, to be “left utterly and absolutely outside—repelled, exiled, estranged, finally and unspeakably ignored.”
There is a lie that permeates our society that following God’s teachings in the Bible is repressive. This is said so often many people, even within the church, have just accepted it as truth. However, popular acceptance and fact aren’t one and the same. God’s call on our lives is a call to be who we were made to be. It’s not restricting, it’s freeing. Embracing our sinful nature is the real restriction because it enslaves us to that which is bent on our destruction. Embracing His plan and purpose frees us to walk in His light, in our created purpose. I’ve heard it explained like this before. True freedom comes at an apparent cost. For example, watching a master pianist play is incredible. It seems like they can make that piano literally do whatever they want. However, that is only a reality for them because they sacrificed other things. It took time and effort. It meant not doing what others were doing. In the earliest stages, it wouldn’t have felt very rewarding or freeing to them at all, but the more they learned and the more they gave themselves over to the process, the more they enjoyed that fruit. Following God’s plan for our lives might feel restrictive because it goes against our nature, but “36…. if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed” (John 8:36). The last point here builds on this→
Pursue Peace. We’re not called to a life of contention and petty arguments, but that’s the world we live in. We’re not meant to engage in bitterness like that. Instead, we’re supposed to live at peace wherever possible and to point people to ultimate peace, which is only found in Jesus’ rescue.
See, you can experience His goodness and grace by giving yourself completely to Him, being good, and→
III. LOOKING FORWARD TO THE ULTIMATE GOODNESS TO COME! (15-22)
All of this is possible because of the change Jesus made available to us! The end of this psalm points forward to that while contrasting those who experience this grace with those who choose not to.
Look at verses 15-16. “15 The eyes of the LORD are toward the righteous and His ears toward their cry. 16 The face of the LORD is against those who do evil, to cut off the memory of them from the earth.” This is contrasting the way God’s eyes are upon the righteous as opposed to the wicked. He is listening to the cries of those who call to Him, but standing against those who are blindly pursuing sin instead. Is this heartless? No. He is literally opposing those who are destroying themselves. But we don’t have to live like that. Instead, we can live like this→
“17 When the righteous cry for help, the LORD hears and delivers them out of all their troubles. 18 The LORD is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.” This is a beautiful picture of God’s provision and specifically His ultimate provision in salvation. We can see this very clearly in the next two verses→
“19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers him out of them all. 20 He keeps all his bones; not one of them is broken.” Hm. Being a Christian doesn’t mean your bones won’t ever be broken, nor does it mean you won’t ever face afflictions. So deliverance out of ultimate affliction and no broken bones… does this sound familiar? On the cross, Jesus fulfilled the prophecies that pointed to His bones never being broken as He died before the soldiers came to break the prisoners’ legs. Through that sacrifice and His victory over sin through His resurrection, He provided a way for us to be rescued. Doubt it, look at how this wraps up→
“21 Affliction will slay the wicked, and those who hate the righteous will be condemned. 22 The LORD redeems the life of His servants; none of those who take refuge in Him will be condemned.” Amazing grace!
I know that was a bit longer today, so let me just be quick with these→
TAKEAWAYS
- God is good.
- His sacrifice made a way for you to experience that goodness forever.
- Don’t chase after empty sources but pursue Him instead.
- This will result in a complete heart transformation.
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