Psalm 34:8
8 O taste [ta`am] and see [ra'ah] that the LORD [Yahovah] is
good [towb]: blessed ['esher] is the man [geber] that
trusteth [chacah] in him. KJV-Interlinear
8
Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in
him! ESV
The word for taste, ‘ta
am,’ means to try the flavor of something, to eat a little in order to
determine what it is, with respect to the mind, to perceive or to experience. And with respect to this verse, the symbolism
is to try the Christian life, in the proper way, and experience it correctly,
and thus discover the blessings and repercussions of it.
The Lord is good, refers
to the written word of God. The tasting
is the intake of doctrine, which is the written word reflecting Jesus Christ who
is the living word. The tasting is the
daily study as one would eat a meal on a daily basis.
The word for trust, ‘chacah,’
means to flee for protection, to have hope in, to take refuge in. It refers to going to a place into which you
place yourself completely and thus gain refuge or safety while within the confines
of that refuge. This is the spiritual
life in which you reside when you confess, and study, and apply, and grow up,
and function within.
If you do not eat a food,
you cannot taste it nor even discover its taste. If you do not consume a food, you cannot
benefit from it.
The word of God is the
daily food for the soul, and must be eaten (studied) daily in order to have a
healthy diet and have a healthy soul, and to grow.
Bible doctrine is the
food.
Confession is the dining
room.
Daily study is the eating.
Swallowing and metabolizing,
is the transfer of spiritual nourishment into the soul.
Daily application, is the
benefit and the experience.
Overall health and growth
and strength and insight are the blessings and more.
The end result is
spiritual maturity, which is the height of the Christian experience.
Note that this is all
internal to the soul, and has nothing to do with worldly experience or
circumstances.
The spiritual is separate
and apart from the temporal world.
Experiencing Gods
goodness is directly connected to Christ, through the written word, which is
Christ.
