Beckett examines the spiritual practice of tasting God's goodness (Psalm 34:8) as a continuous experience of feeding on Christ through faith rather than a single conversion moment, emphasizing that believers taste His goodness through forgiven sins, grace, mercy, and the finished work of Christ revealed in Scripture, trials, and His faithfulness. She contrasts this grace-centered tasting with the self-righteousness and legalism of the Pharisees, arguing that only through faith in Christ's imputed righteousness—not through law, guilt, or external obedience—can believers truly experience God's goodness and be transformed, finding rest in Jesus' finished work (Matthew 11:28-30) rather than burdensome religious rules. The author concludes that believers grow in grace by trusting God's measureless love in Christ and resting in the law of the Spirit of life, which alone liberates them from the law of sin and death (Romans 8).
What does the Bible say about tasting the goodness of the Lord?
The Bible, particularly in Psalm 34:8, encourages us to taste and see that the Lord is good, highlighting the importance of trusting in Him.
Psalm 34:8, John 6:35
How do we know God's grace is sufficient for us?
God's grace is revealed through His Word and the finished work of Christ, which assures us of His sufficiency for our needs.
2 Corinthians 12:9, Romans 4:8, Ephesians 2:8-9
Why is grace important for Christians?
Grace is central to the Christian faith as it signifies God's unmerited favor bestowed upon us through Christ's sacrifice.
Romans 5:1-2, Galatians 2:16, 2 Peter 3:18
“O taste and see that the LORD is good, blessed is the man who trusteth in him” Psalm 34:8
David, the psalmist penned these words by the Holy Spirit and we know through the Scripture how he tasted the goodness of the Lord and how he trusted Him. Tasting His goodness is not a single taste when we are converted but an ongoing feeding upon Christ as the life giving Vine, as the Bread of Life and the frequent and continual revelations to us of His goodness.
To taste His goodness is to taste the reality of sins forgiven, sins remembered no more and to understand that blessed is the man whose sins are not imputed to Him because they have been imputed to Christ. It is the taste of His goodness in grace and in mercy and in the finished work of Christ.
As we sojourn here each new taste brings the blessedness of His causing us to turn to Him and to trust Him more by faith! The taste can come by simply reading His Word; it can come through trials and tribulations, through persecution, through circumstances that we like and those that we don’t. He brings those so that we taste of His faithfulness and His kept promises. Oh but every taste is sweeter than honey to my mouth. (Psalm 119:103)
We can only taste that the Lord is good by Grace through faith. It is impossible to taste the goodness of the Lord in self righteousness or unbelief. The Pharisees are a good example of that. They thought they were pleasing to God with their many laws and their outward adherence to them. They boasted in their outward obedience and pointed others in the same direction but all they did was to add burdens to the already heavy laden. They laid guilt upon guilt on the people because they taught the law was a means to produce something good in them. The religious do the same today. They preach laws that keep people far, far from God in trembling fear and shame and preach rules and regulations instead of pointing to Christ and His finished work, the Gospel.
Only grace can conform, the grace that is the perfect merit of Christ’s Righteousness imputed to His people. It is grace that is God’s love manifested to us in Christ. It is from this grace only that lives are transformed, not law nor guilt. We grow in grace by His promises to us, not ours to Him, by how much He loves us, not by how much we love Him. By faith when we see this grace in Christ, when we see that He loves us without measure and that nothing can separate us from it we begin to trust that love and we are freed from our fleshly desires that consume us. We rest in the law of faith and the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus because only then are we set free from the law of sin and death.
“Come unto me, all that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart’ and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. Matthew 11:28-30.
The words of Jesus comfort our very hearts and minds for we know that He has accomplished for us what we could never accomplish for ourselves. We rest in His work, which is why the burden is light!
O taste and see!
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