Back to Psalm 34. Psalm 34, look
at verse 8. It says, O taste and
see. Do two things. Taste and see. that the Lord is good. He's good. Mid-Monday morning,
somebody called me and said, how's the studying going? And
I said, well, I'm scratching. I'm digging and searching. And I kept on scratching and
scraping. And I was scraping in the book
of Acts and digging and digging. And by later on that afternoon,
somebody else called me. My phone rang and I picked up
the phone and said, hello. And that person said, I just
wanted to call you to tell you how good the Lord is. And I said, yes, he is, isn't
he? This says right here, oh, taste
and see that the Lord is good. This world is so bad. You can't get around it. It's
just so bad. But the Lord is good. He's good. My sin and everything that I
am is so bad. It's so bad. My thoughts are
so bad. Don't you think I'd be a little
holier now? Don't you think I'd be a little better than I should?
I wish. I want to. But the truth is,
is my thoughts and my actions are so bad. But the Lord is good. The Lord is good. My heart's
desire was to prepare a true meal for those who need it. That was my heart's desire for
this, for tonight. I thought, I was sitting in there
in the study and I thought, if I owned a restaurant, if I owned a restaurant, I would
prepare food knowing that not every person that passes by is
going to be hungry. Right? But if anyone is hungry,
then we have food. We have some food. Now, in this
text, we're going to see who this spiritual meal is for. It's about to tell us. We're
about to read it right here. And here's who it's for. This
spiritual meal is for any soul who is humbled. Humble. Not every soul that passes
by is humbled, brought low. Tonight's meal is for any soul
who has been humbled. It's for any soul who is afraid. Any soul who has seen God's holiness
and is afraid. This is for any soul who is ashamed. And it's for any soul who is
in trouble. Any soul who's in that case is
welcome to grab a plate. There's no charge here. You're welcome to grab a plate and sit down at the table of
God's holy word. There's plenty of room, plenty
of room. Grab a plate. sit down at the
table of God's holy word and taste and see that the Lord is
good. So good. Now we're going to read
through these first eight verses and they're going to tell us
why the Lord is good and who he's good to. Look at verse one
with me. I will bless the Lord at all
times. His praise shall continually
be in my mouth. Who does that describe in here? Who in here blesses the Lord
at all times? Who in here has his praise continually
in their mouth? Not me. Not me. I'm ashamed of that. I'm ashamed
of that. I'm so full of doubt. I'm so
full of fear. You know what that's saying?
He can't. He won't. I'm ashamed of that. I'm brought down by that. I'm
troubled by fear because of that. And the reason is because that's
what my God commands of me. It's what he commands. He said,
rejoice evermore, didn't he? That's what he said. All day
long, from the time you wake up to the time you go to sleep,
for the rest of your days on this earth, rejoice evermore.
He said pray without ceasing. Go over to Ephesians 5 with me. Ephesians 5, look at verse 19. It says, Speaking to yourselves
in psalms. Talking to yourselves in your
mind while you're at work, while you're driving down the road.
Speaking to yourself in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. Singing and making melody in
your heart to the Lord. Giving thanks always for all
things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus
Christ, submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of
God. Who in here does that describe?
Giving thanks always for all things unto God. Always. That's our God's command to us. We know, we believe His word. We truly do realize that God
puts sinners in hell for breaking His command, doesn't He? He just
does. Can any of us in here, in absolute
truth, say, that describes me? That's me right there, giving
thanks to God always for all things, everything that comes
along. Every one of us, every person
in here knows, if any man say he has no sin, he makes God a
liar, right? Every one of us knows that that's none of us. That's not one of us. But who
does that describe? Who does that describe? One person
only. can say this. That's the Lord
Jesus Christ. Only He can say, I will bless
the Lord at all times. His praise shall continually
be in my mouth. So go with me back now to Psalm
34. Verse 2 says, My soul shall make
her boast in the Lord. in the Lord. I can't boast in
myself. I cannot boast in myself. All
that I've ever done is failed God. That's all I've ever done.
That's all I've ever done. All I've ever done is worship
myself and praise myself. That's all I've ever done. Everything that I've ever done
has done nothing more than send me deeper and deeper in the pit
of despair. Everything I've ever done. And I'm brought down and I'm
humbled. But verse 2 says that the humble,
they're going to hear about all of this and be glad. The humble,
they're going to be glad. Verse 3 says, O magnify the Lord
with me. And let us exalt His name together. Why? Because all of this obedience
that we're reading about right here, every bit of this obedience
that I could not accomplish, Christ
accomplished it for me. And we magnify His name. We bless
His name. We boast in the Lord, in His
name. Verse 4 says, I sought the Lord,
and He heard me and delivered me from all my fears. Have you
ever needed the Lord? Have you ever needed the Lord? You know we don't need Him until
we need Him. And then when we need Him, we're
not playing games anymore. I need Him. Have you ever needed Him? That's
called spiritual hunger. True spiritual hunger. That's...
I'm empty. I'm empty. And I need Him. So what do I
do? I start searching for everything
that will help me and the Lord is the last one on my mind. But in spite of my faithlessness
and in spite of my lack, in spite of the fact that I do not bless
the Lord at all times and I don't praise Him continually in my
mouth, His Spirit in mercy comes to me and says, Seek the Lord. David said, When you said to
me, Seek the Lord. That's when that knock on my
heart said, Thy face will I seek. He said in verse 4, I sought
the Lord. And here's the amazing thing
to me, and it shouldn't be amazing, but in those times when I'm low,
and I'm talking humbled, I'm talking brought down, I'm talking
depressed, I'm talking alone, it never fails. He heard me. I always go back and say, He
heard me. Once again, He heard me. I sought
the Lord and He heard me and delivered me from all my fears. Do you remember any of the fears
that you've had recently? What are they doing to you now?
Nothing. They're forgotten. The Lord delivered
me. He delivered me from all that.
And I'm not in my gut, in pain, hurting anymore over that. He
heard me. I sought the Lord. He heard me.
He delivered me from all my fears. Why is the Lord good? Now you
think about our high and holy God. Do you know how important
He is? Important is not an important
enough word. He's so important. But that He
would look on us, that He would take the time to look on us,
deal with us, come to us again. Can you imagine how good He is? He will be gracious to whom He
will be gracious, and He will show mercy on whom He will show
mercy. It's His goodness. It's His goodness. We call, we beg, we pray for
more grace, and He gives it. And He gives it, and He pours
it, and He pours it. The Lord is so good. Turn with
me over to Psalm 100. Psalm 100 verse 1 says, Make
a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands. Serve the Lord
with gladness. Come before His presence with
singing. Know ye that the Lord, He is
God. It is He that hath made us and
not we ourselves. We are His people and the sheep
of His pasture. Enter into His gates with thanksgiving,
and into His courts with praise. Be thankful unto Him, and bless
His name, for the Lord is good." Aren't you so glad? This Lord
that we are going to go stand before, this Lord that we are
going to spend eternity with, one word describes Him. And it's
holy, and many one words describe Him, but let me tell you one
that keeps coming up in the scriptures. Good, which is holy. Shall not the judge of the earth
do right? He's good. For the Lord is good,
His mercy is everlasting, and His truth endureth to all generations. That gives me encouragement to
keep preaching. all these little kids that are
running through here, all that racket we hear, His truth endures
to all generations. Isn't that wonderful? All generations. Every single, until He returns,
He's going to pluck from every generation, every tribe, nation,
kindred, tongue, people, generation. He's good. He's just good. He's so good to a number no man
can number. Psalm 103. Psalm 103 verse 1
says, Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless
His holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and
forget not all His benefits. Who forgiveth all thine iniquities? How did he do that? He took mine
iniquities on himself. Who healeth all thy diseases. How did he do that? He took all
my diseases on himself. Who redeemeth thy life from destruction. How did he do that? He had to
give his life to destruction. who crowneth thee with loving
kindness and tender mercies. That's what he did. He crowned
us with loving kindness and tender mercies. He's so good. Psalm
107 verse 1 says, O give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good,
for his mercy endureth forever. forever. Why is the Lord good? It's because He hath not dealt
with us according to our sins. Mercy is not getting what we
deserve. And His mercy endureth forever. And His mercy endureth forever.
He has not dealt with us according to our sins. He dealt with Christ
according to our sins. Who is the Lord good to? He's good to sinners. That's
who He's good to. He's good to those who have sinned
against Him. I don't understand that, but
I'm so thankful for it. He's good to those who have sinned
against Him. Those who have every reason to
fear Him. But those who have come to the
Lord Jesus Christ begging for mercy. That's who he's good to.
Psalm 86. Look with me at Psalm 86. Verse 5 says, For thou, Lord, art good and ready to forgive. He's always
ready to forgive immediately. You know how sometimes you can go to a place
and you want to buy something and you know, well, we don't
have it. We're going to have to order it. Sometimes you can call it
in early and it's sitting there waiting on you. Have you ever
called in a pizza? It's ready. That means it's already
there. That means it's already finished.
That means it's waiting on you. That means you're not going to
walk through the front door and ask for it. It's already waiting
for you. It has your name on it. Well, He's ready to forgive. He's ready. When we come begging,
Lord, forgive us. He says, I did before the foundation
of the world. I did as I was hanging on that
cross, and I will right now to your conscience and your heart.
You're forgiven. He's ready to forgive and plenty
us in mercy. That means he will not run out unto all them that call upon
thee. He delights to show mercy. Does
that tell you something about his character? Who he is? You know, you get to know people,
what they're like. Well, this is what he's like.
He takes pleasure. He delights to show mercy. He enjoys it. It's not something
he has to do. He enjoys it. I'd be happy to. Lord, will you please? Yes, I
sure will. I'd be happy to. He said, I'm going to do all
these things for you, but I'm going to be inquired of you for
it. That's what he said. Jeremiah
said, the Lord is good unto them that wait for him to the soul
that seeketh him, seeks him. So back in Psalm 34, go with
me back to Psalm 34. Verse four says, I sought the
Lord. And He heard me and delivered
me from all my fears. They looked unto Him. They looked unto Him and were
lightened. You know those times when you
just feel so heavy? You know, what's the matter with
you? Why aren't you smiling? I just can't. Can't make my cheeks go
up. If this old heart would look
to Him, And if God would show me Christ, it'd all fall off. Just like
Pilgrim had the burden on his back, and he went through yon
wicked gate, straight down the narrow way, crying life, life,
eternal life, and as soon as he got to the cross, he looked
up, and boom, all the burden fell off his back. They looked
unto him, and they were lightened. And their faces were not ashamed. Not ashamed anymore. Not ashamed
anymore. I don't know if anybody else
in here needs to hear this, but I do. I need to hear this. Are you ashamed of what you've
done? Are you ashamed of what you've
done? I've been on this earth now for
38 years. 44 years, 70 something years. Are you ashamed
of what you've done? Listen to this. When Christ wrought forgiveness
for us, when he bought us back by dying on that cross, He took His own blood that was
spilled. And He took the record of everything
that I'm ashamed of. The record that is written and
recorded and will not be unrecorded throughout all eternity. There
are people who are going to go meet God who have a record. Do
you have a record? Yes. And the Lord Jesus Christ
took his own blood that was spilled, and he took the record, my record
that I am so ashamed of, and he dipped hyssop in his own blood,
and he started blotting out that record. I mean, really. He started blotting out that
record. You know why he did that? It was all paid for. Every bit
of it. It was gone. It was gone. And now, when anybody
looks at our record, and I do mean anybody, God Almighty, God's
holy law, anybody, when anybody looks at that record, all they
can see is the blood of Jesus Christ. That's all they can see. Hmm. It's soaked through. Both sides. What can we charge him with? What can we condemn him with?
I don't see anything but the blood of Christ. That's all I
see. Nothing but the blood. That's
not a fairy tale. That's a reality. Verse 6 says,
This poor man cried And the Lord heard him and saved him out of
all his troubles. The angel of the Lord encampeth
round about them that fear him and delivereth them. Well, where's
the bad news? There is not any. I thought you
started with bad news. No, that's not even bad news,
really. Everything I started with has been wiped out, blotted
out. David said, blot out my transgressions. Purge me with hyssop and I will
be clean. Verse 8 says, O taste and see
that the Lord is good. Blessed is the man that trusteth
in him. We see it, don't we? We see it. We see that the Lord is good.
I know we do. I know we do. I know that we
see that the Lord is good. What is God's goodness? It's
Christ. The Lord is good. Taste and see
that the Lord is good. Psalm 69 says, Thy loving kindness
is good. Psalm 109 says, Thy mercy is
good. Psalm 143 says, Thy spirit is
good. It's all Christ. Every bit of
it. And we see it. The question is, here's the question. Can we taste it? That's the question. We see it. Can we taste it? I'm a pretty big fan of a Thanksgiving
meal. I love dressing. I just love
dressing. But I'm a big fan of any big spread. I love a big
spread. It's just exciting. But how unsatisfying
would it be to walk up to the table and see that feast of fat
things and not be able to taste it? Not be able to taste it. I see
it, but not be able to taste it. tasting it is experiencing
it. That's what it is. I see it,
I'm ready to experience it. Our Lord said, this is my body
which is broken for you. He said, you take this and you
eat it. You eat it. Have you ever not eaten anything
because you were a little reluctant to try it? I don't know what
it tastes like. Not sure what it's going to taste like. What does the goodness of the
Lord taste like? What does it taste like? I'll show you exactly what it
tastes like. Go over to Psalm 119. Psalm 119 verse 103 says, How
sweet are thy words unto my taste, yea, sweeter than honey to my
mouth. It is sweeter than honey. I wonder
what it will taste like. I wonder what the goodness of
the Lord tastes like. Have you ever tasted honey? It's
sweeter than that. It's sweeter than that. If you
are humbled right now, if you're low, if you're afraid, if you're
ashamed, if you are troubled, come and dine. Grab a plate. Come and dine. If sin has left
you nothing but bitterness in your soul, you come and taste
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Taste of all His righteousness,
all of His goodness, all of His perfection. I am not. He is. That's tasting it. He
is. Taste of all of His finished
works, all of His mercy, all of His forgiveness. And you'll
find it tastes sweeter than honey. It's nothing but sweet honey.
Honey to your soul. Taste and see. Taste and see
that the Lord is good. That's what I want to do. I want
to taste it. I want to see it, but I don't
want to just see it. I want to taste it. Lord, would you send
it in my mouth. Feed my soul. Feed my soul with
your word. Alright, let's stand together.