Taste & See That The Lord Is Good!

This morning I struggled to get out of bed but I had my heart set on coming to church. So I got up, showered, got dressed, made a little stop to 7-11 to get a cold Starbucks drink & some change for my tithes & offerings, and then I arrived to church right in the middle of the praise & worship. Our pastor and co-pastor were away taking some much needed time off, so the guest preacher this morning was the Rev. Dr. Jasmin Schulark from Shiloh Baptist Church in York, Pennsylvania.

She opened the sermon with Psalm 34: 1-8 (KJV)

I will bless the LORD at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul shall make her boast in the LORD: the humble shall hear thereof, and be glad. O magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together. I sought the LORD, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears. They looked unto him, and were lightened: and their faces were not ashamed. 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. O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.

Focusing on the 3rd verse (O magnify the LORD...), Rev. Schulark posed a question: How big is your God? Is your God small and your problems large? Or do you flip that around and tell your problems how big your God is? Our purpose, our job in life is to MAGNIFY the Lord. And when we praise God together we are collectively magnifying Him.

In order to fully understand this text, Rev. Schulark challenges us to understand the context. David wrote this Psalm after he had been through some things and was on the run from Saul. Previously in 1 Samuel, Saul had been appointed as King but David was anointed. We have all been in a situation where it was our turn and not our time, or our time and not our turn. You can be appointed and not anointed, and you can be anointed but not appointed. So although Saul had been appointed, David had been anointed. And when Saul wouldn’t come to battle to fight Goliath, David said "I'll handle it" and he defeated Goliath. When Saul noticed the praise and recognition David was getting he got mad and wanted to kill to him. So David went on the run and ended up in the land that Goliath was from. To protect himself he began acting like a crazy person – but he was not crazy nor was he insane (we know that he was in his right mind b/c he wrote Psalm 34 with each verse beginning with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet). The people drove him away and David went to a cave and while he was in that cave alone he wrote Psalm 34 and the first thing it says: I WILL BLESS THE LORD AT ALL TIMES.

Many do not fully understand the power of praise. You see, it's easy to praise God when you have it going on. Or when you have a little money in your pocket. Or when you look good and when you feel good. Or when everything is going alright. Try praising God in the midst of your storm when things aren’t going so well and see if that doesn't change your perspective.

The one thing I love about the Book of Psalm is that it is filled with many emotions.

When I am overwhelmed I can turn to Psalm 61: "Hear my cry O God, attend to my prayer. From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee, when my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the rock that is higher than I."

When I need to be reminded of my trust & faith in God I recite Psalm 23: "The Lord is my Shepherd I shall not want."

When I have to deal with "haters" Psalm 27 let's me know: "The Lord is my light & my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell."

And even when I'm going through I remember the words of David in Psalm 34, no matter what happens "I WILL bless the Lord at ALL times!"