Taste and See
Scripture Reading — Psalm 34:1-10
I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the LORD.
—Psalm 116:13
Enjoying a cup of Earl Grey tea reminds me of my mother-in-law’s distaste for any tea besides her traditional orange pekoe and pekoe black. With unusual force she would comment that Earl Grey tea “tastes like dishwater.”
Earl Charles Grey, England’s 19th-century prime minister, would have disagreed. What Mom referred to was the taste of oil of bergamot, an acidic orange that is actually a cross between the sweet or pear lemon and the Seville or sour orange.
For Mom, variety in tea-drinking came from the choice of bone china cups rather than a selection of fine teas. Occasionally we use her heirloom cups and find ourselves saying, “Tea does taste better in a china cup.” Taste, I guess, is indisputable.
The taste of the Lord is also indisputable. The psalmist invites us to “taste and see that the LORD is good.”
I have tasted, and I agree. The Lord is good. He is very good. He is superlatively good. He is unfailingly and eternally good.
The song is right: “God is good—all the time.” And Mom, now living in the Lord’s presence, would agree—for surely she is tasting the Lord’s goodness at this very moment.
Lent is a good time to “lift up the cup of salvation” and say, “The LORD is good.”
Father, in this Lenten season we thankfully lift the cup of our Lord and joyfully taste his goodness. In his name we hope. Amen.
About the author — Dale Vander Veen
Dale Vander Veen is a retired Christian Reformed pastor who with his wife, Edith, has ministered in California, Washington, and Michigan. They have three married children and six grandchildren. He currently writes a daily e-mail series of devotions.
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