“Taste and see that the Lord is good” (Psalm 34:8).
We are called, as children of God saved by grace, not to rely solely on our outer five senses but to use our inner five senses to taste and see that the Lord is good. God is good, and all the time He is good. He is ever-loving, kind, tender-hearted toward us, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness (Exodus 34:6; Psalm 100:5).
As it is written, “Receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls” (James 1:21). We are called to hear spiritually—to listen to what the Spirit is saying to the church, which is the body of Christ (Revelation 2:7). Our spiritual ears need to be alert so that we can discern between the lies and deception of the evil one and understand the truth of God’s Word, which is eternal (John 17:17; 1 Peter 1:25).
It is with the inner five senses that we are able to understand the truth of God’s unfailing Word and believe it to be true, so we stand firmly on the Word of God as we submit to Him, resist the devil, and he will flee from us (James 4:7). As we meditate on God’s Word daily, we taste that God’s Word is sweeter than honey, even honey from the honeycomb (Psalm 19:10; Psalm 119:103), and we delight in Him, giving Him praise that His Word is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path (Psalm 119:105).
It is by experiencing God’s spiritual touch upon us every day, as He pours His grace upon us and lovingly embraces us in His hands, that we dwell under the shadow of His wings (Psalm 91:4). As the woman who touched our Lord’s garment was healed (Mark 5:27–29), so also by His wounds we are healed (Isaiah 53:5; 1 Peter 2:24). We believe His Word that God delights in us as dearly loved children (Ephesians 5:1), that He loves and cares for us affectionately (1 Peter 5:7), and that He no longer rebukes us but, like a mighty warrior, rejoices over us with singing (Zephaniah 3:17).
We endure and persevere in all our troubles because, through our inner five senses, we have heard, tasted, and felt God’s unfailing love. We have experienced His tender touch so many times in our lives that we persevere, knowing that “weeping may last for a night, but joy comes in the morning” (Psalm 30:5), and that God is faithful to all He has promised (Hebrews 10:23). He will do everything He has said in His Word and will pull us through (Numbers 23:19).
It is through our inner five senses that we understand our journey on this earth is temporary, and heaven is our permanent home (2 Corinthians 5:1–2; Philippians 3:20). We look forward to the glorious appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ in the glory of the Father, to take us to the many rooms He has prepared for us in His Father’s house (John 14:2–3).
We pray that, as believers in Christ our Lord, we each day walk in the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 13:14), and walk in the light as children of light, who believe in Him and will never walk in darkness (John 8:12; 1 Thessalonians 5:5).
I pray that the eyes of our understanding may be enlightened so that we may know the hope of our calling as children of light and the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints (Ephesians 1:18), and that we trust Him as our everlasting Rock (Isaiah 26:4), our ever-present help in trouble (Psalm 46:1), our shelter from the storms of life (Isaiah 25:4), and our gracious, merciful, longsuffering God who holds us in the palm of His hand (John 10:28–29) and is greater than all.