PSALM 34 

O TASTE, AND SEE THAT THE LORD IS GOOD

ALL SAINTS DAY
22ND NOVEMBER 2020

Because of verse 8 this psalm was used in the ancient church liturgy as a thanksgiving psalm at the celebration of the Holy Eucharist. It was recited in festival services of the community of the godly, who are called ‘the humble, the saints the righteous’ (vv 2b, 3, 6, and 8). There are no recollections of actual events that the poet wishes to say thank you but a general overarching thankfulness for God’s goodness to the people. Though we continue to pray for those caught up in the COVID-19 pandemic we can think of those who caught it and survived and give thanks in the way the poet does in this psalm!

1       I will bless the Lord continually
his praise shall be always in my mouth.

2       Let my soul boast of the Lord:
the humble shall hear it and rejoice.

3       O praise the Lord with I me:
let us exalt his name together.

The hymnic announcement at the opening of the poem with the singing of a thanksgiving already expresses the profound perception that the whole life of a God-fearing person is intended to serve the praise of God. Envisaging in this manner the majesty of God in their corporate praise, the members of the community (us) organically grow together and become the body of the faithful – such as the humble or the saints. Hence the choice of this psalm for All Saint’s Day, today’s festival.

4       For I sought the Lord's help and he answered:
and he freed me from all my fears.

5       Look towards him and be bright with joy:
your faces shall not be ashamed.

6       Here is a wretch who cried, and the Lord heard him
and saved him from all his troubles.

7       The angel of the Lord encamps round I those who fear him:
and delivers them in their need.

The consciousness of being a member of the community of the godly and being united with the other members in fellowship also determines the manner in which the worshipper presents the answering of his prayer and his deliverance, in that his thoughts pass on from his own experience to the general experience of those who fear God.

8       O taste and see that the Lord is good:
happy the man who hides in him!

The celebrant calls all to come and share in the supper of the Lord. No wonder that when we do it is like tasting the goodness of the Lord – gone are the spiritualising influences – here we taste the Lord and He becomes part of us – all of creation is joined in the Eucharist of Christ.

The poet is sensitive to the high quality of the reality of God’s goodness and to his living presence to such a high degree that they actually become for him objects which he is able to perceive with his senses since they are so near to him (‘taste and see’) and inspire him to sing with joy the praise of the blessedness of those who find their refuge in God.

9       Fear the Lord all you his holy ones:
for those who fear him never lack.

10    Lions may suffer want and go hungry:
but those who seek the Lord lack nothing good.

The extravagant contrast between these people and the lions which suffer want and hunger, similarly, arises from the happiness felt by the human heart brimming over with joy in the goodness of God. In comparison with the feeding of the lions, the people of God have infinitely more.

22    The Lord ransoms the lives of all his servant
and none who hide in him will be destroyed.

With this last thought the worshipper once more reverts to his own experience and in his statement concerning suffering of the righteous throws out a hint that he by no means advocates a ’naïve superficial belief in retribution’ nor conceives of happiness in life as consisting in an ‘easy life’ for the Godly in the customary sense.

Thank you Fr Graham Alston for your narrative on the appointed psalm