Psalm 34:8

8 Taste ye, and see, for the Lord is sweet; blessed is the man, that hopeth in him. (Taste ye, and see, that the Lord is good; happy is the person, who trusteth in him.)

Psalm 34:8 Meaning and Commentary

Psalms 34:8

O taste, and see that the Lord [is] good
He is essentially, infinitely, perfectly, immutably, and solely good in himself; and he is communicatively and diffusively good to others: he is the author of all good, but not of any evil, in a moral sense; this chiefly regards his special grace and goodness through Christ: all the divine Persons in the Godhead are good; the Father is good, he has good designs towards his people, has provided good things for them, made good promises to them, and bestows good gifts on them: the Son is good; the good Shepherd that has laid down his life for the sheep; he is the fountain of all grace and goodness to his churches, and to particular believers; he has wrought a good work for them, the work of redemption, and he speaks a good word on their behalf in the court of heaven: the Spirit is good; he works good things in the hearts of the sons of men, and shows good things unto them; and gracious souls, such as the psalmist here calls upon, are capable of tasting and discerning how good the Lord is in some measure; see ( Psalms 119:103 ) ( Song of Solomon 2:3 ) ( 1 Peter 2:2 1 Peter 2:3 ) . While unregenerate, their taste is vitiated, and remains unchanged, and sin is what they feed upon with pleasure, and so detest everything that is good; but in conversion a new taste is given, so as to have a saving experimental knowledge of the grace and goodness of God in Christ, an application of it to them; and in such manner as to live upon it, and be nourished by it; and though this is not a superficial taste of things, like that of hypocrites, nor a single one only, being frequently repeated; yet it is but a taste in comparison of the enjoyment of it in the heavenly state; and every taste now influences and engages trust in the Lord, as follows;

blessed [is] the man [that] trusteth in him; (See Gill on Psalms 2:12); the Targum renders it, "that trust in his word".

Psalm 34:8 In-Context

6 This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him; and saved him from all his tribulations.

7 The angel of the Lord sendeth in the compass of men dreading him; and he shall deliver them. (The angel of the Lord guardeth those who fear him/who revere him; and he rescueth them.)

8 Taste ye, and see, for the Lord is sweet; blessed is the man, that hopeth in him. (Taste ye, and see, that the Lord is good; happy is the person, who trusteth in him.)

9 All ye holy men of the Lord, dread ye him; for no neediness is to men dreading him. (All ye holy people of the Lord, fear him; for there is no neediness in those who fear him./All ye holy people of the Lord, revere him; for there is no neediness in those who revere him.)

10 Rich men were needy, and were hungry; but men that seek the Lord shall not fail of all good (but those who seek the Lord shall not lack any good thing).