We turn in God's word this morning to Psalm 34. Psalm 34. Psalm 34. 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. 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. Well, fear the Lord, ye his saints, for there is no want to them that fear him. The young lions do lack and suffer hunger, but they that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing. Come, ye children, hearken unto me. I will teach you the fear of the Lord. What man is he that desireth life and loveth many days, that he may see good? Keep thy tongue from evil and thy lips from speaking guile. Depart from evil and do good. Seek peace and pursue it. The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous and his ears are open unto their cry. The face of the Lord is against them that do evil to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth. The righteous cry, and the Lord heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles. The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart, and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivereth him out of them all. He keepeth all his bones, not one of them is broken. Evil shall slay the wicked, and they that hate the righteous shall be desolate. The Lord redeemeth the soul of his servants, and none of them that trust in him shall be desolate. Thus far we read God's holy and inspired word this morning. Our text is verse eight. Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good. Blessed is the man that trusteth in him. Beloved congregation and our Lord Jesus Christ. This morning we taste. We taste the bread. And we taste the wine. This morning we see. We see the sacrament. And the elements of the sacrament. We see it as we handle it in our hands. We see it right into our mouths. This morning we taste and we see bread and wine. But this morning we taste and we see something far more. This morning we taste and we see the reality that is behind the bread and the wine. And that reality is nothing less than the Lord Jesus Christ. How blessed, how happy a thing to taste and to see the Lord Jesus Christ. And tasting and seeing the Lord Jesus Christ, especially in his sacrifice on the cross, especially in his atoning work, we taste and see that Jehovah is good. That's the message of the text. Jehovah is good. He's good to you, Church of Jesus Christ. He is good to us as his children. Jehovah is good. And tasting and seeing Jesus Christ, we taste and see that goodness of our God. And we need to taste and see it. We need to. There are many afflictions in this life, as this Psalm speaks of. Many are the afflictions of the righteous. We need to taste and see that God is good to us in Jesus Christ in the midst of those afflictions. We need to taste and see that God is good over against our sins and sinfulness. We come to the table of the Lord knowing our sins. knowing our violations of the law of God, knowing how unholy and corrupt we are by nature, knowing how easily we fall and how comfortable it is for us to fall, having examined ourselves in this past week. We come to the table knowing our sin and need to taste and see that God is good to us in Jesus Christ, even us poor sinners. We need to taste and see that Jehovah is good in all of our crying out unto him for mercy and for deliverance. We cry to him as David did in this psalm, and we find that Jehovah is good, and Jehovah does hear, and he does answer. Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good, and blessed are all they that put their trust in him. At the occasion of the Lord's Supper this morning, then, we hear the Word of God. about what we taste and what we see in the Gospel of Jesus Christ this morning. Let's consider this Word of God under the theme, Tasting and Seeing Jehovah's Goodness. In the first place, we consider the meaning. In the second place, we consider the manner. And in the third place, we consider the blessedness. Tasting and seeing Jehovah's goodness, the meaning, the manner, and the blessedness. The main part of the text is that word good. That's the main concept that governs the text. O taste and see that the Lord is good. And therefore, the first thing for us to see this morning is what does it mean to be good? And what does it mean that Jehovah is good? Well, if something is good, that means it is useful That means it is advantageous. That means it is pleasant. That means it advances us. Something that is good is something that edifies. It's something that builds. It's something that's useful for us so that we say about that thing, it is good and it is good for us. We talk that way, for example, about food, good food. Moms might say to the children at the dinner table or dad, eat your vegetables. They're good for you. They're good for you. Those vegetables have minerals in them that your body needs to grow and advance and to be healthy and strong. Eat your vegetables. They're good for you, useful for you. Or we talk about good food or a good meal as one that is pleasant and that we look forward to. Maybe it's that meal, children, that mom makes for you every birthday, your favorite meal, and you say, I can't wait for that good meal on my birthday. That's the idea of goodness. It's useful, profitable, advantageous, pleasant. We speak about many good things then. It is good to have a house and a home in which to live. And it's not good to have no home and to be homeless. It is good to have shelter from the elements. And it is good to have clothing to wear. It is good to have all these things. These things are useful and beneficial for us. God speaks that way about His creation. At the end of each day he beheld all that he had made, and it was good. And then at the end of the six days God said about all that he had made, Behold, it is very good. And what God meant by that is this in the first place, there was nothing bad in it. There was nothing sinful in it, nothing that caused harm in it, nothing that was a disadvantage in it, nothing that was unpleasant in it. The whole creation as made by God was good. But it also meant, in the second place, that that creation was perfectly adapted and fitted to the end and purpose which God had decreed concerning it. When God saw all that He had made, behold, it was very good according to His plan. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil was good, as was the tree of life, because that tree of the knowledge of good and evil had an important place in God's purpose with that creation. The purpose with that creation was never that Adam and Eve stay there permanently, that their children stay there permanently in that Garden of Eden. God's purpose with the creation, that it be the setting and the stage and the scene for salvation through Jesus Christ. And so the creation was good because it was perfectly fit and perfectly adapted to that purpose of God. That's what it means to be good. It means that something is useful, that something is beneficial, it is advantageous, it is edifying, it profits, it is pleasant. That is goodness. But that idea of goodness shows right away that there has to be some standard for what is good. Because there are many who say that evil is good. There are many who say that goodness is complete freedom and autonomy for me to do as I will, with no restraint from any authority, with no restraint from Jehovah God. Good is for me to be autonomous. Is that truly good? There are others who say that sin is good. It is good for us to walk in sin. It is pleasant and becoming for us to do according to all our will and to violate all the will of God. But is that truly good? There must be some standard by which we measure what is good. And Psalm 34 verse 8 gives us that standard and the sum of all goodness when David says, O taste and see that the Lord is good. Jehovah is good. He is all goodness, and there is no goodness apart from Jehovah. He is the standard of all goodness, so that what measures up to Him is good, or what comes from Him is good, and all other things are not good, but bad and evil. O taste and see that the Lord is good. So that's the next thing that we must see this morning then. What does it mean that Jehovah is good? Well, that means that Jehovah in the first place is good in Himself. Jehovah is a good God. There is nothing in Him that is evil. There is nothing in Him that is bad, that is a disadvantage. There is nothing in Him that is unpleasant. Jehovah in His very being is good. We confess that in Belgic Confession Article 1. The very first thing we say is that there is only one God. We all believe with the heart and confess with the mouth that there is one only simple and spiritual being, which we call God, and that he is eternal, incomprehensible, invisible, immutable, infinite, almighty, perfectly wise, just, good. and the overflowing fountain of all good. Our confession as a Reformed church is that God is good. We can think of that along the lines of the Trinity. The Father is good within God. The Father is good in all of the planning and decreeing that the triune God performed. All of those plans and decrees coming of the Father through the Son in the Spirit. The decrees of God the Father are good decrees All of them serve a perfect purpose of His own glory in the salvation of the church. The promises of God, which are also of the Father, are good promises. The promise of eternal life, the promise of eternal salvation, the promise of eternal joy. And the Son is good. The Son in His incarnation was good. The Son in all of His life on earth in our flesh was good with never any evil in Him. The Son in His death was good, offering a good sacrifice for the covering of our sins. And the Son now in His work in heaven is good as He intercedes for us at the right hand of the Father. The Son is good. And the Holy Spirit is good. The Holy Spirit, who was given to Jesus Christ, and who takes all of the blessings of salvation earned by our Lord and brings them to us and applies them to us. The Spirit who makes us new creatures. The Spirit who is given as that good earnest or down payment or pledge of our inheritance. The Spirit is good. God in Himself as a triune God is a good God. taste and see that the Lord is good." That God is good also means that He is the fountain of everything good, flowing out of Him, springing out of Him, rushing out of Him. are all good things that are given to the creatures of the earth. We confess that in Belgic Confession Article 1.2. After we confess that God is good, we also say He is the overflowing fountain of all good. We confess that later as well in the Heidelberg Catechism. Lord's Day 50 question and answer 125. Give us this day our daily bread that we may thereby acknowledge thee to be the only fountain of all good. God is the fountain of good and the overflowing fountain of good. That means that what he gives to his creatures on this earth are good gifts, good things that are useful and advantageous for their physical life and pleasant for them. The rain and the sunshine that God gives are good gifts. rain and sunshine which he gives to the elect and rain and sunshine which he gives to the reprobate. The gifts of rain and sunshine to elect and reprobate alike are good gifts. There's a drastic difference in the way God gives those gifts that we'll see in a moment, but the gifts themselves are good gifts coming from the overflowing fountain of all good, Jehovah. And that goodness is displayed all around us right now, at all times, but especially now in this season of the year. How beautiful a morning, a good morning, that God has given to us today, the sun rising high in its crystal clear blue sky. No haze, no humidity to make that sun hazy, but a beautiful, clear, crisp morning. The good gift of God was on display in this last week as many of us saw A rainbow more beautiful than we've ever seen before and are likely ever to see again. Beautiful colors, crisp, some even able to see the rainbow from end to end. What a good gift of Jehovah God, a good gift of beauty in this creation. We'll go home after the service today to our meals and receive from the hand of God good gifts of food and drink and to our homes which are also a good gift of God. He is the overflowing fountain of all good. The scriptures speak of that goodness of God to all his creatures. Acts 14 verse 17. Nevertheless God left not himself without witness in that he did good and gave us rain from heaven and fruitful seasons filling our hearts with food and gladness. 1st Timothy 4 verse 4. For every creature of God is good and nothing to be refused if it be received with thanksgiving. James 1 verse 17. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above and cometh down from the Father of lights with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. O taste and see that God is good in this overflowing of all of his goodness and of all of his gifts. But that God is good means something very, very special for the church. The goodness of God to the church includes His grace to the church, His love to the church, His mercy and salvation of the church. That God's goodness to His church is his love for her is evident from the way that word good is used in relation to the church in scripture. Let's look at a couple of very familiar passages. Psalm 23 verse 6. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever." The word goodness here is the very same word good in Psalm 34 verse 8. The goodness and mercy of the Lord will follow me all the days of my life. That's His grace to His church. That's His compassion to His church. Psalm 100, verse five. For the Lord is good, his mercy is everlasting, and his truth endureth to all generations. Again, that goodness is his grace. Psalm 73, verse one. Truly God is good to Israel, even to such as are of a clean heart. The goodness of God to Israel is his grace. And then to make that very clear, 1 Peter 2 verse 3 uses the very same language as Psalm 34 verse 8, O taste and see that the Lord is good. And here is how 1 Peter 2 verse 3 uses that language. If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious. Gracious. The goodness of God to His church is His grace. It's His favor that the church does not deserve, favor that the church has forfeited by her sins, but favor that God in His grace shows His church nevertheless in His own sovereign good pleasure. That's the grace we taste and see this morning, the goodness we taste and see this morning as we come to the house of the Lord, having examined ourselves, seeing how easy it is for us to sin, how we hardly put up a fight against some of those sins, how we have our high places, as we saw last week, in preparatory, how worldly and carnal our hearts are, how weak is our faith, how much we love the things of this earth and set our hearts on them. We've seen our own carnality, our own wickedness, and yet this Jehovah is good to us Yet this Jehovah is merciful to us. It is grace. It is sheer grace. It is all grace. O taste and see that the Lord is good, is gracious to you. That goodness of God, that graciousness, is not for all. The good gifts are for all, elect and reprobate alike, but the grace of God is not for all. That grace is particular. That grace is for His elect. Truly, God is good in that sense of being gracious to Israel. And that knowledge of the church that God is good in grace to us, teaches us how to view all things that come from Him. We are to receive them gratefully, with thanksgiving and with joy. There are some difficult things. that come from the hand of God upon his people. There are grievous sorrows in families, grievous sorrows regarding health, grievous sorrows in all our life. The child of God can look at every affliction and say, But I see in this, and I taste in this, the goodness of God, not understanding it even, not knowing the reasons even, why I must endure this. But I taste and see that even in this, God is gracious. He says so. He says so. I am good, and I am good to Israel. What a rock to stand on for the child of God in the midst of the afflictions of this life. O taste and see that the Lord is good. O taste it and see it. When David says, O taste and see that the Lord is good, that means that this goodness of Jehovah is revealed to us. It is communicated to us so that it impresses us and can be sensed by us. And so the question we face now is, what is this revelation? of the goodness of Jehovah to his church so that we can taste it and see it. The revelation of the goodness of God to his church is Jesus Christ. It's your savior, your head, your mediator, and mine. That's how God communicates His goodness to you. That's how He communicates His grace to us through Jesus Christ. Jesus Himself is the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd. Jesus is the brightness of God's glory and the express image of His person. So that seeing Jesus Christ We see the Father, we see God. And that goodness and grace of God to you and to me is manifest through Jesus Christ as he took your guilt upon himself, as he took your high places and mine upon himself. as he took your disobedience and mine against the law upon himself and took with that disobedience the curse of Jehovah, that curse which casts out, that curse which says you have no place with me. That's the curse that we deserve. The doors of this church should be locked to us by virtue of our sin. There ought to be a cement wall in front of this table that we could not come through to sit at the table of the Lord in communion with Him. But the Lord Jesus Christ took that curse and all the weight of that wall, all of the wrath against our sins, took it to the cross. paid for it, by his own flesh, opened not only the doors of the church, and opened not only a way through that wall to the table, but opened the gates of heaven itself to the church of Jesus Christ. That was the work of the Lord. And all of that work declares very loudly and clearly the grace of Jehovah God That grace that is evident in Jesus Christ is made all the sharper and clearer by the fact that not everybody may come to the table of the Lord. Not everybody has an open door into heaven through the flesh of Jesus Christ. There are some, even a member of our own church, who is told, no, no, you may not come. You are not in Jesus Christ as long as you remain impenitent in your sins. That could be all of us. It could be every one of us, for every one of us knows I'm a worse sinner, for I know my heart. Yet the grace of God is evident in this, that though in Adam all of us could by rights be barred, in Jesus Christ we are given a place here. And not only given a place that's optional, but are told, come, come, come to the table of the Lord. Come to heaven. Come to the throne of grace. You have a place here, a sure place that is wide open to you because of the work of the Savior. There is the grace of God. There is the goodness of God displayed to us. Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good to you and to me through Jesus Christ. The manner of tasting and seeing this is faith. That beautiful, lovely, powerful gift of faith. As we read in the text, O taste and see that the Lord is good. Blessed is the man that trusteth in Him. The man that trusteth in Him. Well that trust is faith. That trust is that confidence that the Lord gives to His people that Jesus Christ and all His blessings are not only for others but for me. That trust is also with that knowledge that the Heidelberg Catechism speaks about of all things which God hath revealed in his word to us, and that knowledge and that trust are the activities of that bond that is faith by which we are united to the Lord Jesus Christ, so that we taste and see that God is good through faith. And that's a very, very real tasting and seeing for the child of God. God has given us this supper to give us a symbol of how real that tasting and seeing the Lord Jesus Christ is. When you look up at the table, what do you see? You see the bread covered now, but in a moment you'll see that bread in your hand, grasped by your hand, held in your hand. Your fingers can feel the texture of that bread. Your fingers can feel the moisture content of that bread. You'll hold that bread and see that bread in your own hand. And then you'll put that bread in your mouth All of the taste buds on your tongue will taste that bread. You taste, you see, you hold the bread very really. And then the wine, you see that wine. You see its color in the little cup that you hold. And then you taste that wine, its sweetness and its goodness. You taste and see very really The wine. That's what faith does with Jesus Christ. It tastes Him. And it sees Him. And that's very real. That's not a pretend thing. It's not a physical thing. Jesus Christ will not be physically in your mouth through the bread and the wine or in mine. But very really spiritually, you taste Him and you see Him by faith. Faith is a hand after all. Faith is a mouth. As our Belgic Confession teaches, faith is the hand and the mouth of the soul. Faith is an eye that sees Jehovah and sees Jesus Christ in the Gospel. And what your faith tastes and sees in the gospel of Jesus Christ is that good news that His work was for you. That His sacrifice covered your sins. that He has made for you a home in heaven. You taste it. You see it. Because the Lord Jesus Christ is very really presented here in the Gospel The Lord Jesus Christ is very really symbolized in the sacrament. You taste and you see through faith. Jesus Christ. That's how to partake of the supper then too, not with our hearts cleaving to the earthly elements, but with our hearts lifted up on high in heaven, where Jesus Christ sits at the right hand of God the Father and bestows upon you, upon me, all of those heavenly blessings that he has earned. Taste and see that Jehovah is good by faith. And that is blessed. That is very, very blessed. Blessed is the man that trusteth in Him. What does it mean to be blessed? It means to be happy. To be happy. That's not a weak word. That's not a bad word to describe our spiritual experience of joy in our Savior. It's the word that God uses. It's the word that our Savior used in the Beatitudes. Blessed are, blessed are. That's happy. Happy are those who trust in Him. Happy are those who have Jesus Christ as their own. Happy are those who have been united to Him by faith, who taste and who see that God is good. What is the happiness of the Lord Jesus Christ? It's the exact opposite of the grief and the misery of being apart from Christ. It's the opposite of the wretchedness of guilt and sin. Happiness is having all that guilt taken away, and hearing the declaration of the gospel, you're my people, you're my Israel, and I'm good to you. My goodness and my mercy follow you all the days of your life. My goodness and my mercy are known in the cross of Jesus Christ. With all that sin and death and hell washed away, being given heaven in its place through Jesus Christ, the church is happy. And so, beloved, as you eat the bread and drink the wine, as you hear the gospel, taste and see that Jehovah is good. Amen. Our Father which art in heaven, we thank thee for thy goodness, and for thy grace, and for thy gospel. That thou apply this word to our hearts, and strengthen us by this supper in our faith, that we may love thee and serve thee with all our hearts. For Jesus' sake, amen.