Taste and see that the Lord is good;

    blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.

From verse 8 we enter what I’m calling the ‘Preaching’ (or ‘Teaching’) section of this psalm. Here are lessons he wants to communicate.

In this verse we hear a call to personal experience: to know God for oneself and to trust Him personally: “…blessed is the one…”

‘Faith is the soul’s taste…’ C.H.Spurgeon.

When Jilly and I were planning our wedding, we visited a caterer’s, somewhere in the York area, to try out certain of their offerings. As I recall, we didn’t finally opt for this particular caterer, but we did sample their food. However, that was all we did. We didn’t have a feast; we just tried out examples of their food.

Both Hebrews 6:4,5 and 1 Peter 2:3 use this verse to describe initial faith ‘…and to urge that the tasting should be more than a casual sampling’ (Derek Kidner).

‘Those who seek the Lord discover that He not only saves and keeps but that He also satisfies (v.8). “Taste” doesn’t suggest a sip or a nibble; it implies feeding on the Lord through His Word and experiencing all He has for us (1 Peter 2:3; see Heb.2:9; 6:3). It means knowing Him better and enjoying Him more. It was a great blessing for David to be delivered from Gath, and it was a greater blessing for him to be protected by the Lord after he fled, but the greatest blessing was drawing near to God and enjoying His presence, not just His gifts. David found God’s Word sweet (119:103), and he rejoiced in the goodness of the Lord. “Good” is an important word in this psalm (vv.8,10,12,14).’ Warren W. Wiersbe: ‘OT commentary’, p.915.