Text: Psalm 34:8, Title: Taste Buds of the Soul, Date/Place: NRBC, 3/6/11, AM
1. Opening illustration: “the soul has a palate and a throat, else Jesus would not bid us to drink,” Then Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you.” –John 6:53, “Longed with intense desire after God; my whole soul seemed impatient to be conformed to him, and to become ‘holy, as He is holy.’ In the afternoon, prayed with a dear friend privately, and had the presence of God with us; our souls united together to reach after blessed immortality, to be unclothed of the body of sin and death, and t enter the blessed world, where no unclean thing enters. O, with that intense desire did our souls long for that blessed day, that we might be freed from sin, and forever live to and in our God!” –Brainerd, Friday, September 10, 1742
2. Background to passage: After David’s deliverance from Abimelech in Gath, He had experienced the goodness of God; and so in his declaration of praise surrounding that he encourages us all to taste and see that the Lord is good. Obviously he didn’t mean to physically taste God; he meant with the spiritual taste of the soul. And this is so important
3. Main thought: The Christian life is not simply made up of a few key theological truths and some rules for morality, it is a feast for the soul upon the most Satisfying thing in the universe
1. Taste
1. What does the word “taste” communicate to us about our walk with Christ? Let’s confine our thoughts to a “good” taste; it means to put something in your mouth and experience it. Food has texture and temperature that can make us happy or sad. It can satisfy us to the very core, even make us long for more. Taste has a way of making our inhibitions be reduced (just ask anyone who diets). Taste makes our mouth water, even with the aroma swirling around in the air. This is what David has in mind. That the Lord satisfies our soul like food satisfies our palate. Seems blasphemous, but really meditate on the point.
2. Ps 42:1-2, 63:1, 3, 73:25-26, 119:103,
3. Illustration: celery at the SS gathering the other day, walking into the Hershey chocolate factory or a coffee shop or near a real pit bbq place, “God is a big ol’ potato chip (potato chip, yeah) just one bite and I can’t quit, with French onion dip; peanut butter milkshake on the side, praisallujah brother, in His presence I’ll abide…”
4. The Christian life at its core is not a life of rules, habits, good deeds, buildings, budgets, crowds, fads, t-shirts, morality, church attendance, etc; it is a life of experiencing God. All these things may be good and fine in their place, but all for naught if we do not experience the Living God in our lives. Let me exhort you to taste the Lord, drink deeply of His living water, give in to the satisfaction of your spiritual thirst. God will make you happy, if you look for happiness in Him. After tasting Him, He will become the compulsion of the taste buds of our soul; He will become the fragrance that intensifies our longings; He will be the crunchy, chewy, smooth, spicy, (or whatever character of food you like) tender sweetness that captivates the hungry appetite of your soul.
2.
See
1. Seeing is the proof, the experience that God is sweet to the taste. What does “seeing” do in our lives and in the kingdom? 1) Creates thirst/hunger and complete satisfaction (which brings joy) simultaneously. This is the great paradox of the Christian life: to have found Him and still be seeking Him. Chocolate, enough said. Christ gives you that “hhmmmmmm” feeling, and solidifies in your life a hunger to keep coming back to the table. 2) Creates a longing for home and the thing of home. Most of us operate in the “ready to go to heaven, but not eager” category, but those who taste the goodness of God, have a longing for being with Christ. The Christian life is not about missing hell (everyone wants that), but about being with and in love with Jesus Christ. This also creates a hunger/thirst/longing/desire for the things of the Kingdom of God here on earth. We are always struggling to do what we know to do, and would love to have the inner drive to follow Christ as we ought…taste and see! 3) And this defeats Christianity by constraint instead of by love and desire. We should operate in the Christian life, not as much out of guilt, as out of love. We shouldn’t feel forced, as much as we feel pleasure in pleasing. We should be motivated by intense desire rather than pressure to conform. Husband’s affection for a wife after bringing flowers, “It’s my duty.” 4) And begrudging obligation brings no glory to God (although willful self-discipline does), but desirous obedience brings glory to The Fountain of living water. This is because people see the joy that propels you, and ask why; and they can hear and know that your actions flow from the satisfaction that you have in God. And you beg them come and drink from the fountain that shall never run dry, and you will never thirst again without being filled and satisfied with pleasures forevermore coming from Him. And why would we not be satisfied with the most satisfying being in the universe? Taste and See! Taste and See! Taste and See!
2. Psalm 16:11, 36:8, 37:4, 43:4, 63:5, Philip 3:8,
3. Illustration: the girls have been asking for more of that punch that Jennifer made for our class get together since Sunday, "My soul breathed after God, in sweet spiritual and longing desires of conformity to Him; my soul was brought to rest itself and all on His rich grace, and felt strength and encouragement to do or suffer anything that Divine Providence should allot me" -Brainerd
4. So come all you who are heavy laden, and He will give you rest! Come and drink of the water of life freely all you who thirst! Come pour out your soul and receive the highest, deepest, widest satisfaction of your existence that will bring all things in this world to rubbish! Come and feast on the sweetest delight in the universe forever! And know that you will be increasingly satisfied in Him from now to eternity. Come find your delight, desires in Him, and He will give you those desires! Seek Him while He is near, and with all your hearts, and you will find you. Blessed are the hungry and thirsty for they shall be filled!
3.
Manufacturing Desire
1. OK, you say, preacher that is not where I live. No fear, we are all there from time to time. Even Brainerd who is one example of a man who had these desires, filled the other half of his diary with self-loathing confessions of his iniquity and vileness. But let me try to help you with four ways to help enhance your desires. 1) See Him as He truly is. When we see Him in all His depth, height, loveliness, and beauty, it is much easier to desire Him. This knowledge comes as He reveals Himself to you in the Word. Get into it, the Word is crucial for encouraging desire. Read it, pray it, memorize it, search it, listen to it preached, seek it in scripture saturated books and music. 2) Pursue the presence of God. Get where He is. Go to revivals, conferences, cultivate your intimacy in your closet. Note the places and times that you feel Him and hear from Him. His presence will grow you desire to relieve that experience. Seek Him in creation as well, enjoy the beauty He created. 3) Wean yourself from self/world/sin. These things deaden your spiritual taste buds, and quench thirsts at a lower level, relieving desires for deeper satisfaction. Truth is, you make not be able to taste Christ because of all this junk in your life. When we are satisfied with such low pursuits, our mind/heart craves them, and has no taste for sweeter things. 4) Ask! God is the God of our desires. Plead with Him to give you proper desires and discipline to craft the desires you have and bring them into submission. Then do all in your power to aid in this transformation. 5) Remain patient as you ask, seek, knock; as you fight, kill, pursue; cling to Him in faith that He will grant you this desire.
2. Matt 13:44, 7:7-8,
3. Illustration: “Oh it is sweet to be thus weaned from friends, and from myself, and dead to the present world, that so I may live wholly to and upon the blessed God!” - Brainerd
1. Closing illustration: Piper quotes, Desiring God, p 54-55, 72, Jesus answered and said to her, "Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, 14but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life," And the Spirit and the bride say, "Come!" And let him who hears say, "Come!" And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely. Reflecting on two hours of secret prayer in April of 1742, Brainerd said, “I knew not what to say to God but only lean on His bosom, as it were, and breathe out my desires after a perfect conformity to Him in all things. Thirsting desires, and insatiable longings, possessed my soul after perfect holiness. God was so precious to my soul that the world with all its enjoyments was infinitely vile…I think my faith and dependence on God never rose so high. I saw Him such a fountain of goodness, that it seemed impossible that I should distrust Him again, or be in any way anxious about anything that should happen to me.”
2. Recap
3. Invitation to commitment
Additional Notes
* Is Christ Exalted, Magnified, Honored, and Glorified?
