Taste and See - Pastor Samuel Pyo

Psalm 34 opens with David scared for his life, freshly delivered from a moment where he had to act crazy just to get away from a king who could have destroyed him. David responds to that fear with worship, saying, “I will bless the Lord at all times. His praise shall continually be in my mouth.” His mouth becomes the place where fear could have turned into bitterness, complaining, or cursing, but instead turns into praise.

Psalm 34 does not read like a textbook or a clean formula where life always turns out easy. The text reads like the real human experience of someone who sought the Lord, got answered, and learned that God delivers his people from fear. God answers the one who seeks him, not always by removing every uncertainty right away, but by giving the answer needed in the middle of it. The line “I sought the Lord and he answered me” becomes a call to bring real fears before God instead of letting them paralyze life.

The young lions become the warning against self-sufficiency. Their strength, energy, and ability should make them the ones who never lack, and yet even they suffer hunger. The American instinct to pick oneself up by the bootstraps cannot sustain the soul if God does not bless it. The fear of the Lord becomes the better way, because those who seek the Lord “shall not be in want of any good thing.”

False sacrifice also gets exposed. God has not asked for every impressive thing that gets dressed up with a thin veil of holiness. Disobedience can hide behind spiritual language, especially when the harder thing is forgiveness, confession, service, or facing the fear that God already put in front of a person. The call to join God in his global redemptive work requires being positioned like a tool in the right place, not stuck in the closet where it cannot be used.

Psalm 34:8 stands at the center: “Oh taste and see that the Lord is good.” The phrase “taste and see” does not mean hearing about a good meal while staying hungry. The boiled chicken and vegetables picture shows how easy it is to settle for a small, boring, repetitive life when God has more on the table. Sunday attendance, good thoughts, and a little emotional stirring are not the fullness of tasting God’s goodness. The call to obedience begins with small yeses, and God’s goodness is tasted as people step into the places where he is already working.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. Praise can rise inside fear David’s praise does not come from a comfortable place. Psalm 34 shows worship coming out of danger, uncertainty, and a very real fear for life. The deepest praise is not denial of pain, but a decision that fear will not get the final word in the mouth of God’s servant. [04:48]
• 2. Strength still leaves lions hungry The young lions picture the people who look able, strong, and ready to handle life on their own. Psalm 34 warns that even the capable can end up empty when self-sufficiency becomes their refuge. The fear of the Lord is not weakness, but the surrender that finally stops pretending human strength can satisfy the soul. [13:03]
• 3. God asks obedience, not theater False sacrifice can look holy while still being centered on self. God does not receive every impressive decision simply because it gets wrapped in religious language. Real obedience often begins with the thing already avoided, the forgiveness not offered, the fear not faced, or the word already ignored. [17:19]
• 4. Taste requires more than hearing Psalm 34 does not invite people to admire the goodness of God from a distance. “Taste and see” means stepping into lived obedience where God’s goodness becomes known personally, not just described by someone else. A life can hear about steak and still keep eating boiled chicken if fear keeps it from the table. [29:02]
• 5. Small yeses shape available servants God often forms useful people through small, almost ordinary steps of obedience. A home gets opened, a group gets hosted, a responsibility gets accepted, and over time desire changes. Availability becomes the place where God reshapes a person who once said no into someone thankful to be part of his work. [41:42]

Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [02:44] - Psalms and the Human Experience
• [03:57] - David’s Fear Becomes Praise
• [07:49] - Seeking God in Uncertainty
• [13:03] - Young Lions and Self Sufficiency
• [16:35] - False Sacrifice and Real Obedience
• [19:06] - Positioned Like a Useful Tool
• [20:41] - Learning to Love Chino
• [26:34] - Comfort Is Not the Goal
• [29:02] - Taste and See God’s Goodness
• [31:17] - More Than Chicken and Veggies
• [36:54] - Stop Sitting on the Ticket
• [41:42] - Small Steps Into God’s Work
• [44:03] - Other Miracles Ahead
• [46:13] - Saying Yes to the Lord

Bible Reading

Psalm 34
“I will bless the LORD at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul makes its boast in the LORD; let the humble hear and be glad. Oh, magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together! I sought the LORD, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears. Those who look to him are radiant, and their faces shall never be ashamed. This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him and saved him out of all his troubles. The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them. Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him! Oh, fear the LORD, you his saints, for those who fear him have no lack! The young lions suffer want and hunger; but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing.” [00:06] [00:09] [00:32] [04:48] [04:50] [08:37] [13:03] [29:19] [29:21]

Matthew 6:26
“Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?”

1 Samuel 15:22
“And Samuel said, ‘Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams.’”

Observation questions

1. In Psalm 34, what does David choose to do with his mouth while he is coming out of fear and danger? [04:48]
2. In Psalm 34:4 and 10, what actions are connected to God’s help and provision, and what picture is used to warn against self-reliance? [13:03]
3. According to 1 Samuel 15:22, what does God value more than sacrifice?
4. In Psalm 34:8, what invitation is given, and how is it different from only hearing that the Lord is good? [29:19]

Interpretation questions

1. David says, “I sought the LORD, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears.” How should that be understood when fears and uncertainties do not disappear all at once? [13:00]
2. Psalm 34 says that even young lions suffer hunger. What does that suggest about human strength, ability, and the limits of self-sufficiency? [13:51]
3. “To obey is better than sacrifice.” How can a person do something that looks spiritual or costly, yet still avoid the very thing God is actually asking for? [17:19]
4. “Taste and see that the LORD is good” is more than a call to agree with a truth. What kinds of steps help move a believer from hearing about God’s goodness to actually knowing it personally? [40:45]

Application questions

1. What fear is most likely to take over the mouth right now—complaining, shutting down, bitterness, or control? What would it look like to bless the Lord in that very place this week? [07:18]
2. Where is the temptation to act like a “young lion” right now—to rely mostly on planning, strength, experience, or hard work? What would trusting the Lord more concretely look like in that situation? [14:04]
3. Is there an act of obedience that has already been made clear but keeps getting delayed—offering forgiveness, confessing something, serving someone, or facing a conversation that has been avoided? What makes that step hard to take? [18:31]
4. God’s goodness is not tasted from a distance. What has “good enough” Christianity looked like lately—just attending, listening, and moving on? Where might God be inviting a deeper response? [40:19]
5. Some lives become like boiled chicken and vegetables—safe, repetitive, predictable, and untouched by risk. Where has comfort become more important than obedience? [31:17]
6. God often uses small yeses. What is one small, realistic act of obedience that could be said yes to in this season? [41:33]
7. A useful tool has to be in the right place to be used. In what area of church life, mission, or service might better positioning be needed so that availability matches what God may want to do? [19:46]