But why taste? Of all the senses, why that one? Why not ,"Look here. You can see that God is good." or "Listen: you'll hear that God is good." I've been mulling that over the past couple days...
I wonder if the Psalmist had told us to "Look and see that God is good", would I doubt? Would I be tempted to rub my eyes in disbelief? Like he's a master salesman, tricking me into thinking that something mediocre (or even bad) is actually good? Especially when things around me clearly aren't good...would I still be convinced that God is good, just by looking? I'm not sure. (There's a reason "I couldn't believe my eyes!" is a thing.)
Or how about Listen? Listen - and hear that God is good. I used to think the words to the Michael W Smith song were "Go West young man, don't even go East." (There are entire websites dedicated to misheard song lyrics. It's actually pretty funny.) But for obvious reasons, I don't think I would trust just on the basis of my hearing.
But taste; tasting is different. I can't fool myself about something in my mouth. The thousands of taste buds in there tell me if something is salty or sweet or bitter. "Taste buds tell your brain whether or not to swallow what's already in your mouth." So if I'm tasting something good, you'd better believe I'm going to swallow it. Take it in completely. And when I ingest something, it is absorbed into my body, and makes changes to the chemical balance in my system.
In that sense, taste is the perfect verb to experience the inherent good-ness of God. 'Come here. Sample. Swallow. Ingest. Don't be deceived by what your eyes see, or confused by what your ears hear. Taste. Definitively know that God is good.'
Then trust in that good-ness.
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