Times of difficulty challenge our faith.
One of the vital truths about God we need to hold on to in times of suffering is highlighted by the Psalmist, “The Lord is good”. But how can we experience the goodness of God, when our circumstances seem anything but good?
The Psalmist encourages the use of our senses: To use our broken hearts and minds to seek the Lord, and experience God delivering us from our fears; to lift our eyes from our troubles and instead look to the Lord, experiencing the joy this brings; to raise our voices to God, and experience God hearing us and saving us from our troubles; to turn from our isolation, and experience God as a constant saving presence who surrounds us. The Psalmist is making a deeply personal appeal for us to experience God’s goodness for ourselves, “taste and see”.
In a world where our senses can be overwhelmed and overloaded, the Psalmist instead encourages us to absorb the goodness of God through every part of our being. In so taking refuge in the Lord, we experience that great Biblical word that is synonymous with the God of the Bible – “blessing”. A word that speaks of the overwhelming generosity and goodness of God towards us.
