Morning By Morning #238

I delight to sit in his shade, and his fruit is sweet to my taste.

Song of Songs 2:3

From the pen of Charles Spurgeon:

Faith is often spoken of in the Scriptures in relation to our senses. For example, sight: “Look unto me, and be…saved” (Isa. 45:22 KJV). Hearing: “Hear me, that your soul may live” (Isa. 55:3). Smell: “All your robes are fragrant with myrrh and aloes and cassia” (Ps. 45:8), and “Pleasing is the fragrance of your perfumes; your name is like perfume poured out” (Song 1:3). Touch: By faith, “a woman who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years…touched the edge of his cloak” (Matt. 9:20), and through the sense of touch we handle the things of the life of faith. Taste: “How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!” (Ps. 119:103), and as Christ said, “Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you” (John 6:53).

The sense of taste is actually faith in one of its highest applications. But one of the first uses of faith is hearing, for we hear the voice of God, not just with our physical ears but also with our spiritual ears. When we hear God’s Word and believe it to be true, that is the “hearing” of faith. Then our mind “looks” on the truth as it has been presented to us, and when we understand it, truly perceiving its meaning, that is the “seeing” of faith. Next we discover its preciousness, beginning to admire it and finding how fragrant it is, and that is the “smelling” of faith. Then we begin to appropriate the mercies of God that have been prepared for us in Christ, and that is the “touching” of faith. Following this comes the enjoyment of peace, joy, and fellowship, which is the “tasting” of faith.

Each of these senses of faith is indicative of saving faith. Hearing Christ’s voice as certain as the voice of God in our soul will save us. But it is the “tasting” aspect of faith that brings us true enjoyment. Christ, through holy “taste,” is received into us, and by inward and spiritual awareness of His sweetness and preciousness, He becomes food for our souls.

It is then “I delight to sit in his shade, and his fruit is sweet to my taste.”

From the pen of Jim Reimann:

Isn’t it wonderful we have a Savior who wants to know us and has made a way for us to know Him in a way that uses all our senses! Surely we are “fearfully and wonderfully made” (Ps. 139:14), as David said. So this morning, “Taste and see that the LORD is good” (Ps. 34:8).

Consider today just how blessed believers are! We can “taste” the Lord, feeding on Him for our spiritual growth. The only alternative would be to “taste” death, but He has done that on our behalf, saving us from eternal separation from Himself. “We see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone” (Heb. 2:9).

And notice in the following passage how the Jews used the word taste: Jesus said,

“I tell you the truth, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.” At this the Jews exclaimed, “…Abraham died and so did the prophets, yet you say that if anyone keeps your word, he will never taste death.”

John 8:51 – 52

That’s right! Believers “will never taste death”!