The Goodness of God - Part 2 - Taste and See

Hello, this is Mike Kennedy with the Living in Victory broadcast. Thank you for joining me again today. We're going to continue our series titled The Goodness of God. God has plans to bless you, to prosper you, to show you His goodness. And let me tell you, brother and sister, you want His goodness in your life. I want it. I desire it. Glory to God. Message 2 of this series, part 2, is titled Taste and See. Taste what? His goodness. Amen? And see how good He is. We're going to go over the whole chapter of Psalms 34. Join your faith with me. Heavenly Father, we come to You. We ask You for understanding, clarity in Your Word, how to experience Your goodness, how to see Your goodness, things that we would do to hinder Your goodness from operating in our lives, from opening up the door to the enemy to operate in our lives, and how to shut those down, Father, how to close doors that we've opened up because of bad decisions, and to walk in Your goodness, to walk in Your mercy. Father, we touch and agree asking for this. In the name of Jesus, amen. Psalms 34 8 says, Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good. It goes on to say, Blessed is the man who trusts in Him or who has faith in Him. Blessed is the man. The second verse that this series is based on is John 10 10. One of my favorite scriptures in the Bible. All of them are good, but oh boy, this one ministers to me. The thief or the enemy, Satan. He is my enemy. He's the enemy of my soul. He's the enemy of the body of Christ. He's the enemy of God. You do not want to be on his side because that side loses. Amen. I want to be on the winning side, the victorious side. Amen. The thief does not come except for three reasons. Satan comes to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. That's all that's in him. That's all that he wants to do is to steal, to kill, and destroy. And one of the key ways he does it is by attacking our minds with lies. Goes on to say, But I have come that they might have life, and they may have it more abundantly. That's what Jesus has come to do, to give us life and life abundantly. Hallelujah. Glory to God. Hallelujah. If you would, turn with me over to Psalms 34 verse 1. This whole Psalm was written by King David. As a child, you may have heard this about King David who took down the giant Goliath. Took him out with a slingshot, cut his

head off, and took his head back to his tent, and put it in a tent just like every good teenager does. Takes it back to his tent, puts it back to his room. Amen. King David, he shares a testimony of a time whenever Saul who was crazy, who was possessed, tried to kill him. So King David took refuge with the Philistines. Those are the people that he took out, and he took refuge with them. And as a result, he ended up fleeing in writing this testimony or this Psalms during that period of time. Amen. Psalms 34 is also called an alphabet Psalm. You may say, What does that mean? I'm glad you asked. There are 22 verses in Psalms chapter 34. Each verse begins with a letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Verse 1 begins with Aleph, A-L-E-P-H. Verse 2 begins in Hebrew with the word Beth, and so on. So it is known as an alphabet Psalm. But we're gonna read it in English because I don't know Hebrew that well. So verse 1 says, I will bless the Lord at all times. Notice, I will. It's your choice. will i desire i choose to bless the lord at all times not because i feel like it because i'm at church on sunday because something good had happened to me no i choose to bless the lord at all times his praise shall continually be in my mouth i don't curse things i bless them amen i bless the lord i praise you father hallelujah the hebrew word here when it says i will bless the lord is the saying of say good things about it's the word brook b-a-r-u-c-h i bless the lord amen i say good things about him means to praise to brag or to boast amen verse two my soul shall make its boast in the lord the humble shall hear of it and be glad why because if you're humble you realize the fact that the only reason we have life the only reason we have breath the only reason we have our food the only reason our needs are met we have relationships life of any kind is because of him he created it he gave it to us amen my soul shall boast in the lord in the humble shall hear of it and be glad amen here it means to tell everyone how

great and how good god is god is a good god i testify of his goodness all the time people ask me how i'm doing i'm blessed man i got a good god he takes care of me verse three oh magnify with me magnify who magnify the lord with me and let us exalt his name together magnify think of a magnifying glass means to make bigger to expand upon we cannot make god bigger than he already is but we can make god bigger in our lives bigger revelation to us amen bigger to what people see amen god is big and how do we do this by obeying him by praising him this is how we can magnify him it's your choice if you're going to magnify your problems you're going to magnify what satan has done i choose not to give any free advertisement of the enemy's attacks a way that he got in a sucker punch you know that happened to me in high school once i was in shop class and a young kid in there another kid he didn't have some wood and he wanted a piece of my wood that he liked and we were supposed to be building something well my parents had bought me some wood or or i bought it from baling hay detasseling corn whatever but i had some decent wood and i was building a shelf and he wanted a piece and i said i said well dude as soon as i figure out what i need you know i'll be happy to give it to you and he demanded i said no said no you aren't getting any and i turned a few minutes later someone tapped me on the shoulder i turned he hit me in the jaw with a piece of the wood cold cocked me well i need to say i was taken out blood all over the place um he uh he was taken out of school but you know that was ungodly situation amen we're supposed to magnify the good things in his life we had a boat slip in branson missouri and a tornado took it out i didn't go tell everybody oh no woe is me a tornado took it out no but a

few weeks later i will say glory to god man i'm getting this nice new boat uh dock paid for slip paid for insurance covered it all hallelujah no don't give him and testify of what he has done testify what god has done amen not the enemy verse 4 i sought the lord and he heard me imagine that the creator of heaven and earth the creator of universes i can seek him and he will hear me and he delivered me from all my fears all means all whether it's in english whether it's in greek hebrew chaldean all means all he took me out of all my fears so if i have no more fears no more phobias how many fears do i have left none amen foundation has a fear in it of death it's based upon a fear of death you would say i don't know about that people say oh i'm afraid to go swimming no you aren't afraid to swim and learn how to swim you're afraid of drowning oh i'm afraid of motorcycles oh no you're afraid of straightening the curve or somebody hitting you not paying attention and you going down and dying i'm afraid of flying I know you're afraid of crashing, amen, hallelujah. You know, many people fear death, and they fear death because they do not have a proper reverence of God, an honor of God, and they don't know where they are going to go when they die. So they think that either they're going to hell, or they think that this is the last thing they're gonna do, so might as well live long. Boy, if we live long, we've been robbed. Well, when I blow this popsicle stand, I'm out this earth, I can tell you, I've got long life. With long life, he will satisfy me,

and then show me his salvation. I'm going to heaven, glory to God, I'm gonna see his goodness the rest of my life, hmm. Verse five, they looked to him and were radiant, and their faces were not ashamed. This poor man cried out, and the Lord heard him and saved him, or delivered him out of all his troubles. David was afraid, he was in fear, he asked God for help. You know, a lot of times people are too prideful to ask God for help. Sometimes they just don't have the knowledge or the understanding, oh yeah. You know, there's times where I've thought, why didn't I ask the Lord to show me that, or to help me in that situation? Why did it take me so long? We have not because we ask not according to the word, amen. Some people don't ask God because of condemnation, the enemy, he comes to condemn us, he tries to put thoughts of condemnation on us. No, God wants us to run to him, to ask him for forgiveness, mercy, help. That's what King David is doing here, amen. Just ask the Lord for mercy, ask him to help you, show you what to do to bring you up and out. He is such a good God, amen. You should not have any fears, any phobias, you should be fearless, no fear in you, amen. Say fear, get out of here. God said fear not, amen.

Verse seven of Psalms 34, the angel of the Lord encamps all around those who fear him and delivers them. Just think of this, the angel of the Lord, this is often a description in the word as the spirit of God himself, amen. The angel of the Lord. Did you know that you have ministering spirits that are set aside by God to protect you, to keep you, to help you? You know, people say, well, this little child has an angel, right? No, I'm still a child of God, I still have a ministering spirit or an angel assigned to help me, to protect me. Whenever we go places, I command my ministering spirits to go before, beneath, all about me, especially when I'm getting ready to fly, amen. I used to do that when I was drag racing. Granted, there was one race that I was too focused on just praying for other people and I didn't pray for myself. I wasn't led by the spirit of God and I ended up hitting a track, hitting the concrete wall and was life-flighted in a helicopter. You should read my testimony if you haven't. It's on my website, available. You'll see and hear about miracle manifestations of God in that situation of what he did for me, amen?

Hallelujah. The Hebrew word here for fear, when it says those who fear him, this is the word Yirah, Y-R-A-H, okay? It means to encompass reverence, awe, respect. If you don't respect God, you should have a fear for him because you're not going where he wants to bless you. You're going to open up the door to the enemy who wants to still kill and destroy. He wants to take you out. And if he does take you out and you don't know Jesus and haven't received him, haven't honored him, then you go to hell. And that is a scary place to be, brother. You do not want that, hallelujah. You say, you don't know what I've done. No, you don't know the power of the blood of Jesus that bought and paid for your sins and my sins and how you can be washed clean. You can receive Jesus as your Lord and go to heaven for eternity, no matter what you have done, amen? If you want Jesus as your Lord, if you want to go to heaven, it's not too late for you. Hallelujah. Glory to God. The kind of fear we're talking about here is the kind of fear that draws you closer to God, the reverence of God, the honor of God. Doesn't drive you away in fear, no.

Glory to God. Thank you for your goodness. Thank you for your mercy, your love, amen? You know, Proverbs 9, 10 says, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom or the reverence of the Lord. If you are wise people, amen, give him praise and glory. Say, thank you, Lord. Amen. Seeking God means to turn to him, turn your face towards him. Amen. This makes our face radiant to glow with goodness, with happiness, with peace. Amen. The promise of the Lord that he will hear us and deliver us is not just for everybody. It's for the righteous. You say, oh, I'm not righteous. We cannot achieve righteousness apart from Jesus Christ. Galatians 2.16, Philippians 3.9, 2 Corinthians 5.21, all talk about this, that we are made right because of what Jesus did and we receive what he did by faith, amen, by asking him to forgive you. Glory to God. Verse eight, this is one of our key scriptures. Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good. Blessed is the man who trusts in him. Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good. This word good here means rich, beneficial, happy, beautiful, excellent, honest, true. Evil is the opposite of good, which means bad, destructive, lies, hurting, amen, damaging, killing, stealing, people who stab you in the back. Those things are evil.

When you partake in the Lord's supper, you know, it said, oh, taste and see that the Lord is good, think of the Lord's supper or communion. Whenever you take this, think of this verse. We're supposed to eat the bread to remember the Lord's broken body. Partake in the cup as a symbol to remember his blood that he gave for us, that he washed us clean. Amen. Taste and see how good he is that we don't have to go to hell. I'm going to heaven for eternity. Glory to God with a crown of righteousness. I am a child of the most high God, the creator. Amen. Hallelujah. Verse nine. Oh, fear the Lord or reverence the Lord, you, his saints. There is no want or lack to those who fear him or those who reverence him. The young lions lack and suffer hunger, but those who seek the Lord shall not lack any good thing. The Lord meets my needs. See, and part of this is because I obey him. I follow the top 10. You say, what's that? The 10 commandments. I obey and endeavor to obey the 10 commandments. Amen. You may say that's old Testament. You mean to tell me that thou shalt not murder is not good. Thou shall not commit adultery. No, they still apply today. Amen.

Obedience to the Lord is a way of reverencing him, obeying him. Amen. Isaiah 1 18 says, come now, let us reason together, says the Lord. Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be made white as snow. That means that your blood of Jesus has made you pure, though they are red, like crimson. They shall be as wool. Verse 19. This was another one of my favorite verses. If, which means it's your choice, my choice. If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land. The best of the land, the best available. Amen. Oh, glory to God. Shall means that you can take it to the bank. If you're willing and obedient, you shall take it to the bank that you're going to eat good. Hallelujah. You say it's not happening for me. Well, let's get into understanding why it's because we've opened up a door. We haven't been willing and obedient. Amen. You have to be both. Willing means you've got the right heart. Obedient means you actually act on it. You know, you can have the right heart and don't do anything, or you can be a wrong heart, stubborn and still obey. I'm going to do it. Well, no Lord wants you willing, excited to do it the right heart and for you to act on it.

That's like a child that says, yeah, mama, I'm going to take the trash out and doesn't obey. No, he's not willing and obedient. You may have the other child that says, I don't want to take it out. I'm not going to take it out. And then he decides to and goes and does it. No, both of them are disqualified. You want your child to be willing and obedient. That's what our heavenly father wants out of us. Amen. He wants us to be willing and obedient. Having a willing attitude comes before obedience. Amen. Takes trust or faith in God that you, as you obey him, if you do things his way, he's going to take care of you and you're going to eat the good of the land. Verse 20, but if you refuse and rebel, it's your choice, what you're going to do. Shall be devoured by the sword for the mouth of the lord has spoken Amen, you can take that to the bank too. He spoke Satan can devour you if you rebel and are disobedient to god That means you're awol out of the will of god absent without leave. Amen You know the word eat in verse 19 if you are willing and obedient you shall eat the good of the land And then the word devoured in verse 20 They are both talking about consuming consumption the young's literal translation And the complete jewish bible both use that word Good or bad you're going to be consumed. You're going to eat good or you're going to eat bad You're going to consume good or you're going to be consumed, but the choice is yours and mine. Amen If you're not experiencing this and you don't believe in god, well, there's an answer If you believe in god, but you haven't been willing and obedient There's an answer if you say I have been well, there's pride god resists the proud Ask the lord to show you where you've missed it where you're off. Amen, and he will help you. Amen

You're smart. You're wise people. Amen Ask god to show you where you've disqualified yourself. God does not lie. So this word is true. Amen Verse 11 come you children listen to me and I will teach you the fear of the lord We demonstrate our honor our reverence to god by obeying him. It's an act of love Honor of god can be taught and or and it can be learned come you children Listen to me. I will teach you the reverence of the lord how to honor the lord go to a church where the pastors Set an example. They don't just talk about it. They don't just preach it. They actually demonstrate reverence for the lord Let them teach you amen Let them help you come up honor can be taught and learned. So let me ask you What are you teaching your children? What is your pastors teaching you? You that are in clubs, what are you learning from the leaders of the club? What are they teaching you are teaching reverence and all of god Honor integrity, you know a lot of clubs say love and respect There's no love there and there's very little respect There's no truth involved in it. A lot of clubs are that way, but they still say L and r love and respect brother, but there's really no love there. It's all about themselves They love you they respect you as long as you're doing what you want them to do. Amen Or what they want you to do verse 12 who is the man who desires life I do And loves many days that he may see good glory to god. I want long life and I want to see good Learning the fear of the lord is a key to truly living and experiencing a good long life. Amen verse 13 Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit. Don't lie. Don't speak doubt Don't criticize don't judge. Amen Depart from evil and do good seek peace and pursue it Seek it. Amen. Try to get peace with people. Amen Don't talk just oh, I need this. I want this talk in established things There's power life and death in your words the word says to decree a thing and it shall be established Don't just be the negative whiny party pooper

Man, have some fun decrease some good things man. I'm coming up. I'm coming out. Amen David king david gives us some practical steps here. Keep your tongue from evil Turn away from evil and do good seek peace and pursue it Practical steps on how to experience the goodness of god Choose to reverence god to trust in him and he will not let you down. Amen. You say well, he's let me down before You know, that's pride. There's some arrogance There's times where i've had those thoughts myself when the enemy got in a sucker punch And I had to recognize oops. I opened up the door. I wasn't led by the spirit of god What else have I done in my life that opened up the door to the enemy? Humility gets the grace our god's ability in our life When we seek god and look for his goodness instead of just looking at the trouble around our lives the issues We've had we can see things differently We can start getting light to see how to come up how to come out how to walk in victory We start seeing his mercies that endure forever. Amen This is a powerful promise that we need to cling to Verse 15 the eye of the Lord are on the righteous. Well, glory to God, He made me righteous, not by works, but by what He did, and I received His righteousness. And His ears are open to their cry. In other words, He will hear me. The Creator of heaven and earth will hear you as you receive Him as your Lord, as you receive His forgiveness. Amen? The face of the Lord is against those who do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth. One thing I would never want is to experience the rejection of God. That literally is going to hell. The Lord's face against men, against us, means He's angry with us. I don't, I want to be a God pleaser, amen? I want to please Him and have eternal rewards, hallelujah. And then, and a lot of people misquote verse 19, but let's read verse 17 and 18. The righteous cry out and the Lord hears and delivers them out of, not from, out of all their troubles. In other words, He knows we're gonna have trouble because we've got flesh, we got sin in our lives, we've missed it. Satan is here, verse 18. The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart and

saves such as have a contrite or humble spirit. Doesn't mean we won't have trials or tribulations, it means He will bring us out of them in victory. And this is the verse that we don't want to just declare. This is an observation by King David of what he had experienced. We don't want to decree these next two verses over our lives. Verse 19 says, many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all. So we can say the Lord will deliver me, but we don't want to say many are their afflictions. We don't want to open up the door to the enemy, amen? Verse 20, He guards all his bones, not one of them is broken. Evil shall slay the wicked and those who hate the righteous shall be condemned. The Lord redeems the soul of His servants and none of those who trust in Him shall be condemned. I'm not going down, I'm not living in condemnation, I'm not going to hell because of the goodness of God. See, Satan wants to condemn you. He wants to put condemnation on you to keep you down. Why would you want to serve a God like that? I want to serve and I do serve a good God, a God who loves me and loves you, amen? Well this is Mike Kennedy with Living in Victory. Remember 1st John 5 4 says, for whatever is born of God overcomes the world and this is the victory that has overcome the world, our faith. Glory to God. Have a blessed day.