You Have Tasted That The Lord Is Good

“Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.”

Tasting that the Lord is good is something that we have experienced and savored. Just as we savor our food and keep within our minds the sweetness of that food, so too, we have tasted of God’s goodness and have savored it. The memory of the taste remains with us. This is why we order the same food over and over again. The experience was good. We almost salivate at the thought of tasting it again. The Apostle Peter thinks of God and his goodness, and the memory of it is sweet and powerful. He has experienced God and his goodness, and once you have had that experience all others pale by comparison.

The goodness of God is an attribute of God. The holiness of God and love of God are also attributes of God. They define God in essence. God cannot be otherwise. He always is holy. He always is love. He always is good. Peter has used the word for taste because in verse two he has spoken of infants who long for milk. Peter is referring to Christians who long for the pure spiritual milk of God’s Word. At least this is how we are to think regarding God’s Word. We are to long for it. You would only long for God’s Word if you have tasted it. Once you’ve tasted God’s Word, you would be eager to taste it again.

This is the idea here. Here we have the necessity of tasting again and again because it is God’s Word. The purpose for drinking in God’s Word is growth. Just as infants need milk to grow, we too need God’s Word in order to grow. This growth is a growing up to salvation so that salvation is becoming a deeper, richer experience. This is what Peter means about tasting that the Lord is good. God’s goodness is displayed in saving us. Our first experience of grace in Christ was the goodness of God showered upon us. We marveled at it. We were amazed by it. We wondered at it. The opening lines of verse four speak of our coming to the Lord (“as you come to him…”). We do this daily and always on the same grounds. It is always in Christ and through Christ. Just as we came to him once, we do so again and again.

A rich young man once came to Jesus and called him “Good Teacher” (Mark 10:17, 18). Jesus asked him why he called him good when no one was good except God. What Jesus really wanted that rich young ruler to know was that since Jesus was good, then Jesus was God. So when he addressed Jesus as “Good Teacher,” he needed to realize that he was addressing Jesus as God. Jesus made the point that if are ever to come to him, we must come to him as God. So by calling to Jesus “good,” we are recognizing him as God.

The rich young ruler desired to do some good thing to inherit eternal life. He imagined that eternal life was purchased by doing the works of the law. Jesus pointed him to the law. The young man said he had kept the law. Jesus pointed out that if he really had kept the law, then he would have no problem selling everything he had, giving the proceeds to the poor, and follow Jesus. That young man who called Jesus good was not prepared, however, to follow him. The price was too high. He did not truly understand the goodness of God.

There are some essential truths about God’s goodness that we should consider. First, God is only and originally good in himself. He requires nothing to make him good. Second, God is infinitely good. There are no limits to God’s goodness in himself. When we think of doing good works, we see that the work itself is limited. A particular work that would be good work is necessarily limited to that work only. It is that work that is good. But everything about God is good. It is not that his love is good and his wrath is evil. If God is good infinitely then his wrath is good. Why is this so? Because God always acts consistently regarding himself! He is only and always good. Third, God is unchangeably good. He must be good because he is good. He cannot be otherwise. All goodness is measured by the goodness of God. He is the standard for all good. This also means that when God acts, he always is consistent. Fourth, the goodness of God is bountiful. It is beyond comprehension.

Stephen Charnock says that the “goodness of God is his inclination to deal well and bountifully with his creatures” (The Existence and Attributes of God). Fifth, all the works of God are in accordance with his goodness. All that he ever does is good. When Moses desired to see the glory of God, God told him that he would make all his goodness pass before him (Ex. 33:18-23). So God’s goodness comprehends his glory. To see the goodness of God is to see his glory in some way. To see the love of God is to see his goodness and so on.

Sixth, all the works of God are displays of his goodness. If God causes it to rain, he displays his goodness. The rain falls on the just and the unjust; the sun shines on the evil and the good (Matt. 5:45). Seventh, since there is no end to God, there can be no end to his goodness. His goodness is unchanging and eternal.

Some translations use the words “kindness” or “gracious” in place of “good” in 1 Peter 2:3. These are acceptable uses, but both the kindness and grace of God flow from the goodness of God. It is because God is good that his kindness is displayed and his grace is given.

It is important to recognize that God’s goodness is not impaired because sin entered the world. On the contrary, sin only sharpens and highlights the goodness of God. If God were not good then he would be evil. Such a thing can never be. Yet evil exists and God exists. Sin has not always existed. It was found in Satan and in Adam. Now it is found in each of us. If God were not good, there would be no hope for us. Who could or would be able to deliver us if God were not good?

So sin does not impair the goodness of God. Neither does unbelief dampen the goodness of God. Rather it shows that we are rebels to whom God comes in kindness despite our rebellion. God’s goodness stands above and about everything else. God’s goodness is seen in God’s supremacy and sovereignty. When God had made all things because he alone could create out of nothing, he said his work was good (Gen. 1:4, 10, 12, 18, 21, 25, 31).

The Psalmist reminds us in Psalm 34:8 that we should taste and see that the Lord is good. We should seek to be good and do good because the Lord is good (Ps. 37:3, 27). He is good in himself and he does good to us. Goodness shall follow us all the days of our lives (Ps. 23:6). If we need forgiveness, we can go to this good God who is good and forgiving (Ps. 86:5). It is because God is good that “he satisfies the longing soul, and the hungry soul he fills with good things” (Ps. 107:9). The Gospel is good news. It is news from God who is good.

When the boat of your life is rocked by life’s catastrophes, you should know that your God is always good to you. When you cannot explain your trials and hardships, know that your God is good to you. Start tasting now the goodness of God and taste it every day. It will help you in the midst of your sorrows. O taste and see that the Lord is good!