O Taste and See That the LORD Is Good, Psalm 34:8 Kitchen Print

Field flowers on the table

A cream enamel pitcher with a thin gold rim holds a loose, just-picked bouquet: three red poppies with dark centers, white daisies, drooping blue bellflowers, lacy white umbels and stems of wild oats that arch out past the edges. One poppy is still a closed green bud. Nothing is arranged too carefully.

The pitcher stands on an old plank table, next to a folded linen towel striped in blue. A single daisy and a stalk of oats have fallen beside it, with a couple of loose petals. Above the bouquet, the brown lettering reads “O taste and see that the LORD is good”, and Psalm 34:8.

What does “taste and see” mean?

The King James Version finishes the verse: “O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.” It is an invitation, not an argument. You cannot prove to someone that bread is good by describing it; you hand them a piece. The psalmist speaks the same way about God: try him, trust him, and find out from experience.

The heading ties Psalm 34 to a frightening episode in David's life, when he fled to the Philistine city of Gath and escaped only by acting as if he had lost his mind. The psalm that follows is full of relief. Its speaker has been in real danger and has been rescued, and now he wants others to share what he found.

The verse has a long life at the table of the Lord as well. In the fourth century, Cyril of Jerusalem told newly baptized Christians that the words “O taste and see” were sung as they came forward to receive communion, and many churches still use the psalm at that moment. The First Letter of Peter echoes it, telling believers that they have tasted that the Lord is gracious.

In the kitchen and for a new home

The obvious place for this print is a kitchen, a breakfast nook or a dining room wall, where the verse becomes a quiet grace before every meal. The farmhouse palette of red, cream and soft blue suits white cabinets and open shelving alike.

It is also a warm housewarming present, for newlyweds setting up their first kitchen or friends who love to cook and host, and it brings the same welcome to a church hall kitchen or coffee corner.