Lacking No Good Thing

I can’t read Psalm 34 anymore without flashing back to a pre-concert warmup with my college chorale. One of our songs featured lyrics based on verse 8: “O taste and see that the LORD is good!” Frustrated with our lackluster effort, our conductor—who was notorious for his one-liners, both intentionally and inadvertently hilarious—stopped us and cried, “O TASTE! He is a feast! You’re singing like He’s the Atkins diet!”

The memory still makes me laugh more than a decade later. But as I studied Psalm 34 recently for this month's Pick Your Portion article, I was sobered to realize how often I am still sitting down to grapefruit juice and steak, patting myself on the back for cutting out bread while entirely missing the banquet spread before me. 

Up until recently, I’ve coasted through this psalm, satisfied with my sound theology. After all, I know that "Those who seek the LORD lack no good thing" doesn't mean, “Those who seek the LORD lack nothing that they want.”

But then I thought more carefully about that little word “good,” and I realized I was missing the point. Click over to Pick Your Portion to read about the really good thing.