Login / Signup

Free Access

A Taste Of The Good Life

Stories
Lectionary Tales For The Pulpit
Series IV, Cycle B
O taste and see that the LORD is good; happy are those who take refuge in him. O fear the LORD, you his holy ones, for those who fear him have no want. The young lions suffer want and hunger, but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing. (vv. 8-10)


When my wife Hadley and I lived in Fort Worth, we earned a side income by house- and child-sitting for families in our church. The children were elementary and junior high age. Our primary role was to feed the kids and make sure they got to school and after-school activities. Our length of stay was generally three days to a week.

The usual scenario was that the "Dad" had a business trip out of state and the "Mom" who was a homemaker decided to tag along to make it a mini adult-only vacation. One couple took the weekend simply to attend a Dallas Cowboys-San Francisco 49ers football game -- in San Francisco.

It was hard not to be a bit envious of these trips across the country. However, it wasn't a bad deal for us either as we moved into these huge luxurious homes for a week. All together, we stayed in six different homes -- all more than 3,000 square feet, four bedrooms, and at least three bathrooms. We had access to pools, spas, and big screen televisions. One place actually had a guesthouse "on the grounds." We didn't see homes like that growing up in rural Oklahoma, and our little 1,000-square-foot home paled in comparison.

For us, it was taste of the good life. A chance to see how the other half lived. After all, I was a student and part-time youth minister. Hadley didn't exactly rake in the dough as bank teller, either. Still, for a few days, we experienced "the good life."

But is this really "the good life" -- a big home, a pool, and the ability to drop everything and travel halfway around the country for a big-time football game? Not really. Don't get me wrong; I'm not saying it's inherently evil to have opportunities created by wealth. Indeed, pools and trips can be fun and enjoyable. However, the Psalmist paints a different picture of "the good life" in Psalm 34. The good life comes from knowing a saving God who comforts in times of trial.

What a contrast to the picture painted by our culture -- our friends, family, and media. The cultural picture fosters greed, but the picture of the Psalmist fosters gratitude. If we listen to our culture, our joy and happiness will be incomplete, and we will have nothing to fall back on when tough times come.

But the good life of Psalm 34 is a life that begins with fearing God -- because life is a gift from God. The true good life is experienced through deliverance and salvation.

Now the real key here is to understand what it means to fear God. Some Christian traditions will say that it means to be afraid of the wrath of God -- to stand before God and tremble because of God's power and wrath. Some of us might even have left churches like that because we didn't want anything to do with an angry God that makes us quiver.

Not to deny that God is all-powerful or not always pleased with our behavior, but being scared of God is not the good life. The Hebrew term translated "fear," is yare which means "reverence" or "trust." To fear God, means to respect God -- to trust in God for salvation and deliverance instead of our possessions or ourselves. The Psalmist is talking about living before God with awe and wonder. That is the good life.

When life leaves a bitter taste in your mouth, the Psalmist says to "taste and see that the Lord is good." Possessions and health are very fleeting, but God's love, forgiveness, and salvation are everlasting. Get a taste of the good life -- a sweet life of love and forgiveness that comes when we trust and revere God.
UPCOMING WEEKS
In addition to the lectionary resources there are thousands of non-lectionary, scripture based resources...
Proper 23 | OT 28 | Pentecost 18
30 – Sermons
160+ – Illustrations / Stories
30 – Children's Sermons / Resources
29 – Worship Resources
34 – Commentary / Exegesis
4 – Pastor's Devotions
and more...
Proper 24 | OT 29 | Pentecost 19
29 – Sermons
160+ – Illustrations / Stories
27 – Children's Sermons / Resources
20 – Worship Resources
29 – Commentary / Exegesis
4 – Pastor's Devotions
and more...
Proper 25 | OT 30 | Pentecost 20
34 – Sermons
160+ – Illustrations / Stories
32 – Children's Sermons / Resources
26 – Worship Resources
31 – Commentary / Exegesis
4 – Pastor's Devotions
and more...
Plus thousands of non-lectionary, scripture based resources...

New & Featured This Week

The Immediate Word

Christopher Keating
Thomas Willadsen
Katy Stenta
Mary Austin
Nazish Naseem
Dean Feldmeyer
George Reed
For October 19, 2025:

Emphasis Preaching Journal

Mark Ellingsen
Bill Thomas
Frank Ramirez
Jeremiah 31:27-34
John Calvin makes very clear why a new covenant is needed according to this text. He observes:

… the fault was not to be sought in the law that there was need of a new covenant, for the law was abundantly sufficient, but that fault was in the levity and the unfaithfulness of the people. (Calvin’s Commentaries, Vol.X/2, p.130)
David Coffin
What happens when one’s past life narrative or goals in life have drastically shifted or collapsed? How do they rebuild hope? For Israel, they lost their land, monarchy, and national identity. In the days of the New Testament,they could easily be identified as living in the “fourth world” country. That is, existing in substandard conditions in one’s own native land?

StoryShare

Peter Andrew Smith
Rose sat back in her chair and opened her magazine. She heard the thump of the stairs and caught a glimpse of her daughter and son in the corner of her eye. She turned her head as they put water bottles in their backpacks.

“What are you two doing?” she looked over at the clock. “Don’t you have homework?”

“All done,” Paul and Linda announced at the same time.

Rose ignored Linda but locked eyes with Paul. He met her gaze for a few moments and then sighed.

“Okay, I’m almost done but still have some math questions,” he admitted.

The Village Shepherd

Janice B. Scott
Call to Worship:

Jesus told us that we should always pray and not lose heart, for God is on our side. In our worship today let us pray to the Lord for the needs of others and for all our own needs.


Invitation to Confession:

Jesus, sometimes you don't seem to be there when I pray and I feel like I'm talking to myself.

Lord, have mercy.

Jesus, sometimes my prayers seem so dry and boring that I give up.

Christ, have mercy.

SermonStudio

James Evans
Psalm 119 is well-known as the longest chapter in the Bible. The poem is actually an extended, and extensive, meditation on the meaning of the law. Given the sterile connotations often associated with "law" and "legalism," it's hard sometimes to appreciate the lyrical beauty of these reflections. One thing is for certain, the writer of this psalm does not view the law as either sterile or void of vitality.

Schuyler Rhodes
There is perhaps no better feeling than knowing that someone "has your back." Having someone's back is a term that arose from urban street fighting where a partner or ally would stay with you and protect your back in the thick of the fray. When someone has your back, you don't worry about being hit from behind. When someone has your back you can concentrate on the struggle in front of you without worrying about dangers you cannot see. When someone has your back you feel protected, secure, safe.
David Kalas
I wonder how many of us here are named after someone.

Chances are that a good many of us carry family names. We are named for a parent, a grandparent, an uncle, or an aunt somewhere on the family tree. Others of us had parents who named us after a character in the Bible, or perhaps some other significant character from history.

All told, I expect a pretty fair number of us are named after someone else.

John W. Clarke
Our reading today from the prophet Jeremiah is one in which the Hebrew people, not knowing what else to do in terms of addressing their predicament, decide to blame it all on God. They believed their problems to be the result of their sins and the sins of their fathers. Of course, one person's sin does indeed affect other people, but all people are still held personally accountable for the sin in their own lives (Deuteronomy 24:16; Ezekiel 18:2).
Donna E. Schaper
As usual, the epistle is a little more graphic than we can quite grasp. Itchy ears: what a concept just in physical terms. Experience it for a minute. You itch, you scratch, you sort of know you shouldn't scratch because it will only make the itch worse. But still you scratch, while wondering how the itch ever got started in the first place. What a concept: itchy ears as a vehicle for spiritual truth.

John E. Berger
Did Jesus ever do comedy? Indeed he did, and the Parable of the Unjust Judge is partly comic monologue. The routine began with a probate judge so ridiculously dishonest that he announced, "... I have no fear of God and no respect for anyone...." (There must have been a gasp of disbelief from Jesus' audience.)

The Unjust Judge was nagged by a widow, however, who had every right to nag, because she had been cheated by somebody in the community. A good judge would have helped the widow, but remember, this judge "neither feared God nor had respect for people."

CSSPlus

And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long in helping them? (v. 7)

Good morning, boys and girls. Yesterday, I was riding in my car and I kept hearing this noise. I call it a squeak. Do you know what a squeak sounds like? (let them answer) Squeaks are very annoying. It is hard to find a squeak in your car, so it is still squeaking.

I also have a chair that has a squeak and I brought it in with me today because it is

Special Occasion

Wildcard SSL