Author: Dave Dishman (Page 270 of 458)

One of the joys of travel for me involves trying new food. Sometimes I eat things just because they’re weird and I’m a tourist, like deep fried scorpions on a stick (they crunch like popcorn hulls), But normally I find a table featuring fresh, local cuisine to sample. A major part of experiencing and enjoying and remembering a place involves tasting.

David encourages us to taste and see that the Lord is good. I mostly think of experiencing the Lord through other senses. I read the Bible and ponder the Lord. I walk paths in the mountains and feel the breeze and watch the sky. Recently on a hike I heard pines creaking and whistling as the wind pushed them back and forth.

Taste involves a deeper commitment. I see and hear and feel things with the outside of my body, but tasting requires putting something into my mouth—ingesting it. What if it tastes awful and I spit it out? Or, what if it tastes sweet but is actually poisonous? What if is carries pathogens that make me sick (like the tiny little silver fish I ate in Malaysia that wreaked havoc in my bowels)?

One more concern—what if what I taste is addictive? When David invites us to taste and see that the Lord is good, I believe that’s exactly what he had in mind. When you ingest the words and ways of the Lord, when your soul tastes of His goodness, you’ll want more.

You’ll get hooked.

Occasionally certain dishes return to mind, like a fantastic pasta finished in a wheel of parmesan I enjoyed once in San Diego. Although out of my reach, it lingers in my memory. If I ever get close to that restaurant again, I’ll go get me some more. That’s the type of tasting David hopes you and I experience.

Taste and see that the Lord is good—then dip in for seconds.

Psalm 34 in reading the Bible cover to cover in 2022

I get lots of advice, often without asking. Like the lady a couple of weeks ago who told me about how I should plant my tomatoes and how she planted her tomatoes (and why her husband doesn’t even like tomatoes). Then she chattered on about how tomatoes are grown in Wisconsin, why tomatoes are good to take boating, and had I ever heard of tomato cages? All while we stood looking at plants. I nodded politely but ignored her advice. I was just trying to choose between an Early Girl or Cherokee Purple.

Absalom rebelled against his father in order to seize the kingdom, and he called two advisors to help with his next move. One urged Absalom to attack immediately while David and his men lay exhausted and unprepared. The other (secretly working for David), cautioned restraint and proposed gathering a larger army before overwhelming the king’s forces.

Absalom, a young man who’d never led an army or a rebellion, and in awe of the stories of his father’s fighting ability, decided on further preparation.

Absalom choose poorly.

Absalom received lots of advice, but not much wisdom. The scriptures yield solid advice, oozing wisdom, and the person who helps you plant those in your life is golden indeed. Good advisors with trusted track records are hard to find. Hold those people close.

2 Samuel 16 & 17 in reading the Bible cover to cover in 2022

Photo by Javier Allegue Barros

Banished conjures strong images, like that of a king driving a traitor into the desert. No one plans on banishment as a life experience.

In the midst of a terrible family tragedy, the first trickling of the flood to flow from his adultery with Bathsheba and subsequent murder of Uriah, a woman confronted David. She reminded him: We must die. But that is not what the Lord desires; rather, he devises ways so that a banished person does not remain banished from him.

In that moment the king’s son, Absalom, remained banished from David. On the broader canvas, David banished himself from the Lord through his sin. But the Lord restored David, and so David restored Absalom.

The Lord always looks from ways to restore those banished back to him. Of course, Jesus remains the ultimate way. No one must remain in the desert. But I also think of how thoughts of the Lord tend to cycle through the lives of many distant from him.

For years no spiritual interest at all, then a personal tragedy or a chance meeting with an old friend or warfare abroad brings a verse or a comment to mind. The Lord reminds the banished that he’s still there and he provides a way back. I often hear someone say, That’s when I returned to my faith.

Why? Because he devises ways so that a banished person does not remain banished from him. Do you feel banished? Or does someone you love? That’s normal—we all wander beyond the pale. But know that the Lord is actively looking for ways to bring us back.

2 Samuel 14 in reading the Bible cover to cover in 2022

Photo by Markus Spiske

Yesterday I watched a spring snowstorm engulf the building where I work. I drove home in a blizzard to watch my freshly leaved-out trees gather heavy, wet flakes. We covered tomatoes and flowers, while the snow blanketed my strawberry bed (as seen above). Later my son-in-law and I shook snow off branches with a broom and long pole, fighting against breakage.

Spring snows in Colorado aren’t unusual, although this one arrived a bit late in the season. I own a long branch-shaking pole for a reason. But I’d rather not use it. As I look at melting lumps drop this morning a passage reminds me of the days ahead:

As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it flourish, and so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it (Isaiah 55:10-11).

Good reminder that the snow pounding my trees gives way to well-watered earth. Later this spring my strawberries will flourish, along with the blackberries and raspberries canes now buried. The snow will be a memory when I enjoy the fruit its moisture produced.

And so goes the word of God in my life. At times it drops cold and unwelcome. The words whirl and slow down. But if I give attention, if I let His wisdom soak in, then a flourishing life buds for my future.