You must be in fellowship prior to your Bible study, so that the spiritual information you receive can become a source, of blessing to your soul and produce spiritual growth.
8 O taste [ta`am] and see [ra'ah] that the LORD [Yahovah] is
good [towb]: blessed ['esher] is the man [geber] that
trusteth [chacah] in him. KJV-Interlinear
8 Oh, taste
and see that the LORD is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him! ESV
The word for taste, ‘ta am,’ means to try the flavor of something, to eat a little in order to determine what it is, with respect to the mind, to perceive or to experience. And with respect to this verse, the symbolism is to try the Christian life, in the proper way, and experience it correctly, and thus discover the blessings and repercussions of it.
The Lord is good, refers to the written word of God. The tasting is the intake of doctrine, which is the written word reflecting Jesus Christ who is the living word. The tasting is the daily study as one would eat a meal on a daily basis.
The word for trust, ‘chacah,’ means to flee for protection, to have hope in, to take refuge in. It refers to going to a place into which you place yourself completely and thus gain refuge or safety while within the confines of that refuge. This is the spiritual life in which you reside when you confess, and study, and apply, and grow up, and function within.
If you do not eat a food, you cannot taste it nor even discover its taste. If you do not consume a food, you cannot benefit from it.
The word of God is the daily food for the soul, and must be eaten (studied) daily in order to have a healthy diet and have a healthy soul, and to grow.
Bible doctrine is the food.
Confession is the dining room.
Daily study is the eating.
Swallowing and metabolizing, is the transfer of spiritual nourishment into the soul.
Daily application, is the benefit and the experience.
Overall health and growth and strength and insight are the blessings and more.
The end result is spiritual maturity, which is the height of the Christian experience.
Note that this is all internal to the soul, and has nothing to do with worldly experience or circumstances.
The spiritual is separate and apart from the temporal world.
Experiencing Gods goodness is directly connected to Christ, through the written word, which is Christ.
