Blackberries

Blackberries ripen, full and sweet,

to make for me an August treat.

Their goodness calls me, “Come and dine!”,

so up I climb to make them mine.

Safe underneath the ash and beech,

the berries grow within my reach.

I pluck them quickly for my pail

and eat my fill along the trail.

Blackberries splendid, good and free,

are like the graces given me.

God’s fruit is for the picking ones,

and with it, love and mercy comes.

O taste and see that the LORD is good:

blessed is the man that trusteth in him.

Psalm 34:8

BLACKBERRIES

Up behind our house and through the woods on a trail that once served as a snowmobile route, there is a field owned by our neighbor. Well, it was a field. Shrubs and saplings have grown up, turning the once open field into the beginnings of a wooded area. And with the right weather conditions, blackberry plants have been known to be full with fruit. It can be therapeutic to take an August afternoon or evening, with our neighbor’s permission, and pick blackberries. Frozen away until a cold winter evening, they will make nice additions to an oven-baked cobbler.  

Taste and see that the Lord is good.

Can you trust the words in the Bible?

Have you ever known God to be a liar?

I sought the LORD, and he heard me,
and delivered me from all my fears.
Psalm 34:4

Psalm 34 begins with extolling the LORD. Praying praise focuses our attention on God who can deliver us from our problems as He has done for people in the past. Like David, the psalmist who wrote Psalm 34, those who seek God in prayer will have a better result in finding Him. Seek and find. Taste and see. Ask and receive. Our Creator wishes for us to draw near to Him, even in blackberry briars. We are His creation, made in His image with eyes, ears, nose and taste buds.

They looked unto him, and were lightened: and their faces were not ashamed.
Psalm 34:5

With eyes on the LORD, we are likely to radiate. Pray believing you can be heard by God. See if it’s true that God, the Son, Jesus Christ, is listening to you. See if fears are wiped away by the power of God, the Holy Spirit. See if He will restore your integrity to walk another day.

The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger: but they that seek the LORD shall not want any good thing.
Psalm 34:10

David must have known about lions when he tended his father’s sheep. Seek God in prayer for help with hardships, hurts and that growing list of disturbances. Rely on God’s attentive ear to things you choose not to be complacent about. Don’t give up. Sometimes, prayers take a long time to be answered.

What man is he that desireth life, and loveth many days, that he may see good?
Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile.
Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it.
The eyes of the LORD are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry.
The face of the LORD is against them that do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth.
Psalm 34: 12-16    (and 1 Peter 3: 10-12)

Ouch! You don’t want to be the one the LORD is against and will cut off. Ask where the good road is and then walk in it. Pick the good practice and stick to it. Trust God’s timing for the troubles that encircle. He can make it better, even if it doesn’t look very good at the moment. Even in the storm, believe He is working for your good.

The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart;
and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.
Many are the afflictions of the righteous:
but the LORD delivereth him out of them all.
Psalm 34:18-19

The local drug store has band aids for bruises, even scratches from the berry briars. They sell lots of things to help you feel better. But there isn’t anything there for a broken heart. God can heal the broken heart. And, He saves the one with a contrite spirit. Even with all the thickets we have to sometimes walk through, God is there to pull us out of them.

Psalm 34 ends with a promise:

The LORD redeemeth the soul of his servants:
and none of them that trust in him shall be desolate.
Psalm 34:22

Yes, we can trust the words in the Bible.
No, I have never known God to be a liar.

Taste and see. God’s fruit is for the picking ones. And there is a warm-baked cobbler ready to be enjoyed from the gathering of peace.