What "Taste and See" means
Margaret Becker emerged in the late 1980s and early 1990s as one of the more distinctly literary voices in Christian music. Her songs tended to carry more weight than the genre average, and "Taste and See" is representative of that quality. The title comes directly from Psalm 34:8, one of the most physically embodied invitations in all of Scripture. The psalmist is not asking for a theological argument about the goodness of God. He is asking for something closer to an experiment. Try it. See for yourself.
That epistemology, the knowledge that comes from experience rather than proposition, is at the center of this song. Becker is not writing a systematic theology of divine goodness. She is writing from the posture of someone who has personally tasted something and cannot stop inviting others to the same table. The song has the quality of testimony, not lecture. It reports rather than argues.
The CCM context of this song is worth naming. Written and recorded before the contemporary worship music explosion that would come in the early 2000s, "Taste and See" carries a craft sensibility distinct from the era's radio fare. The melodic lines are more varied, the lyrical imagery is more developed, and the song rewards sustained attention in a way that positions it as more than a chorus-driven singalong. It is a piece with a beginning, a middle, and a place it is trying to arrive.
What this song does in a room
There is an intimacy to this song that does not announce itself. It arrives quietly, through the accumulated weight of honest lyrical imagery, through the invitation quality of the melody, and through the specific way it addresses the person listening as someone who may not yet have fully tasted what is being described. The song is both testimony and invitation, and in a room it creates a space where both of those functions can operate simultaneously.
This song does not work in every context. It requires a room that has some relational warmth and willingness to receive rather than perform. In that kind of room, "Taste and See" can carry a quality of personal encounter that is harder to engineer with a high-energy anthem. It speaks to the individual inside the congregation rather than to the congregation as a collective, which is a different and sometimes more valuable function.
Older congregants who remember Margaret Becker will have a layer of resonance that adds to the song's effect. Younger congregants encountering it fresh will often be surprised by how substantive a song from this era can be.
What this song is saying about God
The core theological claim is that God's goodness is not a concept to be believed but an experience to be had. That is not anti-intellectual. It is a recognition that the intellect is not the only faculty through which we know God, and in some ways not the primary one. The song is drawing on a long tradition, from Augustine's restless heart to the mystics' language of divine taste, that insists the knowledge of God includes the experiential.
The God this song describes is good in a way that satisfies. The Hebrew concept behind "taste and see" implies a comprehensive evaluation, the kind you do when you eat something and your whole body tells you whether it is good. The goodness of God, the song insists, passes that test. It is not just intellectually coherent. It is satisfying in the places where satisfaction is hardest to come by.
There is also a generous God here, one who is not waiting to be found but actively inviting encounter. The psalmist and Becker together paint a God who is not withholding the good thing but offering it and asking to be tasted.
Scriptural backbone
Psalm 34:8 is the explicit foundation: "Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him." The verse sits inside a psalm of personal testimony where David is praising God for a specific deliverance and then generalizing from that specific experience to a universal invitation. The particular experience becomes the ground for a broader claim.
The broader context of Psalm 34 enriches the song's meaning. Verse 10: "The lions may grow weak and hungry, but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing." The goodness of God is not just an interior experience. It has practical provision attached to it. The invitation to taste is an invitation into a relationship that is comprehensively good.
1 Peter 2:3 echoes the psalm in a specifically Christological direction: "Now that you have tasted that the Lord is good." Peter assumes the experience has happened and reminds the reader of what they have already encountered. The song inhabits that same space, speaking to people who have tasted and inviting those who have not yet to come and do so.
How to use it in a service
"Taste and See" works particularly well in services that center on the goodness of God, the faithfulness of God through suffering, or the personal experience of divine encounter. It is a song that belongs in the middle of a set, after the room has settled and before the close, where it can function as a sustained encounter rather than a transitional moment.
It pairs well with a series on Psalm 34 or with a sermon that centers on personal testimony and the invitation to experience God rather than simply know about him. If you are doing a service oriented around communion, this song can serve as a preparation piece, connecting the physical act of eating and drinking with the broader invitation to taste the goodness of God.
In a smaller gathering or midweek service, this song can be given more time and space than it might receive in a typical Sunday set. That space serves it well.
Things to watch for as the worship leader
The song is asking you to model experience, not performance of experience. The invitation posture it requires of the leader is one of someone who has personally tasted and is warmly, sincerely inviting others to the same. If you perform the invitation without inhabiting it, the congregation will sense the gap. Let the song come from somewhere real in you before you bring it to the room.
The tempo of 84 BPM places this song in a middle ground, not slow enough to be purely contemplative and not fast enough to be celebratory. That middle ground can be difficult to inhabit with conviction. Know whether you are playing this as a quiet invitation or as a moderate praise song, and commit to one rather than drifting between them. The arrangement should reflect the choice.
Watch your arrangements for this song if you are pulling it from a CCM era recording. The production style of the late 80s and early 90s does not always translate directly to a current live worship context. Be willing to simplify and contemporize the arrangement while honoring the song's content.
A note for the team behind you (techs, vocalists, band)
The arrangement challenge with a song from this era is finding the version that honors its roots without sounding like a museum piece. The core instrumentation of piano and acoustic guitar serves this song in most contexts. Add other elements modestly and purposefully.
Piano should be the melodic and harmonic anchor. If you are playing from a chord chart, invest time in understanding the original harmonic movement of the song, which is more sophisticated than a basic chart will show. The chord voicings communicate much of the song's emotional texture.
Strings or synth pads, if you have them, can enhance the song's contemplative quality without overwhelming it. Keep them in the middle register and at a low volume that supports rather than competes. Avoid any arrangement choices that push the song toward a current radio sound; the song has a particular character that is worth preserving.
Vocals should be warm and direct. This is not a song that needs a lot of production on the voice. A clean, honest vocal performance will serve it better than one with heavy layering or processing. Harmonies, if used, should come in late and sit low, supporting the melody line without drawing attention to themselves.
Sound techs, the mix for this song should be centered on the vocal and the piano. Keep the overall level moderate; this is not a song that calls for a loud mix. A gentle reverb on the vocal, warmer than bright, and a light reverb on the piano will give the mix the feeling of a room without the feeling of a hall. Resist over-processing; the song's character is in its simplicity. A slight shelf cut above 8 kHz on the room bus can bring the mix to a more intimate feel if it is trending too bright.