Delicacies

While I was off on the rabbit trail yesterday, I also took a momentary peek at the verse following the one we discussed.  In Psalm 141:4 the Psalmist is imploring God saying, “Do not let me be persuaded to do anything evil or to become involved with wickedness, with people who are troublemakers.  Do not let me taste their delicacies.” (God’s Word ©)  The idea of “tasting their delicacies” caught my eye and I jotted down a few notes that I picked up from for my study this morning.

My first picture when I thought of “delicacies” was of the little sweet confections that you see displayed on tiny white doilies in the glass cases under the counter in fancy bakeries.  These tempting items may taste rich and delightful, but they might not always be the best thing for you to consume.  Similarly, the taste of evil things may have the immediate reward of being enjoyable for the moment, but tend to have a negative effect on us.

As I continued to consider this, I was reminded of other items that people in some countries may consider "delicacies" but are quite repulsive to Westerners.  I immediately pictured a Filipino gentleman that worked for me in my first supervision position at Hewlett Packard.  Art was a great guy with a terrific sense of humor.  He was the type of worker that would do just about anything for you.  His only downside was that he didn’t always think things through before taking certain actions.  This led to a few humorous situations as well as one that caused a potentially hazardous condition.

But all that aside, Art was a joy to be with… except at lunch time.  I remember one period of time when I was in the midst of writing a musical for our Children’s program and spent most of my lunch breaks in my little Datsun 4X4 with pad and pencil furiously penning songs and script!  One night I decided to take a break and to sit with some of my crew and enjoy their company while we ate.  Well, all was going fine until Art pulled out what looked like a giant egg and explained the Filipino “delicacy” called “Balut” that he ate daily.  So out of curiosity all of us at the table leaned over and watched as he cracked open the “delicacy.”

Once I saw what was in the egg and thought of him eating it, I suddenly had the very urgent need to leave the table as fast as I could… me and everyone else seated there!  This highly favored “delicacy” in their country is an 18 day old, fertilized egg that is boiled alive and seen as a taste treat that, as Art described, is loaded with all kinds of vitamins and minerals.  (If you dare… Take a look at a current article on CNN.com about this delicacy!  http://www.cnn.com/2014/02/05/travel/how-to-eat-balut/)

That vivid remembrance came to my mind as I considered tasting the “delicacies” of evil people.  With it I also thought of how I took the bait set out before me and “tasted” the “delicacies” of false accusations that certain people has tossed to me concerning my character and decision making abilities when it came to the care of my wife.  Instead of refusing to receive the hurt, I jumped in without thinking and found myself in a losing battle that may have tasted good when I responded in anger, but ended up being quite distasteful and upsetting to my spirit as well as to my natural man!

The King James Version says to “let me not eat of their dainties.”  The word translated “eat” literally means “to feed on, consume or to engage in battle.”  In my case, I found myself engaged in a battle that I could not win on their terms.  I’ve heard it said that when things like this come up that we should never try to engage them in a battle of words because they’ve had much more practice at it than we have!  It is a battle fought on their terms that we cannot win.  It is much more effective to immediately turn the battle over to the Lord and allow Him to change them and heal the hurt from the inside out!

Some delicacies take what they call an “acquired taste.”  I often wondered why people drank so much beer.  It always tasted very bitter to me, but then I’ve heard some say that like the enjoyment of fine wines, it is a taste that is acquired after a period of time.  I had one young man tell me when I temporarily worked on a production line at Hewlett Packard, that he “hated the taste of beer, but enjoyed the resulting buzz!”

That “buzz” was the thing that caused him many problems!  It is also the aftereffect of tasting the “delicacies” of evil that can cause us all kinds of problems in our natural and spiritual lives!  So what will it be?  Is the enjoyment of that “delicacy” really worth the troubles it holds for you and me?  Thank God that we have a loving heavenly Father that will always forgive us of our trespasses, but why push the envelope and go through the pain in the first place?  I am not saying that this is always easy, but in the long run it is the best path to take.  Next time you’re tempted to taste the “delicacies” of evil, just take a moment and think about that “Balut!”  I guarantee that you’ll quickly turn and run away from temptation!

Have a great day.  Stay in tune to God’s Word, and keep asking yourself… “What am I expecting today?”