Category: Teachings
2 Essential Truths to Realize About Your Happiness

2 Essential Truths to Realize About Your Happiness

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Is happiness possible in this uncertain world?

I first asked this question in the previous post in this series.

Where the last post left off was:

God has declared happiness is possible. Just not in the ways you would expect.

This post, I will start working through the Psalms to see what they tell us about happiness. Interestingly, the very first two Psalms open with giving us truths about happiness. Let’s start with Psalm 1. 

Read through it once. Then again. If you don’t have a Bible handy, find the Psalm here.

There are a couple truths this Psalm makes about happiness.

Truth 1: Your happiness is dependent on your company

Interestingly, the Psalm starts out with the wrong place to look for happiness.

Happiness doesn’t come from following the advice of the wicked, taking the path of sinners, or joining in a group of mockers. The alternative to these false paths to happiness is to delight in the Lord’s instruction. 

What does this mean? 

Your happiness is affected by the company you keep. If the people around you, if the books you read, if the media you consume turns you away from the Lord and towards sin, your happiness is in jeopardy.

If you make the word of God your company, your counselor, your source of truth, then this Psalm says you are on the path to happiness. 

Why is this the case?

The Bible explains it like this: everything and everyone was created by God and for His glory. That simply means God created everything to display how magnificent and wonderful He is.

Sin, on the other hand, is not giving God the glory and honor due Him.

So, since God set up this world so lasting happiness only comes from Him and since sin is rebellion against God, sinning will only lead you further and further away from happiness.

There is an old saying “bad company corrupts good morals.” From this Psalm, you could make the further point “sinful company leads to spiritual death”.

That is where the image of “chaff” blown away in the wind comes from. Chaff is useless. Garbage. Something to discard.

And that is the end of sin. Death.

Often times in scripture, God warns about the company you keep. Most people don’t intend for their friends to lead them into sin.

Keep a watch over people you are around. They are the ones influencing you, for good or for evil.

If you take your happiness seriously, heed the Psalmist’s warning. Hanging around with those who are rebelling against God will only encourage you to do the same.

And where rebellion against God exists, you will not find true, lasting happiness.

Truth 2: Happiness starts with loving God’s word

What is the alternative to keeping company with sinners? What is the way to avoid becoming like chaff?

Delight in God’s instruction instead. Internalize it. Meditate on it.

If you aren’t saturating yourself with God’s word, don’t be surprised if happiness eludes you.

This is a shockingly bold claim the Psalm makes! Happiness comes from a book? From a collection of ancient texts?

Yes. Because they are the very words of God.

That is the claim the Bible makes.

The point is, you have to answer the question of who is the authority of in your life before you can even begin to pursue happiness.

In other words, you can’t get happiness by aiming at happiness. You must aim at something greater than your own personal joy.

This Psalm presents God’s word as that aim. Why? Because even though there is much you can know about the Lord through creation, it is only in the Bible that you know who He is.

You find out why God created you.

You find out why there is so much suffering in the world.

You find out why there is still so much good in the world.

You find out what your fundamental problem is.

Once you know all of these, your life changes. Your values change. Your perspective shifts.

How can you find happiness if you don’t even know who you are?

“Start with the word of God”, the Psalm exclaims!

And look at the effect the word of God has: you won’t be like chaff. You will be like a tree.

What a beautiful picture and contrast! Picture a tree by a river with lush fruit hanging off its branches.

The tree is always growing. Always healthy. Always bringing forth fruit.

That is your life when it is centered on God’s word. The water is the word. The tree is you. The fruit is the virtues God produces in your life.

So do you want to find happiness? Here are three practical things to reorient your life:

STOP living your life contrary to God’s word

The Psalm ends with judgement. With separation.

The wicked will not stand. The wicked will not dwell with the righteous.

How do you know what group you belong to? Better take heed to God’s word!

Read the great story of redemption. How humanity rebelled against God, but out of His love, the Lord sent Jesus. Truly man. Truly God.

Jesus bore the wrath your sin and my sin deserved. The punishment for everyone who believes in Him.

Read the call of the gospels and the NT epistles “The kingdom of God is at hand! Repent and believe in the gospel!”

Want to be happy? You are going to need to go to war. War against anything inside you that is contrary to the word of God.

You can’t have happiness without the gospel. You can’t have happiness without repentance. You can’t have happiness without obedience.

And you only know these things from the word of God. Therefore,

START reading God’s word

There is no better investment in your present and eternal happiness then opening the Bible and starting to read it.

Nothing else could be better. As soon as you drop the list of excuses and reasons for why you can’t read God’s word, you will find there is no other power to change the trajectory of your life apart from the Bible. 

Read the last verse from Psalm 1 again. 

God knows the way of the righteous. You learn about this way in the Bible. 

The way of the wicked leads to ruin. You learn what wickedness is in the Bible.

You can try to figure out which way leads to God and happiness, and which way leads to ruin without the Bible.

But you won’t figure it out.

God has graciously and lovingly told us all we need to know. You and I don’t have to guess how to live our lives. We can know for sure.

And it starts with a simple choice: Pick up the Bible and start reading.

And once you do,

CONTINUE diligently internalizing God’s word

Now, here is where it gets important: if a plant is only watered every so often, what happens to it?

It dies.

Withers.

Doesn’t produce fruit.

The blessing of lasting happiness doesn’t come from occasional Bible reading. It comes from Bible meditation.

The word “meditate” literally means to “murmur” something to yourself.

Meditating on God’s word does not mean reading your morning devotions and going on with your day. It doesn’t even mean reading through the Bible in a year.

Meditating on God’s word means repeating it over and over again in your mind until you internalize it, believe it, and live it out.

One reason I developed the sermon meditation book is to help myself and fellow Church members repeat again and again the truths we hear.

When you learn a truth and look at it from different angles and “murmur” it to yourself throughout the day, something amazing happens.

Your focus changes.

You gain more insights into the text.

And you start seeing times throughout the day when you can either share that truth with someone else or live out that truth.

That is the key to this Psalm. Lasting happiness doesn’t just come from merely reading God’s word and checking the box.

It comes from God transforming you through His word.

So keep reading. Keep studying. Keep thinking about what you read throughout the day. And pray that God would produce fruit in your life.

Interested in digging deeper into Psalm 1? One of the best sermon series on the Psalm can be found here.
5 Ways to Happiness that Won’t Work

5 Ways to Happiness that Won’t Work

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Have you met a person who doesn’t want happiness?

I don’t think I have. Whether a believer or an unbeliever, rich or poor, smart or not, hard-working or lazy, liberal or conservative EVERYONE I have met thus far in my life is pursuing happiness.

It is one of our “inalienable rights” as Americans. Go to the bookstore or the library. Type in “how to be happy” in your search engine. How much ink is spent on trying to convince you how to achieve happiness? 

Some say work more. Some say work less. 

Some connect it to a diet or a lifestyle. 

Some connect it to success at work. 

Some say you need to be a certain type of person. Some say you just have to be yourself.

It is the fundamental truth of our culture: pursue happiness as whatever cost.

It is in the air we breathe. Pursuing happiness is so fundamental to your and my thinking, we hardly notice it day to day.

For a lot of people, pursuing happiness is about pursuing money. The more money you have, the more power you have to choose to do things that make you happy. Seems simple enough.

Another potential avenue for happiness is finding your “dream job”. People spend their whole lives chasing a job that gives them flexibility and control. The old saying “if you love what you do, you don’t work a day in your life” has become many people’s creed. Their quest.

Fame is another road that promises to lead to happiness. The more people who are interested in you, the more validated you feel. You want to be the respected one. The expert. The person setting the trends and calling the shots. And when you feel good about yourself, you supposedly find joy.

If you turn on the television, another option for happiness is presented: things. Stuff. Objects. Every product on the market promises ease. Pleasure. Beauty. Every advertisement essentially says “If you have THIS thing, you will be happier!”

A final addition to this non-exhaustive list is other people. A spouse will make you happy. Children. Family. Community. Friendship. Someone to share life with you. Someone to love you. Someone to know you. 

There are other roads to happiness. More than I could list. Every time someone “discovers” a new road, a book is published and people wonder if THIS road is the answer to the question:

How can I be happy?

The problem with all the roads to happiness our culture promises is there are three important cliffs the roads lead to.

Failure.

Disappointment.

Loss.

Whether you are pursuing money, your dream job, fame, stuff, or fellowship with people, if is not certain you will get what you are pursuing. You can try hard. You can dedicate your life to obtaining these things.

But we live in an uncertain world. There are infinite factors, circumstances, and events that are outside the smallest bit of our control.

If your happiness is attached to getting any of these things, you might never achieve it. You might fail to get them.

But maybe you will get them. Maybe you’ll get your dream job. Maybe the person of your dreams enters your life. Maybe you get money and recognition.

That means you’ll be happy, right?

Perhaps. Perhaps not.

What if your dream job ends up not being exactly what you thought it would be?

What if having more money doesn’t actually make you feel any better?

What if the praise and attention of strangers feels hollow?

If your happiness is attached to getting any of these things, you might never have happiness. You might be disappointed when you get them.

But what if they don’t disappoint you. What if your dream job really is your dream job? Your money does allow you to do stuff you enjoy? Your spouse really IS everything you dreamed they would be and more?

This is when the biggest enemy to your pursuit of happiness enters: loss.

Having something today doesn’t guarantee having it tomorrow. Death, difficulty, and disasters all assault even those castles of happiness you think are the most safe and secure.

If your happiness is attached to getting any of these things, you will never have happiness. You will inevitably lose them at some point.

So is pursuing happiness as pursuing the wind? Should you cling tighter and tighter around anything that gives you the slightest bit of pleasure?

Is your happiness doomed for hopelessness?

No.

In the face of failure, disappointment, and loss the book of Psalms has the audacity to announce

“Happy is the man…”

And then Psalm 2 chimes in “all who take refuge in Him, are happy”.

And again and again the Psalms present happiness as possible. As obtainable.

The God who made this world has declared happiness is possible. Just not in the ways you would expect.

Starting next week, I will share a brief study of what the Psalms say about happiness. Every person wants to be happy.

So every person should seek to find what God says about happiness.

Any thoughts, comments, or questions? Reach out to me here.