Tag: Culture
3 Crucial Insights About the World

3 Crucial Insights About the World

By |

Are you happy? Is happiness possible in this world?

The world promises dozens of paths to happiness. Some are easy. Some require a whole life’s investment.

The question is: which path will actually lead to happiness?

In my last post, we found in Psalm 1 that your happiness is highly dependent on who you spend your time with and who you listen to. 

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

Today, I will walk you through what Psalm 2 has to say about your happiness. Psalm 1 opened with “how happy is the man…” and Psalm 2 ends with “All who take refuge in Him are happy.”

Read Psalm 2. There is a lot here. When I was asked to preach my first sermon at my Church, I chose this Psalm to preach. It is that important.

Psalm 2 is not only central to understanding the book of Psalms, but is central to understand God’s plan for the world.

If God has a plan for the world, knowing that plan and living in light of it will help your happiness. Rebelling against that plan will lead you to misery. 

Base your expectations for your life on what God has revealed about the world in the Bible.

There are three crucial insights about the world Psalm 2 makes. Understanding each one is crucial for your happiness

Insight 1: The world is in rebellion against the Lord

The Psalm starts with a picture of the world. It is a relevant picture. A contemporary picture. Verses 1 to 3 lay it out clear as crystal.

Rebellion.

Plotting.

Conspiring against the Lord.

From Genesis to Revelation, the Bible lays out that sin is rebellion against God.

Instead of submitting, obeying, joyfully living under God’s loving care and direction, humans do what they want. Decide for themselves what is right. Do what is right in their own eyes.

Verse 3 in particular helps you see what rebellion against God is like.

Humans view God’s rule as chains, as restraining, as limiting.

And so, you and I do what is expected: we try to break free. Free from God, free from His standard, free from His truth. And we substitute our own wisdom. “Man is the measure of all things.” “There is no absolute truth.” “God is dead.” 

This is the world you live in.

A world created by a loving, good, perfect God. But a world who hates that God.

Until you see this fundamental truth about the world, you will look for happiness in all the wrong places.

That self help book you read, that social media influencer who has 7 proven tips for success, that movie you watched as a kid that told you to follow your dreams…

…all of these were made by a culture hatefully rebelling against the God who made them. 

Once you understand what this world is like, you start to be wary about quick fixes. “Proven” paths to success.

The reason why is found in the next insight the Psalm gives us.

Insight 2: The world’s rebellion is doomed to fail

God’s thoughts on humanity’s rebellion are given in verses 4 to 6.

God finds it laughable. Ridiculous.

You may think you are the master of your own fate, that you can ignore God’s rule, that God’s plan for the world has no bearing on your life. But that doesn’t matter to God.

An all powerful God. A sovereign God.

Our rebellion is worthy of nothing but God’s anger and amusement.

In the face of our rebellion, God declares His plan for the world. Verses 6 through 9 lays it out.

You want to live without God’s rule? God will establish His king anyway.

You want to be free of God? God will give the nations to His king.

You want to break the commands God has given you? God’s King will have the power to break you. Like a pot.

Your plans and goals and dreams are not ultimate in the world. God’s plans are.

And God’s plans involve establishing an eternal rule. Humanity’s rebellion won’t get the final say.

In the face of our culture’s rejection of God, God simply responds with a laugh and a declaration of what will certainly happen. 

Which brings us to the central decision which will determine your eternal happiness.

Insight 3: Your happiness depends on what side you take

Amazingly the Psalm doesn’t end there. Rather than crushing rebellious humanity immediately, God ends with an offer.

A life changing offer.

A merciful offer.

An offer which will determine your happiness now and forever.

You either submit to God’s anointed king. Or you will be destroyed with those who rebel.

The Psalm tells you what the wise choice is. Serve the Lord, not yourself. Fear the Lord instead of ignoring Him. Join the kingdom of the Son.

You will only find happiness in the safety of the Lord’s loving rule.

The only other option is just punishment.

Look at those who break the law in your country. Does it go well for them? When they are caught and punished, are they happy? Are their lives happy?

How much more will you be unhappy if you are breaking the laws of the God of the entire universe?

God is and has been exceedingly merciful and loving towards His creation. This Psalm gives you an opportunity to leave the rebellion and join in relationship with the God who created you.

Here are two questions to ask yourself in light of this passage:

Do you see the danger you are in?

If your house was on fire and you didn’t realize it, the fire would do more damage than if you noticed it early.

God has graciously warned you in this Psalm about the trajectory of the world. About the rebellion of our culture. The world tells you to follow its paths to happiness. But God tells you that path is based in rebellion.

Are you buying the lies of the world? That money or sex or power or fame can bring you happiness? 

Do you live as if you were ruler of your life? Have you forgotten God?

If you have been, stop! Stop your rebellion! Stop listening to the world! As we learned in Psalm 1, start reading God’s word and aligning yourself to His plan!

The Psalm offers you a place to flee. A safe refuge that also contains the happiness you seek.

Have you submitted to Jesus?

Psalm 2 doesn’t identify who the anointed King is. The King who God calls a Son. The King who will rule the nations. But the rest of scripture reveals who this King is: Jesus.

In Acts 4:23-30, the early Church identified Jesus as the one who God anointed, as the promised Messiah and King of the Old Testament.

And in Revelation 2:26-27, Jesus declares God the Father gave Him the authority to rule the nations. The same authority promised here in Psalm 2. 

If you are interested in how Psalm 2 relates to God’s plan in Jesus, this book has several helpful chapters.

But for today, recognize Jesus is the King God has raised up.

Jesus is the King you must submit to. You must run to. The King who has the happiness you seek.

Why?

Jesus didn’t crush the nations. He was crushed for the happiness of the nations.

When Jesus first came, He didn’t come to punish the humans who rebelled. Jesus came to bear the punishment for everyone who would believe in Him. 

He didn’t just die as an example. As an illustration of God’s love.

He died to bear God’s wrath. The wrath the rebellious nations deserve.

The wrath you and I deserve.

The reality laid out in this Psalm is if you don’t kiss the son, you yourself will bear that wrath.

So, the most important question for your happiness is simply

Have you submitted to Jesus? Or are you still living in rebellion against God?

There is a reason the book of Psalms opens with this Psalm. It is the single most important thing related to your happiness.

Kiss the Son.

Want a more in depth look at Psalm 2? Listen to the sermon I preached.
5 Ways to Happiness that Won’t Work

5 Ways to Happiness that Won’t Work

By |

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.