2 Essential Truths to Realize About Your Happiness
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.