Do you remember the “minions?” They are the adorable yellow little helpers for Gru in the films Despicable Me and Despicable Me 2. They’ve shown up in advertising, television programs and music since those two movies, and now, on July 10th, is the debut of their own movie entitled simply, Minions. I mention the minions because one of the more popular connections with them is The Happy Song by Pharrel Williams. It’s an incredibly uplifting number that was the theme song for Despicable Me 2. Here are the words to the first verse and the chorus:
It might seem crazy what I'm about to say
Sunshine she's here, you can take away
I'm a hot air balloon, I could go to space
With the air, like I don't care baby by the way
Because I'm happy
Clap along if you feel like a room without a roof
Because I'm happy
Clap along if you feel like happiness is the truth
Because I'm happy
Clap along if you know what happiness is to you
Because I'm happy
Clap along if you feel like that's what you wanna do
It’s an incredibly happy, fun song that seeks to communicate the attitude we all should have as we go through life—no matter what happens, we should be happy. If we have a “happy” attitude, everything will look bright and sunny and better than it really is. While attitude may be 90% of life’s battle, a happy attitude will not always color the circumstances of life because as we define happiness, it is too dependent upon what happens to us.
In contrast, as we survey Psalm 1, we find what I like to call “The Original Happy Song.” The First Psalm opens up with the phrase translated “blessed is the man.” The Hebrew word is esher, and is often translated as an interjection that says, “Happy is the man!” My translation says, “Oh the joys of those…!” This is a holy moment, preserved in the eternal counsels of God. David seems to be overwhelmed with joy as he shouts this great truth in song. We need to be aware, too, that as David sings, this is the opening song of the Hebrew hymnbook. He’s writing a sacred song to a sacred people. The tune would not be on the top ten iTunes playlist. This is a song for those who desire to know God. What David says, in essence, is that if you want to discover happiness, live this way. Live this way, not that way, and you will find happiness. It’s the first instruction given to the faith community in their life of worship.
It’s interesting that Jesus started in the same place David started. You remember how Jesus began his ministry? He gathered his disciples on a hillside in Galilee, sat them down, and in the Beatitudes, gave them the keys to a happy life: “Blessed (happy) are the meek, for theirs is the Kingdom of God.” Live this way, and you’ll find happiness. Jesus and David on the same page. That’s probably not an accident. It’s probably not an accident, either, that like David does in this first psalm, Jesus talked about trees, well, more specifically, vines and branches, and he also talked about a path, as does David here. In the same message in which Jesus preached about happiness, he closes that message with this admonition: “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it” (Matthew 7: 13 – 14 NIV). Compare that to David’s, “For the Lord watches over the path of the godly, but the path of the wicked leads to destruction” (verse 6).
Both David and Jesus tell us there’s a way for people of faith to live their lives to discover the fullness of God’s life. It includes both positive and negative behavior. Don’t do that. Do this. There’s a right way to live, and a wrong way to live. No matter how much we don’t like to talk about it, not every road leads to the same place.
Too often we look in the wrong places for happiness. We expect a fairy tale ending because advertisers (and even a few Christians) have told us we deserve it. Read Cinderella, or Snow White, or Sleeping Beauty. The last phrase is always, “and they lived happily ever after.” We long for “happily ever after.” Our search for the fairy tale life sometimes causes us to seek happiness from sources other than God. In fact, sometimes our search actually leads us away from God. We replace the Lord with another person, possession, pleasure or ideology. And, it happens so subtly, too! It begins because we seek happiness as the end itself, and when we do that, we never find it. Our grandchildren like to play with bubbles. Vanessa has a huge gallon jug of bubbles she keeps on the back porch. When the grandchildren come and decide to play bubbles, they get out that gallon jug and their requisite tools, and they blow and wave to their utter excitement. Then they’ll chase the bubbles, and as soon as they touch them, poof!, they’re gone. That’s what it’s like to chase happiness for happiness sake.
The Psalmist is very clear: Happy is the person who does not walk with the wicked, who does not stand with sinners, and who does not sit with scoffers. Let me help us with the imagery the Psalmist uses. It’s progressive in nature. You know how it is when a child grows. First, they learn how to turn over, then sit up, then they learn to crawl before they learn to pull themselves up on the furniture. Before you know it, they are off and running. Growth is a progression. The natural progression is sit, stand, walk.
The Psalmist reverses the order and says that falling away from God is a progression. A person of faith begins by “walking” or “following” in the advice of the wicked. Then, they “stand around with sinners.” Until finally, they “sit” or “join in with scoffers.” Walk, stand, and sit. The momentum is going backwards.
None of us normally jump right into the middle of sin. It sneaks up on us. We sort of ease our way into it. Here’s my favorite example: Gone with the Wind is the classic Civil War drama/romance that won multiple Academy Awards. The film was released in 1939, and though it has since become controversial, the controversy in 1939 was the one word Rhett Butler uttered to Scarlett in that famous scene: “Frankly, Scarlett, I don’t … Now, you fill in the rest. By today’s standards, Rhett’s words are tame. Sin is the same way in our lives. Little by little, it encroaches on us, crowding out the things of God. Sin can sneak up on us when we let the best thing be crowded out by good things. The Psalmist tells these people of faith, “Don’t let that happen to you.” Instead, he offers an alternative. He says, “Delight in doing everything the Lord wants; day and night they think about his law.”
What delights us? Is it seeing the stock market go up, or getting a promotion at work?
Maybe it’s straight A's on a report card, or buying a new dress? Friends, those are the bubbles we chase. If we want to find true happiness, the Psalmist says the key is to read, focus on, think about God’s Word. Well, preacher, that doesn’t sound like much fun! And, besides, who has time to do that much these days anyway? Actually, the Psalmist didn’t sit around reading the Bible all do long, either. Remember, he didn’t have a Gideon pocket New Testament with the Psalms. No, they had large scrolls kept at the synagogue, and you had to go to the synagogue to hear the words read. What he did was think every day about what he had heard on the Sabbath, meditating on what God’s Word meant to his life. Yeah, I feel your pain. You can’t remember what I preach from one Sunday to the next. There are some Sundays I can’t remember what I preached by the time I get home on Sunday!
Seriously, though, what is practical for us is this: read a few verses from the Bible when we get up in the morning, then think about them during the day. Look for ways throughout the day that the scripture might be applied to our lives. To meditate means to think seriously about God’s word, even if we do not have the text right in front of our eyes. If we think on God’s word, then Satan, and sin, and the voices in the world around us become mere annoyances. When we compromise our focus is when we put ourselves and our happiness at risk.
And it happens so slowly, so subtly, that we hardly realize it is taking place. Over time sin and evil will immobilize us and strip us of our gifts.
There is an story about a bird meets a fisherman with a can of worms and asks him for one. The fisherman says, "Sure, all I ask in return is one of your feathers."
Well, a feather for a worm seemed a reasonable exchange to the bird, so he made the trade. The next day the bird was hungry again. He weighed the inconvenience of searching for food against the expediency of trading with the fisherman and decided in favor of the easier way.
Really, it was only one feather. But after a few weeks of making such a trade, the bird had exchanged so many feathers that he couldn’t fly.
At this point, the fisherman picked up the fat, naked bird. The bird made for a nice meal.
It is very easy for the same thing to happen to us spiritually. We make an unwise decision.
We say that it will not affect us and, in fact, we may not be able to see the effect at all. But slowly, even imperceptibly, one rationalization leads to another until one day, we find ourselves down a road we never intended to travel, and we find ourselves incredibly unhappy.
Happiness will always be elusive as long as we seek to find it in position, or notoriety, or possessions. Those things won’t bring the fairy tale ending we’re all looking for. Happiness does not come from others. It comes by abiding in Jesus. When we abide in Christ, the fruit of the Spirit begins to show through our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, kindness, goodness, faithfulness and self-control. I think that’s what the Psalmist had in mind when he wrote, “They are like trees planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit each season without fail. Their leaves never wither, and in all they do, they prosper” (v. 3).
The happy song of the psalmist was rooted deeply in the word of God. The happy song we sing is rooted deeply in our trust in the One who was the Word become flesh. We’ll sing the happiest song of life by “fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart” (Hebrews 12: 2 – 3 NIV).
