THE SECRET OF TRUE HAPPINESS
If the mythical man or woman in the street was asked what he or she longed for most, I expect the answer, in many cases, would be “happiness”. Jesus had something to say about this in His great Sermon on the Mount when He said: “happy”: "Blessed are ... the poor in spirit ... the meek ... the merciful ... the pure in heart" (Matt 5:3-12). Theirs is the secret of true happiness.
The Bible has only one message. It’s repeated over and over again. Like the old preacher said: "First I tell them what I’m going to tell them, then I tell them, them I tell them what I’ve told them." Repetition is a great teaching aid. The message is told in a variety of ways - in the history of nations, the personal stories of men and women, in poetry and parable. It uses pictures, illustrations - anything to bring the truth home to us. But when it’s all summed up, there’s really only one theme, it’s:
WHAT IS TRUE HAPPINESS
It’s the relationship of humanity to God and what God has done about us and for our salvation. It teaches a definite philosophy, a view of life we can either accept or reject. The whole story of civilisation is a quest for happiness and fulfilment. There are many prescriptions on offer for this Utopia but they’re doomed to failure if they leave out the most important factor and that’s God in our life. There are so many that have taken this route in life and it ends in tragedy and cynicism. Shakespeare got it right when one of his characters asked ’What is life? It is nothing but "A tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying - nothing!"’ Biographies of great personalities at the end of their lives often reveal sadness and disillusionment as they face an unknown future if they have no assurance of peace with God. How sad!
In a few well-chosen words the First Psalm sketches out two sharply contrasting pictures. The first is of a happy and blessed man. The second is of a man whose life ends in dismal failure. It presents a fundamental choice in the search for happiness. It puts it like this: "You are confronted by two alternatives - and only two. There’s the way of God and the way of Satan." Here in this psalm there’s a good man, a godly man, a righteous man. And then there’s the ungodly, the wicked. There’s a right way and a wrong way, the positive and the negative.
The strange thing in life is that if you seek happiness as an end in itself you will never find it; it will always escape you. It’s like a child catching a soap bubble – he thinks he’s got it, then it bursts and it’s gone and there’s nothing left. It’s also like a traveller in a desert seeing a mirage of an oasis – he travels towards it only to find it disappears! True happiness, says the Bible, depends upon two things only. The first is our relationship with God, and the second depends on what we really are, not what happens to us. That’s the secret. You’ve heard it said, "Two men looked out through prison bars; The one saw mud, the other stars." So first let’s think about:
WHERE TRUE HAPPINESS IS NOT FOUND
That’s how the Psalmist tackles the question. Strangely enough he starts with a negative. He points out the pathway that we shouldn’t take. "Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked." The Bible is a realistic book. It starts with the world as it is. It means facing the fact that we are sinners before God and we’ll get no further unless we accept that diagnosis. The forbidden path is "the counsel of the ungodly": this is the whole outlook of the world. It’s self-righteous sufficiency without God. It’s relying on our own way of getting credit with God without the need for repentance.
The psalm goes on to say that the person who is after real happiness will not "stand in the way of sinners". Those who chose the way of this world, the things that the Scriptures condemn, will never find lasting happiness. Oh yes, they may enjoy its false pleasures for a fleeting moment but they will turn to ashes. The Christian isn’t exempt from temptation and must constantly be on guard against the subtle snares of the evil one - it’s so easy to slip up and let our Lord down in thought, word or deed.
And then there are those who "sit in the seat of mockers." They are people who laugh at religion, who joke over the sacred, who scoff at morality and decency. People enjoy it and are entertained by it instead of becoming ashamed and convicted. The world finds this very clever and witty but it’s a symptom of those who have rejected the law of God as the guiding principle of life.
There seems to be a downward progression in what the Psalmist portrays. The ungodly, he says, start "walking with the wicked”, then become more identified with them, “standing with sinners” but now totally involved “sitting with the scoffers." It’s a picture of the increasing grip that sin has, until a person becomes utterly paralysed by evil. This isn’t a popular doctrine but one that Jesus taught. He made it clear that within the soil of every man’s heart there lie buried the ugly seeds of every conceivable sin. What a catalogue He listed: "evil thoughts ... of theft, murder ... ruthless greed ... fraud, indecency, envy, slander, arrogance, and folly" (Matt 15:19). It’s what we read about in the newspapers every day. It doesn’t say actually do them but aren’t we guilty of thinking them? These "evil things" come out of the heart of every man. This is Jesus Christ’s estimate of fallen human nature. What a sad picture! But the psalmist hasn’t finished yet in characterising the person who is away from God, because he goes on to say, "The ungodly ... are like the chaff that the wind blows away."
The writer of this psalm uses an illustration to help us to see the difference between the godly, the Christian, and the ungodly, the person whose sins are preventing a relationship with God. There’s a picture of a tree by the side of a river, and then there’s a heap of chaff. It’s vital that we know what kind of person we are. Do we resemble a tree or a heap of chaff? What a contrast! It’s not a matter of behaviour or conduct because there are many very good people in the world from the standpoint of morality and yet are not Christians.
Let me illustrate it like this: An Indian Christian, Sandhu Singh, made a perceptive statement when he said, "One day I was sitting on the banks of a river. I took from the water a round stone and I broke it. Inside it was perfectly dry. That stone had been lying in the water for a long time but the water had not penetrated it.” Then he said, “The same thing happened to men and women in many countries. For centuries they have been surrounded by Christianity but Christianity has not penetrated, does not live within them." Sadly, that’s the state of so many of our fellow citizens – they’re nice people but they haven’t got a saving relationship with God through faith in Jesus.
God doesn’t judge by appearance; it’s not what a person does, it’s what he or she is. To put it in the language of Jesus to Nicodemus, it’s "you must be born again" (John 3:7), or the Apostle Paul, it’s becoming "a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" (2 Cor 5:17).
The psalmist makes the comparison of a tree with a heap of chaff to demonstrate the radical difference between the Christian and the unbeliever. What is chaff? Chaff is what remains when you’ve taken the grain out of an ear of corn; it’s the husk that’s left - the refuse. It’s a stark picture. God didn’t make the first man and woman like that! They were made in His image and likeness. They had a relationship with God but, sadly, they fell and sinned, and ever since human beings have inherited that bias to sin. It’s been likened to seeing a fine building that’s been left to ruin; its roof has fallen in and the walls are overgrown with ivy and moss. There may be a sign stating that it was the ancestral home of some great nobleman, but now it’s just a mass of ruins. It’s a picture of mankind. The image of God was once here but now it’s gone.
The writer enlarges on the picture of the unbeliever. That person is not only "chaff" but also "like chaff that the wind blows away." One can visualise a pile of chaff but then a puff of wind comes and it’s blown away. The psalmist is telling us that sin has so distorted mankind that there’s no governing principle to life. Unlike a tree, a heap of chaff has no roots, it’s formless, it’s insecure. The Apostle Paul found the same thing when preaching to the sophisticated people at Athens. They "spent their time doing nothing but talking about and listening to the latest ideas" (Acts 17:21). Nothing has changed over the years - if it’s not Eastern Mysticism, then it’s New Age religion or experimenting with drugs.
There’s one more important contrast between a tree and chaff. There’s no life in chaff, it will never change, grow and produce fruit. Human beings have been on this planet for thousands of years. Yes, there’s progress in learning and amazing developments in technology but it’s done nothing to cure our sinful nature. I saw a cartoon of a man sitting on top of a great pile of books with a question mark over his head; he had absorbed all the wisdom of the world but couldn’t solve the mystery of himself.
Knowledge has increased by leaps and bounds in harnessing the resources of creation. But there’s one thing that hasn’t changed - and that’s the heart of man. C S Lewis put it rather well in an ironic parody of the hymn "Lead us Heavenly Father." His “unauthorised” version reads, "Lead us evolution, lead us up the future’s endless stair; / Chop us, change us, prod us, weed us, for stagnation is despair; / Groping, guessing, yet possessing, lead us nobody knows where."
Conference after conference is held to discuss the destruction of the Earth’s environment and to solve the poverty of two thirds of the world’s population but very little gets done when the talking is over. Isn’t it essentially a problem of selfishness, greed and exploitation? Desmond Tutu, the former Archbishop of Cape Town, said famously, “When missionaries came to South Africa, they had the Bible and we (the Africans) had the land. They said, ‘Let us pray.’ We closed our eyes. When we opened them, we had the Bible and they had the land!” What a dark sketch of mankind in a state of unforgiven sin! But the psalmist has better news as he turns to:
HOW WE CAN FIND TRUE HAPPINESS
He portrays the godly, the Christian, the person in a right relationship with God, as someone who is truly blessed, who has found true happiness. What a contrast! The psalmist likens him or her to "a tree planted..." He’s telling us that somebody has put the tree there. This indicates a positive action. This is how one becomes a Christian and a godly person. Thankfully, we may be born into a Christian country or, even better, a Christian family, but that of itself doesn’t make us a Christian. A person becomes a Christian by faith in Jesus, trusting in His atoning sacrifice on the Cross. Just as a tree can’t plant itself, so a person becomes a Christian, not by doing good or trying to improve oneself, but by God’s action of planting His Spirit in us as we come to Him in repentance and faith. It’s a positive action by both God and the believer.
But not only is a Christian "like a tree planted..." – he or she has security. Christians are in God’s care, "in Christ" (1 Cor 15:22). What’s more, believers are "planted by streams of water." This is a beautiful picture of the new humanity of the redeemed, through the love of God in Christ. Jesus told His followers, "I have come that they might have life, and have it to the full" (John 10:10). The point the psalmist is making about being "planted by streams of water" is that it’s suggestive of God’s full provision for all of life’s needs. Rivers are areas of fertility.
When I was flying back from the Middle East, the aircraft flew high over the Egyptian desert where, for mile after mile, there was nothing but yellow sand and then there came into view the River Nile. On either bank of the river there were broad bands of green vegetation. The river brought life. There was moisture for the crops; the tree roots could find nourishment. This is just a faint illustration of what we have in Jesus. "I am the bread of life," said Jesus. "He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty" (John 6:35). Jesus came to give us "abundant life," and it’s each Christian’s calling to explore the imaginative possibilities of that abundant life in Christ. He is the source of real and abiding happiness. There’s an endless supply. The Apostle Paul thanks God for the spiritual blessings we have in Christ: we’re"... adopted as his sons ... we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding" (Eph 1:5,7,8).
The question is: are we rejoicing in this new life in Christ? Planted by the streams of water, planted into Christ and drawing on His life. It’s by these streams of life giving water that we must stay because we’ve been placed there for a purpose. This "tree", the Christian, the godly, we’re told, "yields its fruit in season." What’s the function of a tree? It’s to bring forth fruit.
The trouble with chaff is that it can’t produce anything of real value but a tree is different. It’s got the potential for productivity. When we are converted to Christ, born again of His Spirit, we’re restored, we’re renewed, to what God intended human beings to be. What was lost as the result of the Fall, that relationship with God, has been given back. It’s now our responsibility under God to live a life governed by truth, a life based on His revealed standards. The Apostle Paul instructed his converts at Colosse to "live a life worthy of the Lord and ... please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God" (Col 1:10).
What is this fruit? "The fruit of the Spirit," says Paul, "is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control" (Gal 5:22,23). These are the things that begin to appear in a man or woman who becomes a Christian. The Holy spirit is intended not only to affect everything we do, but all our being - mind, body, will, spirit - just as yeast pervades the whole of a loaf of bread. It’s a necessity - otherwise it’s a contradiction in terms. Of course, we all fall short of the ideal but nevertheless the fruit must be there, otherwise it’s questionable if the work of regeneration has taken place.
It’s not what label we give ourselves but what we are in God’s sight. Mere religion, as opposed to Christianity, can often lead to a change in behaviour, working from the outside in. True Christian discipleship works from the inside out. Jesus taught that true disciples as opposed to the false would be recognised "by their fruit" (Matt 7:16). This is often evidenced by deeds of kindness, mercy and compassion.
Have you every thought how schools came into being? From the Christian church. Where did hospitals come from? From the Christian church. Christians have been in the forefront of great social reforms: William Wilberforce campaigned tirelessly for the abolition of slavery; Dr Barnado established homes for orphans, and so the list of benefactors goes on. We must ask ourselves as to the contribution we can make, however seemingly small, in the welfare of the needy. There are many deserving causes.
The psalm also refers to what the godly person holds dear and is a high on their list of priorities: "his delight is in the law of the Lord." The Scriptures must ever be our resource for finding how we should live in the light of God’s standards. The psalmist says the secret of true happiness is a daily experience - "day and night" - of fellowship with God. The biblical writer all had an urgent message, whether to nations or individuals. The psalmist, like Jesus many years later, tells us:
WHY WE NEED THIS TRUE HAPPINESS
The obtaining of true happiness is not only for this life; it goes on even into the next world. It’s a happiness that can survive meeting the last enemy. The Bible proclaims that death is not the end. This is only a temporary world and after our journey here is over, there’s a day of reckoning with our Maker. One of Shakespeare’s characters speaks of the dread that the ungodly have: "... the undiscovered country from (which) no traveller returns." The psalmist is convinced that the only person who is truly blessed and happy, is the one who has catered for this life and what lies beyond it: "For the Lord watches over the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish."
Here we have two starkly contrasted destinies. The godly person, the Christian who trusts in nothing but salvation through faith in Jesus, is pictured as an evergreen tree planted by rivers of water. This is truly a happy person. It’s a picture of vitality, fruitfulness and eternal life. On the other hand, there’s the ungodly who discovers that instead of standing secure like a tree planted by streams of water at the end of life, he or she is like chaff, spiritually dead, insecure and without hope at the last day. The choice is ours. True happiness is only found in Jesus.
