Finding True Happiness
Psalm 1[1]
2-1-04
Intro
Today is Super Bowl Sunday and we’re going to have fun this evening watching the game together. One of the things I like about Super Bowl Sunday are the creative advertisements that companies spend millions of dollars to air during the game. That has gotten to be part of the entertainment. Sometimes people don’t even remember what product they were advertising but it was still fun to watch. One theme runs through all the ads—how can my life be more enjoyable and fulfilling. General Motors will tell you the secret is on the showroom floor as we speak. Pepsi will tell you it comes in a 12-ounce can or 16-ounce bottle. Those advertisers understand what motivates people—people want to be happy and enjoy life. So if they can market their product around that basic reality they will make money.
But what does a happy life look like? And how can I have that kind of life? Fortunately, the text in Psalms 1 that was read at the beginning of this service addresses those very questions—“Blessed is the man...” (Psalm 1:1).
Today’s English Version titles the Psalm “True Happiness” and opens verse one with these words, “Happy are those who...” and then it goes on to describe the source and cause of true happiness.
What will make you truly happy? A happy person enjoys God’s favor resting upon his or her life. You must be able to live with yourself (who you have become) in order to live happily. How is your relationship with yourself? Is there an answer of a clear and affirming conscience echoing in your soul? Have you found satisfaction in fulfilling your very purpose of existence? Happy people have discovered purpose and are living in that purpose.
When the Bible talks about our happiness it looks beyond temporary thrills and pleasures and addresses our need for deep sense of peace about who we are. Biblical happiness involves an abiding joy of living.
One thing is for certain for every one of us—wherever I am I’m going to have to find a way to live with myself. I’m going to have to find a way to celebrate who I am in God and celebrate life itself. And there are lots of things in the world that can rob me of that celebration. Jesus said, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” John 10:10 NIV
God wants you to really live. God’s wants you to be full of life and enjoy life.
But there is a thief who will try to steal all that away from you.
“There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.” (Proverbs 14:12) There is pleasure in sin for a season[2]—but in the long run it always leads to misery—it only leads to a diminished capacity for enjoying life. Sin will implode your capacity for living. I like these soft aluminum cans of coke because even I can take one in hand and crush it. I started to bring one with me this morning so you could watch me do that. A can that has been crushed has a diminished capacity. It can no longer hold 12 ounces. When a life has been imploded by sin it loses (not gains) abundance of life.[3]
Ask the person who has lived under the bondage of an addiction. The dream of fun and happiness became a nightmare of bondage and sorrow. There is a way that leads to misery and destruction and it is to be avoided at all costs.
Look at the stark contrast in our text between the godly and the ungodly— the one living under the blessing of God verses the one who has rejected God and become rejected by God.
Verse 4 “Not so the wicked!” After a wonderful description of a blessed life the Psalm takes an abrupt turn—“Not so the wicked!” Not everyone will enjoy the life God desires to give that person. God has no pleasure in the death of the wicked.[4] He passionately desires that all come to repentance and live eternally with Him. But in this life we choose our eternal destiny by our response to God’s offer of life. In this brief life we set our course for an eternity.
The contrast between a life that is blessed in God and the existence of the wicked is sketched out in this Psalm using two metaphors. On the one hand we are given the picture of a well-watered, fruitful tree representing a godly life enjoying God’s provision. In contrast to that, we have chaff—the worthless residue of the wheat stalk.
What does a blessed life look like?
1. A blessed life is fulfilling its very purpose of existence.
The tree in our text is bearing the fruit it was meant to bear. An apple tree has not fulfilled its destiny until it produces apples and multiplies itself in some way. There is a biblical relationship between God’s blessing and our fruitfulness. From the very beginning God has granted fruitfulness with His blessing. Gen 1:28 “God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it.”[5] NIV
What does a blessed life look like? It is a fruitful life. It is a life that is productive and generating what it was designed to produce. Fruitfulness can be expressed in a great number of ways. As Christians we are fruitful when we are influencing others toward Christ. There is an evangelistic fruitfulness. There is the fruit of the Spirit which gives evidence of God’s life in us. God designed you for a purpose and true happiness is never found outside that purpose. A blessed life enjoys the satisfaction of knowing God has you here for an eternal purpose and the fulfilling of that purpose brings a great sense of satisfaction.
This tree in our text is full of sap[6]—full of life. In contrast, the chaff is dead. It has no life flowing through it. It has no capacity to produce fruit or multiply. The chaff is good for nothing. Although the chaff exists it serves no good purpose.
2. A blessed life enjoys an ongoing source of nourishment and refreshment.
Planted by streams of water, he abides in God and God’s word abides in him.
“But his delight is in the law of the Lord and in his law he meditates day and night.”
The word translated law is “torah” which was the Bible—the first 5 books of scripture.
So don’t interpret that with a legalistic mindset. Certainly God’s word set boundaries for our own well-being. To transgress those boundaries is to step out of the provision of God’s best and ultimately suffer a loss of joy and happiness. But the idea is a delight in revelation received from God through His word.
Like this tree, a blessed person sends his roots deep into God’s truth. And he allows that truth to impart life to his being. “Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.”[7]
How does a person draw life from the word of God? By “meditating upon it day and night.”
By drawing upon its counsel. By making decisions based upon its precepts. By allowing it to shape our thinking.
Our behavior is driven by our value system. Our value system is formed by the ideas we take in and embrace—by the ideas we hear and incorporate as our own. If we mediate on the word of God and allow it to shape our thinking, we will make wise life decisions. If we meditate on the word of God night and day our minds will be renewed and our spirits will be refreshed.
This only happens when God’s word becomes central to our lives. This happens when we discover delight in God’s message to us. The man who is happy and blessed is the one who ‘Meditates on God’s word day and night—it is continually in his thoughts. He processes what he has read over and over until it has changed the way he views God and life.
3. A blessed life enjoys stability in its environment.
The tree exists in the same environment as the chaff. The winds of adversity are hitting it at the same velocity as they hit the chaff—but with a very different result. Yes, the branches sway as the wind blows through. Have you ever felt yourself sway a bit in the midst of adversity? The winds do sometimes blow. But the tree is not blown away. It is rooted in the earth and cannot be moved.
That same wind drives the chaff away. In the ancient Hebrew culture the chaff was separated from the wheat by a very simple procedure. The wheat and chaff were thrown into the air.
The wheat, which was heavier, fell straight down to the ground. The wind would catch the chaff and drive it away.[8]
After sharing the Beatitudes in Matthew 5 Jesus contrasted the godly with the ungodly using a story about house construction. Matt 7:24-27
"Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. 26But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash." NIV
Here is the same principle that is being taught in Psalm 1. Notice in Jesus story both houses got hit by the adversities of life. The winds and the rain hit both houses. (God’s blessing does not exempt us from human experiences.) But it does exempt us from destruction. The house built on a good foundation of godliness is sustained in the midst of those experiences. The house with no foundation crumbled.
Conclusion
How well do you deal with adversity? Does it blow you away or just sway your branches a bit? In this clip (from Bruce Almighty) Bruce, played by Jim Carey, is not handling adversity very well. He has just lost his job and nothing seems to be working in his life.
See if you can identify some of the attitudes that may be robbing him of him of true happiness.
Video Clip from Bruce Almighty[9] beginning at Ch.5 (17:20) and ending at Ch.5 (21:30)
After make sure everyone knows each other at your table please discuss the following questions.
1. What attitudes did Bruce show in the clip that was robbing him of a blessed life?
2. Bruce tried to be a blessing to the homeless man but it seemed to backfire on him.
Have you ever had a similar experience? How did you feel? What did you learn?
3. How would you contrast a blessed life to one that is not blessed?
4. What lifestyle factors do you consider important to receiving God’s blessing on a life?
5. What signs (as skit & clip indicated) are you seeing concerning God’s direction for your life? In what ways does God’s word lead us into blessing?
Communion
In the middle of your table are small communion packages. They contain both the bread and the wine. Table leaders please make sure everyone who wants to partake has a package. The elements of the Lord’s Table are reminders of the sacrifice Jesus made on the cross for us. The blessings we enjoy are ours because of what Jesus did for us on the cross. Without his death and resurrection none of us could have God’s favor or live in true happiness. As we partake of these elements this morning we celebrate life through Christ. We give thanks for the happiness and joy that is ours through him.
Ps 1
Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. 2But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. 3He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.
4Not so the wicked! They are like chaff that the wind blows away. 5Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous. 6For the LORD watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish. NIV
Richard Tow
Grace Chapel Foursquare Church
Springfield, MO
www.gracechapelchurch.org
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[1] Text provided at end of message for easy reference.
[2] Hebrews 11:25
[3] Illustration is a modification of one given by Tom Wymore at a Foursquare Coaching Training Intensive in St. Louis, MO on January 29<2004.
[4] Ezekiel 18:32
[5] It should be noted that the Hebrew word used in Genesis 1 is barak which is different from the word ‘esher used in our text in Psalm 1. But there is certainly a relationship between God’s approval and blessing placed upon our lives and our level of happiness and fulfillment.
[6] Psalm 104:16
[7] Mark 4:4
[8] CHAFF (from International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia, Electronic Database Copyright (c)1996 by Biblesoft)
[9] In our other Sunday morning service, which is more conservative, we directed the latter part of the message to the choice of companions (Ps 1:1) and showed the last scene from “It’s a Wonderful Life” instead of “Bruce Almighty”. In that message we focused on the happiness that is found in a relationship with God and other people.
