The Road To Happiness

Psalm 1

The Road To Happiness

Often times our religion has terminology that is specific to our life experiences.

We often speak of our faith in words that try to describe a heavenly realm in earthly terms.

Psalm 1 is chock full of metaphorical language to help us better understand God’s plans for our lives.

How many of you would decide to take a road trip to San Francisco California without a map or driving directions?

How many of us would just hop in our car and drive in the direction, heading west, not knowing which path to take when there is a fork in the road?

I wonder how long it would take to get to San Francisco, California, just haphazardly taking chances without knowing exactly which highway, interstate, or back road to take.

That is why we speak about our Christian walk as a journey.

We know where we want to go.

We want a closer, deeper, more personal relationship with God and Jesus Christ.

How we get there is part of the journey.

Sometimes we take side roads instead of a direct route.

It is a known fact that many teenagers who are raised in the church leave the church after confirmation.

They are often seeking the road to happiness and are not convinced that organized religion is the best path for them.

So they take a side trip, trying parties, drugs, alcohol, sex, money, gambling, and other earthly delights.

Happiness is an emotional state that many Americans try to achieve in many ways.

Some people believe they can find happiness in a better job, a new car, a different house, or a different spouse!

But Psalm 1 gives us explicit instructions for happiness when we follow them.

Psalm 1 is a Road Map to happiness.

“Happy are those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or take the path that sinners tread, or sit in the seat of scoffers: but their delight is in the law of the Lord, and on His law they meditate day and night.”

Now I would like to assume that all of our members know the 10 commandments.

But we also know that more and more, those laws come up for scrutiny as to where they are permitted to be posted.

Because the wicked, and the deceiver, who is Satan, don’t want us to be exposed to those laws of God.

When we follow God’s Laws, we are happy.

When we deviate from those laws, we fall into Satan’s snare and are trapped!

Of course, if we don’t know the 10 commandments and are not exposed to them, we can’t possibly follow them.

Now I’m not suggesting that simply posting the 10 commandments is going to solve corruption in government, or stop criminals from stealing, or stop children from shooting their parents or their teachers.

Isn’t it pathetic that we even have to concern ourselves with such tragedies?

What happened to our children playing checkers or games that are non-violent?

Our children are exposed to violence in video games, violence in their music, violence on television, violence in their homes, and violence in their schools.

Combine all that violence with the removal of the knowledge of God’s word, and God’s will, and we are left with a recipe for destruction and chaos.

We all become victims when violence becomes rampant.

So how do we battle the perils of our environment?

We become advocates of the Bible, God, God’s Word, the church, the assembly, free speech, and we get down on our knees and pray and pray hard.

We cannot allow our children or grandchildren or any innocent children to become victims of Satan’s lure.

It is clear, that we live in a world where good is battling evil.

It is obvious, that when Psalm 1 was written, before the days of Christ, this same battle between good and evil was a part of every day life.

We as Christians believe that this struggle goes all the way back to the fall of humankind when Adam and Eve were tempted by the deceiver, in the form of a serpent who lied to God’s innocent creation and persuaded them to take action against God’s law and God’s will for their lives.

Now, centuries later, we arc provided with a path to get back on track, to get back in line with God and God’s will for our lives.

We have a plethora of Bibles at our fingertips.

We have no excuses to be ignorant of God’s word.

No excuses, other than poor excuses that seem to rob us of precious time worshipping God, reading God’s word, studying God’s word and meditating on God’s word.

The scriptures call us to meditate on God’s Word day and night.

Yet how many times are we tempted to skip worship Sunday mornings, or skip Sunday School, or skip Bible Study, or skip prayer, or skip private devotions.