I think most of us are looking for happiness. I don’t mean to say we are in pursuit of some shallow, fake experience, rather I mean we are looking for something genuine that will last. I think this is the grand pursuit of our lives. But sadly, we complicate it far too much.
Some people, myself included separate “happiness” from “joy” by describing happiness as a short-term fix and joy as being something much more long-term and real. I realize such a distinction can be helpful, but I also believe it runs the risk of degrading the term “happiness” far too much. The scripture often uses the term “Blessed,” which means, quite literally, “happy.” Most of us are familiar with the beatitudes in Matthew that begin with “Blessed are the…,” meaning “happy are the…” And in the Old Testament, we find the Hebrew term for “blessed” (esher) used 45 times, 25 of which are found in the Psalms. In Psalm 1 we are told that the man who walks in God’s ways is happy, and in Psalm 119 we are told the same. Clearly, God wants us to know if we follow his ways, we will be happy.
Sometime search the internet for “the source of happiness,” or for “the means of finding happiness” and you will get many suggestions. Most of these suggestions are centered on you having a positive outlook regardless of the nature of the circumstances of life in which you find yourself. Essentially they are saying that happiness is a function of your own outlook, independent of anyone or anything but yourself. But, I have to admit, if this is the case, I am in very bad shape!
The author of Psalm 119 had something completely different in mind, however. Happiness, for him, was dependent on us following the laws of God. It wasn’t a function of having positive thoughts or greeting each day with optimism, it was a function of his obedience to the laws of God. Think about that for a moment, will you? The secret to happiness lies within our grasp if we are only willing to listen to what God has to say and follow his commands.
“How,” you might ask, “do we know God’s commands?” Simple. Read the Bible. Funny, isn’t it, how the simple things we were taught as children end up being the most profound things to help us in our life? As a child, I was told that if I only read my Bible and prayed then I would walk in God’s favor. But somewhere in the time from childhood till now I complicated things. I thought other things mattered. I placed value on finding valuable work, or making a contribution, or seeking to become an agent of change. But all of that is, if I may say, balderdash! The only thing that matters in life is that we learn the commands of God and seek to follow them. Nothing else. It is that simple.
I think this is why Psalm 119, the longest psalm in the book of Psalms begins the way it does. I think the author wants us to know that in the face of a life full of sorrow and disappointment, in the face of a people who walked away from God seeking happiness on their own terms, in the face of a fallen and constantly unsatisfied human nature that the only way to find contentment and happiness is to listen to the word of God and learn to walk in his ways.
Sounds simple, doesn’t it? It sure does to me. It makes me wonder why more of us don’t give ourselves over to this simple, yet profound, truth. It makes me wonder why we constantly look elsewhere for our happiness. Maybe we are more concerned with happiness than we are with living a life pleasing to God. Maybe that’s it. I wonder.
