God’s Formula for Happiness

God’s Formula for Happiness
Study Center | Home Page | PDF Version

Psalm 1 is God's formula for happiness. The world is always quick to offer its ideas, formulas, and theories on how to be happy, but we know true happiness comes only from God.

David, who wrote the first Psalm, was a man of intense happiness. In fact, the Bible tells us David was a man after God's own heart. He discovered how to be happy with God. That's not to say he was perfect - David also had times of intense misery when he was out of fellowship with God.

Psalm 1:

1 Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly,nor standeth in the way of sinners,nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. 2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. 3 And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. 4 The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away. 5 Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. 6 For the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish.

The very first word is "blessed." This Hebrew word is plural and is more exactly translated "happinesses." Did you know God has many happinesses for your life? The first happiness you ever experienced with God was the new birth, but getting filled with the Holy Spirit was another happiness. It was a also a happiness to begin to see your prayers being answered. God doesn't want you to stop there; He has happinesses for you for the rest of your life. Psalm 1 tells you how to walk in those happinesses, those blessings.

An overview of this psalm shows the first three verses are addressed to believers. The first verse of this group tells believers how not to be happy. Then verses 2 and 3 tell believers how to be happy. The second half of Psalm 1 describes the fate of unbelievers.

Verse 1 is describing how to have misery--misery upon misery. Just hang around sinners. Try to act like them and try to actlike you're having fun. Try to act like the Holy Spirit isn't convicting you. You'll soon discover this is not the road to happiness, even though it may look like happiness on the outside.

Verse one mentions three types of people: the ungodly, the sinners, and the scornful. All are unbelievers and each classification is progressively worse. The ungodly are simply those who are unbelievers.This person might be very, very moral. He might live next door, have wonderful children, and belong to all the civic clubs.

However, the Word clearly teaches that morality is not spirituality. An ungodly person can be very moral, doing deeds that outwardly look very commendable, very spiritual. But true spirituality is doing something an ungodly person cannot do; being led by the Spirit of God. The Bible says "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God." (Romans 8:14) Spirituality begins on the inside and it shows itself in outward deeds.

The next kind of person mentioned in Psalm 1:1 is the sinner. This person actually practices sinful deeds like drunkenness and adultery.

The final classification are the scornful. These people are not only ungodly and practicing sinful deeds, they actually attack Christianity. There is a degeneration from "ungodly" to "sinner" to "scornful."

Notice what happens to the Christian who tries to find his happiness among the unbelievers: he progresses from walking to standing to sitting. He quits walking with God and starts walking with unbelievers. It starts in very little thoughts, very minor actions, but it gets progressively worse.

It's just like two lines that look straight, but one of them is a slight degree off from being parallel. You don't notice the difference where the two lines begin, but the further the line goes from the point of origin, the more obvious the deviation.

Believers who are out of fellowship with God start sharing common paths with ungodly people. Then they quit walking and start standing; they start to participate in them.

It is not God's intention for believers to go downhill a little at a time. Verse two of Psalm 1 instructs the believer on how to become progressively happier.

The word "delight" in verse 2 could be translated joy. And what is the "law of the Lord"? It is the Word. Begin to find joy in God's Word. Treat it like a companion. Make notes in the margins about what the Lord reveals to you as you read. Spend time daily reading and studying the Word and you'll find that even when you don't have your Bible with you, a verse will come to mind for you to meditate on. As you do routine tasks during the day, your mind can be occupied with certain scriptures you are reviewing over and over.

Is it possible to meditate the Word at night? I find it's easier when I think about a particular verse just before I go to sleep. Usually what you think about just before you go to sleep is what you're thinking about when you first wake up. Think about the Word and it will guard you. It will give you peaceful sleep. Perhaps you will even receive revelation through a dream or an inspired thought during the night.

Verse three of Psalm 1 describes the result of meditation. You are literally like a tree planted beside rivers (plural) of living water. When drought and famine come, which trees survive the longest? Those planted beside rivers. They don't look outside for their supply of water; they dig their roots down deep and tap in for a steady supply. Meditating in the Word is tapping in to a rich, continuous supply of life-giving, refreshing water.

The result of this rich supply is fruit. Trees are made so they first send their roots down for stability and continued growth; then they bear fruit. Did you ever hear a tree straining to bear fruit? No, it just grows as a result of the life of the tree flowing through all its members. The better its root system, the better its fruit.

The next phrase of Psalm 1:3 mentions the leaf. A withering leaf indicates something is wrong. It's likely a tree with withered leaves will not even produce fruit, or the fruit will not come to maturity. The leaf is a type of patience. Your patience is a good indicator whether your faith will produce or not. When your patience starts to wither, you know your faith won't produce mature results. A leaf not withering means you're patiently enduring and enduring and enduring. If the leaf stays healthy and full of life-giving water, you know the fruit is on its way and will grow to full maturity.

The final phrase of verse 3 says "...whatsoever he doeth shall prosper." Notice, it doesn't say whatsoever God tells him to do will prosper. There actually comes a time when you become so proficient in the Word of God, and you become so sensitive to the leading of the Spirit, your mind is renewed and God trusts your decisions. Your roots are so deep in the Word, your fruit is mature, your patience remains strong, and your resulting actions are in accord with God's plan. God trusts you with your decisions, He backs them and gives you the power to execute them. The prosperity mentioned in this verse refers to every area of life--you prosper in all respects.

Notice, there's a lot of studying and meditating before there's "doing." In God's plan for happiness, the first step is studying.Next comes meditating. Finally comes action. If you want happiness, get your roots down deeper and deeper before you go out and do. Then when you actually do, you will prosper.

This thought is amplified in Philippians 4:11-13, which states:

11 Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned,in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. 12 I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: everywhere and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. 13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

Paul teaches us that contentment is learned. Contentment is not dependent upon what the external situation is; it is dependent upon what is inside. That is, contentment depends on the life inside the tree, regardless of drought or plenifulness of rain. Contentment is achieved by learning the Word.

Paul says he has learned how to be content when poverty is his external circumstance; he has also learned how to be content when plenty is his external circumstance. Paul developed contentment on the inside by storing up the Word. He had his roots going deep into the rivers of living water and drew upon what was insidehim regardless of outward circumstances.

(I might add parenthetically, there is a difference between being content and being satisfied. Be content no matter what your situation, but never be satisfied until you reach full maturity in the Lord. Continue to desire fuller and fuller fruit; set your faith to produce more and more results for the kingdom of God, but as you do, retain the contentment on the inside of you.)

Notice, after Paul mentions "learning" four times, he mentions "doing." In verse 11 he learned to be content. In verse 12 he "knows" two things and is "instructed" in two things. The first step is studying then comes action. After learning and instruction Paul can "do" all things. Before we rush out to "do," let's learn and learn and learn some more. Let's be sure our roots are going down deep, grounded in the W ord. Let's be sure our leaf isn't withering, and our fruit is coming to full maturity.

Psalm 1, verses 4 through 6 describe the result of the choices of the unbeliever. The sinner might appear to be as stable as the believer who is planted firmly beside rivers of living water, but in reality, he is no more stable than chaff driven by the wind. Regardless of the clean, moral life of the ungodly, he or she is not like the believer who prospers in all he does.

Don't be swayed by outward appearance, don't be fooled by the ungodly man's tremendous will power to resist evil. Regardless of his apparently stable, clean life, he has rejected Jesus as his Savior and therefore he has no eternal life flowing through him. His roots are not planted in anything that will remain. His happiness is in external things and those things and we all know how unstable those things are! What misery to be subject to such unpredictable and shifting happiness!

Verse 5 of Psalm 1 describes the division between believers and unbelievers. At the judgment seat of Christ (it is more correct to call it the "reward seat"of Christ) only believers will be present. This event is divided from the judgment of unbelievers by a span of a thousand years. God sees that much difference between the believers and the unbelievers. We also should recognize that difference and have all the more cause to refrain from walking, standing, or sitting among them to find happiness.

The final verse of Psalm 1 assures the believer that his result, the end of his path, is not the same as the sinner's. God sees the way (literally "path") of the believer and the unbeliever, and He sees all the way down the road to the end. He's just telling us ahead of time what's at the end. For the believer, it's happiness and blessing. For the unbeliever, it's misery and cursing.

So believers, stay in the Word, study it and meditate in it so your roots go down deep and you have prosperity and happiness. If you do your leaf won't wither in the midst of heat; in the midst of drought your life will be constant because it doesn't depend on outward circumstances.

Bob Yandian

If you like this article, check out Pastor Bob's series Christian Integrity at the BYM Store.