True Happiness

The Bible gives us the secrets to how to be truly happy. 

The blessed or happy man is described in Psalm 1:1-3

“Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper.”

First, the blessed or happy man does not walk in the counsel of the ungodly. Ungodly people are people without God. Sometimes people don’t know God but they give others a lot of advice. They may be lifestyle coaches, self-help professionals, or influencers. The ungodly have podcasts and make videos, and they spread their worldly wisdom all around. But the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Proverbs 9:10). All wisdom and knowledge is hidden in Christ Jesus (Col. 2:3). Ungodly people can not provide true wisdom because they don’t base their wisdom on God.

Ungodly influencers promise happiness but cannot really offer it. After a person employs all the methods and plans of these influences, he is left empty. This is because true happiness is only found in God. “In his presence is fullness of joy, and his right hand there are pleasures forevermore” (Psalm 16:11). The happy man will not follow worldly counsel because he knows it will not truly lead to happiness. Instead, he will follow counsel from God.

Second, the happy or blessed man will not stand in the way of sinners. Sinners are people who do things contrary to God. They have ways of living and places of walking that do not lead to happiness. Sinners do things and meet together in places that promise happiness, but going to these places will lead to emptiness and sorrow. The truly happy man will recognize this and not go to these places. Instead, he will stand spiritually in Christ, in God’s house.

Third, the happy man will not sit in the seat of the scornful. The seat of the scornful is the place of judging others and condemning them. People often judge others for the way they dress, the way they live, the way they look, talk, or behave. After judging, they mock. Sometimes it feels good to judge others and mock them because we think we are better than they are. But tearing down others does not lead to true happiness. The truly happy man knows this, so he doesn’t waste his time doing these things.

Psalm 1 says the truly happy man does not follow ungodly advice, go in the ways of sinners, and mock others. Instead, the truly happy man does other things.

The truly happy man delights himself in God’s word. He enjoys the word of God and gets pleasure from it. The Bible is not boring to him. The Bible is a source of joy because it is the means by which he accesses and experiences God.

The word of God feeds the happy man. His soul is fat and flourishing because he is full of God’s word. He does not live by bread or other natural things, but he lives by God’s word. He enjoys the word because it renews his mind and tells him the truth that sets him free. God’s word cleanses his heart from evil. The word of God is like a healing medicine that heals his body and his soul.

The blessed man reads the word of God regularly. He doesn’t need to force himself to read the Bible, going through a boring religious routine. He loves to read it (or listen to it). He meditates on God’s word during the day. To meditate means to think about something over and over again. He has the thoughts of God filling his mind. This makes him happy. It’s better to think about the word of God than to think about all the depressing and bad situations in the world. Better to think about God than about all our problems. God is the solution, and when we meditate on his word during the day we will handle situations better because we are guided by God. 

The happy man meditates on God’s word during the night. When he is lying on his bed, his mind is focused on God and what God says. He doesn’t focus on what his neighbor said, what his co-worker did, or what his family member did not do. Instead he focuses on God. He doesn’t worry about what he has to do tomorrow or about what he didn’t do today. He meditates on God’s word, and this gives him peace at night.

The blessed man is like a tree. He is stable. He consistent. He is not transplanted, moved, uprooted, and running around here and there. He has regular habits of fellowship with believers, reading God’s word, and prayer. This leads to stability in his life.

The blessed man is planted by the rivers of water. The rivers of water are the Holy Spirit. Jesus said if we are thirsty, we can come to him and be filled with living water (John 4:14). Out of our souls will flow rivers (plural) of living water (John 7:37-39). These rivers are the Holy Spirit. The source of strength and life for the happy man is the Holy Spirit. These waters do not fail. They do not dry up. They flow for eternity and give us eternal life.

The blessed man brings forth fruit in his season. There are nine fruits of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and self control. 

There is a season when we need to bear each of these different fruits of the Spirit. Sometimes we face a challenging person, and then we need to show love to that person – that is the season to show love. Sometimes there is turmoil around us, and then we need to show peace – that is the season to bear the fruit of peace. There may be temptations to lose control of emotions, and that is the season when to manifest self-control. There are appropriate seasons for each fruit of the Spirit. The blessed man bears the fruit of the Spirit appropriately.

The leaf of the blessed man will not wither. He is continually supplied by the Holy Spirit. His leaves are lush. He is not parched and dry. The happy man is always watered. With green leaves, he is always able to draw the nutrients from the sun, who is Jesus Christ. He receives light from Christ continually, and he provides and rest shade for others.

Whatever the happy man does prospers. This true spiritual prosperity comes from doing the will of God.

True happiness or blessedness is only found in God. True happiness is not found anywhere else. As we recognize the deceptions of the world and avoid them, we will begin our journey to true happiness. As we fill ourselves with the Holy Spirit and the word of God, we will bear fruit that will glorify God. As God is glorified through us, we will find true happiness, which only comes from being blessed by God.