How To Live A Happy Life
Sermon Notes
Well today we’re starting a new teaching series on a book of the bible called Psalms. It’s about giving us melodies of encouragement for everyday life. Everyday life is sometimes difficult and discouraging, but the book of Psalms teaches theological truths and practical prayers that can be melodies of encouragement for everyday life. The Psalm we’re studying today is about how to live a happy life, which is something everybody wants. Both skeptics and believers want to live a happy life. But the reality is sometimes difficult and discouraging things happen that can steal our happiness, and cause us to feel pessimistic about the day instead of optimistic about the day.
Yogi Berra was a guy known for his optimism. He was one of the greatest catchers in baseball history, he was elected into the Hall of Fame, and he played in 14 World Series with the Yankees. He also joined the Navy when he was 18 and was a part of the Omaha Beach D-Day invasion in WW II. He was known for his athleticism, known for his heroism, but mostly known for his optimism, which made him one of the most quoted people in the 20th Century. Yogi Berra is the one who came up with the saying “It ain’t over, til it’s over...” He also said, “When you come to a fork in the road, take it!..” I love his optimism, because life is certainly full of forks in the road! It’s full of major and minor decisions we have to make such as what college to attend, what career to take, or where to eat after church?...Life is full of major and minor decisions, it’s full of forks in the road, and today’s Psalm teaches us which path is the better path to take for a happy life. It’s an optimistic Psalm that doesn’t give us an easier path to take in life, it gives us a better path to take for living a happy life. Let’s turn to Psalm 1 and get into it. You’ll find Psalms in the middle of the bible, we’ll be in Psalm 1:1-6, and the title of the message is How to live a happy life? The big idea is you can either walk in happiness with God, or walk in unhappiness without God...You can either walk in happiness with God, or walk in unhappiness without God.
Here’s your context. The book of Psalms is an Old Testament biblical hymnbook, that contains 150 unique Psalms broken down into 5 sections. In fact the word Psalms comes from a Hebrew word that means songs, which is why we’ve said this series is about giving us melodies of encouragement for everyday life. It’s because the Psalms are a bunch of songs and prayers filled with theological truths that can encourage our lives. They’re written by various leaders from Old Testament biblical history who are singing to God with hopeful rejoicing, but also praying to God with desperate lamenting. They’re expressing real, raw, honest emotions we can all relate with, which is why for over 2000 years people have continually turned to Psalms for melodies of encouragement. Well today we’re turning to Psalm 1 to learn how to live a happy life. It’s a wisdom Psalm comparing the lives of 2 people, walking 2 different paths in life, but only one of them lives a happy life. So let’s see which path, is the one that leads to a happy life.
Psalm 1:1-6 states, “How happy is the one who does not...” The entire book of psalms opens with the word happy, which can also be translated as blessed. So the psalmist is describing somebody who’s living a happy blessed life. But how did they get to that point? How did they get to enjoy such a happy blessed life? The text says by avoiding certain things. It says happy is the one who does not, which implies avoiding certain things. So the 1st thing we’re learning is...
#1 A happy life says NO to bad things = If you want to live a happy life you have to say no to bad things, walk away from things that aren’t good for you, aren’t good for your relationship with others, aren’t good for your relationship with God. You have to sometimes swim against the cultural currents being different than the crowd, instead of always flowing with the cultural currents being like the crowd. We’re about to learn three areas in life where we need to say no.
Again vs. 1, “How happy is the one who does not, walk in the advice of the wicked...” This is about saying NO to the advice of the wicked. It’s about being careful of the people, podcasts, places you turn to for advice. It’s because the people you listen to can eventually influence you... The people you listen to can eventually influence you...They can influence you for good or bad. We need to be careful of this more now than any other time in history, because we’re living in an information age where anybody’s advice can be shared and downloaded into our minds with the touch of a button. If you’re a student, a child, a teenager, this is why your parents are monitoring your screen time and have security apps on your phones. It isn’t to rob your joy, it’s to protect your joy. It’s to protect your young mind from being polluted by wicked advice that’s out there. As a teenage you might think you know better than your parents, and we thought that same thing when we were teenagers. We thought we knew better than our parents too, but then we got older and realized we weren’t as wise as we thought we were. As loving parents we’re trying to protect you from making the same mistakes we did. We’re trying to protect your joy and your mind from being polluted by wicked advice. If you’re an adult, I know it’s entertaining listening to brilliant minds like Elon Musk, Jordan Peterson, Andrew Huberman. But we need to listen to them critically, because their advice isn’t flawless. They’re humans just like us, which means their advice isn’t flawless. Some of you might think Elon Musk is a robot, but even robots aren’t flawless. The point is we need to be careful of the people, podcasts, places we turn to for advice, because the people you listen to can eventually influence you. That includes the news media, music, and youtubers you listen to. Their advice isn’t flawless, which means they can influence you for good or bad. Just because it sounds good, doesn’t mean it is good. So don’t be quick to always follow their advice. If you’re a Christian this means saying NO, to advice that isn’t aligned with Jesus.
Again vs. 1, “How happy is the one who does not, walk in the advice of the wicked, or stand in the pathway with sinners...” This is about saying NO, to the pathway of sinners. It’s about saying NO, to letting bad habits form in your life. The more you listen to the advice of the wicked, the more you’ll be influenced, the more likely you’ll end up on a sinful path in life. The phrase stand in the pathway, implies hanging on the path for a while, to where sin is starting to become a pattern in your life. When that starts happening you need to get off that sinful path, by saying NO to that sinful path and pattern in your life. Say NO, before it develops any further.
Again vs. 1, “How happy is the one who does not, walk in the advice of the wicked, or stand in the pathway with sinners, or sit in the company of mockers!” This is about saying NO, to the company of mockers. It’s about not letting the sinful company, the people you hang with, to influence you into living a sinful lifestyle like them. The phrase sit in the company of mockers, implies you’ve become comfortable sitting, staying in a sinful lifestyle. There’s a digression in the text from walking, standing, to now sitting in a sinful lifestyle. It’s a digression from listening to wicked advice, to a path and pattern of sin, to now a sinful lifestyle. You’ve let your pattern of sin turn into a lifestyle of sin, and you’re now comfortable with it. The point isn’t to avoid being around sinful people, it’s to avoid being influenced by sinful people. Our faith should be influencing our skeptical friends, instead of our skeptical friends influencing our faith. What the psalmist is teaching us, is that if you want to live a happy life, then you need to say NO to bad things like the advice, pathway, and company of a sinful lifestyle. You need to say NO, to bad things.
Vs. 2, “Instead, his delight is in the Lord’s instruction...” Notice there’s a shift here from saying NO to bad things, to saying YES to good things. So the 2nd thing we’re learning is...
#2 A happy life says YES to good things = If you want to live a happy life you have to say NO to bad things, but also say YES to good things. The psalmist says one of the good things to say YES to, is the Lord’s instruction. In fact one of the historical purposes of this psalm is for God’s people to sing it, so they’ll grow in their desire to follow God’s instructions instead of the advice of the wicked. It says we should delight in God’s instructions, we should find deep joy in reading the bible. We should find delight and deep joy in it because it always teaches what’s best for our lives. It always points us into a deeper, joyful, happier life with God. When we read the bible we need to approach it like God is having a personal conversation with us, and when we pray we need to approach it like we’re having a personal conversation with God. But you can’t delight in God’s word if you aren’t reading God’s word. You can’t delight in God’s word if you aren’t praying for growth in that delight. We need to pray like A.W. Tozer, “O God I’ve tasted Thy goodness! It’s satisfied me and made me thirsty for more. I’m painfully conscious of my need for further grace. I’m ashamed of my lack of desire...I want to want Thee! I long to be filled with longing! I thirst to be made thirstier!...Give me grace to rise up and follow Thee!” We need to delight in God’s word like the psalmist, but also pray for growth in that delight like Tozer.
Again vs. 2, “His delight is in the Lord’s instruction, and he meditates on it day and night.” This is about saying YES, to meditating on God’s word. We don’t just read God’s word, we also need to daily rely on God’s word. The word mediate means to think about it, to soak in it, to rely on it as you go through the day. The psalmist says to mediate on it day and night. For me that entails reading the bible in the morning, and then I’ll try living out the text I read as I go through the day. I’ll keep the verse I read opened in my phone, so when I check my phone it’s a reminder to live and pray that verse as I go through the day. We need to say yes to meditating on God’s word, to daily reliance on God’s word, so when we’re cut by the day we’re healed by the word. We need to rely on God’s word so much, that when we’re cut, we bleed scripture.
Again vs. 2, “His delight is in the Lord’s instruction, and he meditates on it day and night. 3 He is like a tree planted beside flowing streams that bears its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.”This is about saying YES to seeking prosperity in God’s will. We’re given an illustration of a tree bearing fruit in its season, which implies that our lives will go through seasons, and some seasons will feel more fruitful than others. But if we say YES to seeking prosperity in God’s will, then we can trust that even our toughest seasons are preparation for a fruitful season. The winter seasons threaten to freeze a tree, the drought seasons threaten to starve a tree, but it’s those tough seasons that cause a tree to dig deeper roots for greater stability. It’s those tough seasons that are preparation for a greater fruitful season. The psalmist is saying our lives are like that, our lives are full of seasons. You’ll have tough seasons and fruitful seasons, but where you dig your roots in tough seasons matters. So where are you digging your roots?...Where are you digging your roots in the season of life you’re in?...Does your happiness depend on the seasons?...Does your happiness depend on the seasons of life you’re in?...If your happiness depends on the seasons, then your happiness will constantly change with the seasons. If you aren’t digging your roots deep into the Lord, you’ll dig your roots deep into other things, and you’ll lose your happiness when the tough seasons come. Charles Spurgeon once said, “The half-committed Christian is the most miserable person on earth. He’s just enough in the world to be miserable in the presence of God, and just enough into God to be miserable in the world.”
So where are you digging your roots for happiness?...Are you digging your roots for happiness in getting married, having kids, or trying to have the perfect marriage and kids that never fight?...Tough seasons will come...Are you digging your roots for happiness in making a lot of money, capitalizing on the stock market, increasing your net worth?...Tough seasons will come...Are you digging your roots for happiness in changing your career, changing your degree, changing schools, changing churches because you think the grass is greener on the other side?... Tough seasons will come on that side of the grass too...Where are you digging your roots for happiness?...You’ll never live a happy life if you’re digging your roots in things like that, since tough seasons come to those things too. So if you want to live a happy life, you have to dig your roots into something less fragile than those things, something more stable that can endure even the toughest of seasons. The psalmist is saying the only thing stable enough to do that, is digging your roots deep into the Lord. You have to say YES to seeking prosperity in God’s will, because God’s will is the only thing guaranteed to happen. If you don’t believe God exists, then you can’t guarantee the prosperity of anything in life. But if you believe God exists, then you can guarantee the prosperity of everything aligned with God’s will. You can guarantee he'll accomplish everything he promises and plans for your life. The only way to guarantee your prosperity in life, is to align your life with the prosperity of God’s will. It’s to dig your roots deep in the prosperity of God’s will. Tough seasons will still come, but you’re guaranteed a happy fruitful season with God. So say YES to delighting and meditating on God’s word, but also to seeking prosperity in God’s will.
Vs. 4, “The wicked aren’t like this; instead, they are like chaff that the wind blows away.” The chaff is the outer shell of a wheat seed. It’s very light. So all you do to separate the chaff from wheat is toss it in a basket, and it’s blown away by the slightest breeze. The psalmist is saying this is what happens to the person who doesn’t dig their roots deep in the Lord. Their happiness will be easily blown away by the wind, by the changing seasons. Their happiness will be easily blown away, because they have no guarantee that life will ever get better for them.
Vs. 5, “Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous. 6 For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked leads to ruin.” The way of the wicked leads to ruin, it leads to a final destination of unhappiness. The psalmist is showing us when it comes to life there are two paths we can take. We can either take the path of life with God, or the path of life without God. The path of life with God leads to a final destination of happiness, but the path of life without God leads to a final destination of unhappiness. It leads to ruin, which is the 3rd and last thing we’re learning about living a happy life. We’re learning that a happy life says NO to bad things, says YES to good things, and...
#3 A happy life knows the destination = A happy life knows the destination, which is critical to having happiness in any season of life. You can make it through any season in life if you know it ends in happiness. Too many people are wandering through life not knowing their destination. They’re walking on a path not knowing how it’ll end, or if they’ll ever achieve the happiness they’re seeking. Without God your destination is a life without happiness, because all your happiness will be taken away by tough seasons or by death. The things you’re seeking can give you happiness for a moment, but eventually it’ll be taken away by tough seasons or death. The happiness you’re seeking in a career has an expiration date! The happiness you’re seeking in wealth has an expiration date! The happiness you’re seeking in health has an expiration date! The happiness you’re seeking in a vacation has an expiration date. But the happiness God is offering doesn’t have an expiration date! The happiness God is offering doesn’t have a limited warranty, it has an eternal guarantee! It’s guaranteed by the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus!
In fact this Psalm really points to the happy life of Jesus. It’s Jesus who said NO to the advice, pathway, companyof a sinful lifestyle. It’s Jesus who said YES to the delight, daily meditation, perfect alignment with the prosperity of God’s will. It’s Jesus who was able to endure the painful tough season of the cross, knowing what the final destination would mean for us. It’s Jesus who rose from the dead to guarantee our happiness won’t expire with a tombstone, it’ll be enhanced with the power of his resurrection. It’s Jesus who said in John 14:6, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” He didn’t say I’m one of many ways, he said I am the way! So if you want to have a happy eternal life, then put your faith in Jesus and he’ll give you that life. Say NO to the bad things, YES to the good things, and trust the final destination he guarantees you.
The big idea of the message is you can either walk in happiness with God, or walk in unhappiness without God...Those are the two paths you have in life...You can either walk in happiness with Jesus, or walk in unhappiness without Jesus...This psalm teaches us the more you seek happiness in the world, the more your happiness will be taken by the world. But the more you seek happiness in Jesus, the more your happiness will be restored by Jesus when it’s rattled by the world. He doesn’t promise an easy life, he promises a better life, a happier life if you walk this life with him. He promises you’ll reach a final destination, of eternal happiness with him.
So which path will you take?...Will you take the path that leads to happiness with Jesus, or the path that leads to misery without Jesus?...Will you walk daily life with Jesus trusting he’s prepping you in the tough seasons, or walk daily life without Jesus allowing the tough seasons to eventually crush you?...If you put your faith in Jesus, dig your roots deep in Jesus, walk through daily life with Jesus, then no matter what happens in life, it’ll end well with Jesus...Let’s pray..