Happy

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Psalm 146:1-10

TO CHEW ON: "Happy is he who has the God of Jacob for his help,
Whose hope is in the Lord his God." Psalm 146:5

Happy: enjoying, showing or characterized by pleasure; joyous, contented.

By the definition above, are you a happy person?

When we look at Bible references to happiness, we find that reasons for happiness can fall into at least three categories:

1. Creature well-being
Some people are happy because life is going well and according to plan.
- Those who are able to do a day's work and support themselves and their families are described as happy (Psalm 128:2).
- Those who are able to bear children (like Leah and her maid in Genesis 30:13) and carry on their family lines (like the full-quiver man in Psalm 127:5) are happy.

2. Creature nobility
Some are happy because they are living with the satisfaction of doing the right things—things like:
- showing mercy to the poor (Proverbs 14:21).
- living by the laws of the land (Proverbs 29:18).
- generally pursuing wisdom and good sense (Proverbs 3:13).

3. Creature realism
Perhaps the most profound happiness comes out of an acknowledgment of our creatureliness under God (Proverbs 16:20).
- The happiness of the crowd after understanding the Law of Moses during Nehemiah's time (Nehemiah 8:12) flowed from this realization.
- Showing reverence toward God brings happiness (Proverbs 28:14).
- Living by the upside-down laws of the Kingdom of Heaven — like serving others as Jesus served His disciples by washing their feet (John 13:12-17) — brings happiness.

As our focus verse implies — happiness is the result of our relationship with an all-powerful God. He is our helper now and our hope for the future.

If you and I claim to have this relationship with God but are unhappy, perhaps examining our lives in relation to the last two categories will give us some clues why.

• Are we unhappy because we're violating our consciences by not living like we know we should?

• Are we unhappy because we're not sure we want to enthrone Jesus as our Lord?

PRAYER: Dear God, please help me to experience the happiness of living with a clear conscience under You as my Lord. Amen.

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Reasons to clap

"Shout to God with the voice of triumph..." (Image Pixabay)

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Psalm 47:1-9

TO CHEW ON: "Oh clap your hands all you peoples! Shout to God with the voice of triumph!" Psalm 47:1

The word transliterated "clap" (taqa') means to clatter, clang, sound, blow (trumpets), clap, strike. "Its best one-word definition may be 'strike'" says a Word Wealth article in my Bible. It goes on to explain the Israeli usage of the word: "Taqa' describes pitching a tent or fastening a nail, probably due to the striking of the hammer used for both tasks. In other references taqa' describes blowing a trumpet or sounding an alert" - Dick Mills, Word Wealth, New Spirit-Filled Life Bible, p. 724.

"Clap" is definitely a noisy word. Why would we respond to God this way? Several facts gleaned from my Bible's notes about how people over the years have viewed this psalm help answer:

God's rule:
This psalm was part of Israel's New Year celebrations. In the words of verse 2: "For the Lord Most High is awesome, / He is a great King over all the earth," they claimed God's rule over the nations in the coming year.

Our inheritance:
While the Son of Korah writer of this psalm may have been thinking of a literal inheritance of land when he wrote: "He will choose our inheritance for us…" (Psalm 47:4), Paul related this inheritance to Jesus and the inheritance He bought for believers through His death and resurrection - Colossians 1:12-14.

Our hope for the future:
Christians have seen in the words "God has gone up with a shout…" (Psalm 47:5) a prophetic picture of Jesus' ascension. After coming down to accomplish salvation (Philippians 2:6-10), He went up in victory (Acts 1:9-10; Hebrews 12:2). But that's not the end of the story. Someday He will return with shouts and trumpets to take us to be with Him (1 Thessalonians 4:16,17).

Do these things—God's rule, our inheritance, our hope—elicit a reaction in us? As we meditate on these grand truths and celebrate them in our churches, let's not squelch the impulse to respond with a little noise. Applause is definitely in order!

PRAYER: Dear Father, help me to realize anew the magnitude of what You have done in the world and for Me. May these truths never grow old and tired. Amen.

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Truth + Discipline = Joy

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Psalm 5:1-12

TO CHEW ON: "But let all those rejoice who put their trust in You;

Let them ever shout for joy, because You defend them;

Let those also who love Your name

Be joyful in You." Psalm 5:11

If there's anything we all seek in life it's happiness. We spend millions of dollars and travel thousands of miles in search of it. A close relative to happiness is joy (the words are often used interchangeably in dictionary definitions).  

[Joy (joi): 1. A strong feeling of happiness arising from the expectation of some good or from its realization; gladness, delight. 2. A state of contentment or satisfaction: to have joy in one's work.] 

 Joy has always seemed to me the more substantive of the two.

Calvin Miller in the first chapter of his book That Elusive Thing Called Joy says:

"Three things I do every morning that my life may possess happiness all day long. The first is to affirm the reality of Jesus Christ and thank Him for His lordship. The second thing is to call to mind the reality of Satan, who will seek throughout the day to make me a miserable contradiction of joy. The third thing I do, is to call to mind the gifts that are mine in Christ" p. 13.

Do you suppose Miller used Psalm 5 as a template of his three daily "call to minds"? For they are all there in David's morning prayer:

1. In Psalm 5:1-4 David reminds himself of the qualities of the God he worships. He acknowledges God as his ultimate authority ("My King"), yet as someone who even as exalted as He is, hears. He is a good God who eschews evil.

2. In Psalm 5:5-6 &  9-10 David calls to mind the reality and strength of evil. He sees it in terms of how God will react to those under its sway. Those who are proud don't have a chance. Liars invite God's destruction. Flatterers who seek to profit from their wickedness and rebellion will be doomed as they follow their own advice.

3. David's reason for joy rests in what he has in God (Psalm 5:11-12). Coming to God's temple reminds him of God's mercy. His meditation about God leads to a request for His guidance. It culminates in a bubbling up of joy as he mulls over the benefits of belonging to such a God: a God who will defend him, bless him, and surround him with favour "as with a shield."

Miller extends the meaning of "the gifts that are mine in Christ" to include the abilities and opportunities unique to each of us as individuals. He continues from the quote above:

"…If I live each day faithful to my gifts, developing and improving them, I find I am indeed a happy person. If I am sloppy and careless in developing my gifts, I find a predictable negativity fixing itself into my day." p. 13.

PRAYER: Dear God, please help me to frame my day with right and realistic thinking in regard to You, the reality of evil and my responsibility. May I look to you today (and every day) as my source of genuine, lasting joy. Amen.

MORE: God does not exist to make us happy

"God does not exist to make us happy. Anyone who holds such a preposterous view of God is going to have a miserable relationship with Him. The attitude of many Christians seems to be that He exists to lavish His children with soul-contentment so that we may "lollygag" in spiritual ecstasy between conversion and death. God is a giver, but He does not give joy. He gives redemption, meaning, security, love, victory, and indwelling of the Holy Spirit. And our happiness is our response to His gifts."

- Calvin Miller, That Elusive Thing Called Joy, pages 11-12.

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The Holy Bible, New King James Version Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. - Used with permission.

The happy life of blessing

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Psalm 128:1-6

TO CHEW ON: "Blessed is every one who fears the Lord,

Who walks in His ways." Psalm 128:1

Yesterday, as I was watching "Property Virgins" (an HGTV show where we follow home buyers in their attempt to purchase a first property) I was struck by a statement made by the young woman of the featured couple. After they encountered road block after road block to the closing of their purchase, the host Sandra asked them how they were feeling. The wife answered, "As if I'm depending on someone else for my happiness."

Happiness is what Psalm 128 is about. Eugene Peterson in the chapter on this psalm in his book A Long Obedience in the Same Direction describes how the "blessed" [or happy - asher - Psalm 128:1-2; barak - Psalm 128:4-5] state is what Psalm 128 is about, beginning with the promise: "blessed is every one who fears the Lord" to the pronouncement of the physical blessing of seeing our human descendants in, "Yes, may you see your children's children."

He explains how the Bible is one long exposition of God's blessing from Adam and Eve (Genesis 1:28), to Abraham (Genesis 12:2), to the twelve tribes (Genesis 49), to Jesus' beatitude blessings (Matthew 5:3-12), to the seven "salvos of blessing" in Revelation (Revelation 1:3; 14:13; 16:15; 19:9; 20:6; 22:714).

So, is Peterson saying that for those who "fear the Lord" there will be a smooth sailing happiness for the duration of life? That's certainly not been my experience, and I'm sure it's not yours. If it doesn't mean constant situational happiness, what does the happiness of God's blessing mean?

Peterson again:

"As we read this story of blessing and familiarize ourselves with the men and women who are experiencing God's blessing, we realize that it is not something external or ephemeral. Not a matter of having a good day, not an occasional run of luck. It is an

'inner strength of the soul — and the happiness it creates, ....the vital power, without which no living being can exist. Happiness cannot be given to a person as something lying outside him...The action of God does not fall outside but at the very centre of the soul; that which it gives us is not something external, but the energy, the power of creating it ... The blessing thus comprises the power to live in its deepest and most comprehensive sense. Nothing which belongs to action and to making life real can fall outside the blessing....Blessing is the vital power, without which no living being can exist.'*

It is this that fills and surrounds the person who is on the way of faith." - p. 117.

I must admit I have been where the young house hunter of my opening paragraph was — wishing circumstances would change so I could again feel happy. But such happiness is shallow and transient. Oh to have, on a daily basis, that "inner strength of the soul," the "power to live" in the faith that God is in every situation, that He loves me and that He is working all the time for my highest good.

PRAYER: Dear God, please grow my faith in Your goodness and Your good plans for me. May I experience and live Your blessing over the long haul of discipleship. Amen.

MORE: No tricks, no luck

"There are no tricks involved in getting in on this life of blessing, and no luck required. We simply become Christians and begin the life of faith. We acknowledge God as our maker and lover and accept Christ as the means by which we can be in living relationship with God. We accept the announced and proclaimed truth that God is at the centre of our existence, find out how he has constructed this world (his creation), how he has provided for our redemption, and proceed to walk in that way. In the plain words of the psalm: "All you who fear God, how blessed you are! how happily you awoke on his smooth straight road!" - Eugene H. Peterson, A Long Obedience in the Same Direction, p. 119-120.

"If you go against the grain of the universe, you get splinters." - H. H. Farmer (quoted in Peterson, p. 121).

* quote from Johannes Pedersen, Israel: Its Life and Culture, 1926; pp. 182-199.