Category Archives: Happiness

The Blessedness of Bible Lovers (Psa 119.165)

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Great peace have they which love thy law:
And nothing shall offend them (Psa 119.165).

In this world’s present misery and our natural fear of future misery through a consciousness of our sins and guilt, the Lord makes promises whose full benefits are in some measure postponed, but which become the basis for a believer’s solid hope. This hope inspires us to pursue him doggedly throughout our lives with the full expectation that our persevering spiritual chase will finally be amply rewarded.
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Elation over Scripture (Psa 119.162)

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I rejoice at thy word,
As one that findeth great spoil (Psa 119.162).

Some choice experiences of this fleeting life are useful as similes to describe the feelings of truly pious souls with respect to God’s dealings with them. In the very nature of things, the physical illustrations must of necessity fall short of their spiritual counterparts, yet because we can more easily relate to the former, they are useful for pointing us in the right direction, helping us grasp the saint’s blessedness even if we have not yet experienced it ourselves, or only to a small degree.
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Awakened to God (Psa 119.147-148)

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I prevented the dawning of the morning, and cried:
I hoped in thy word.
Mine eyes prevent the night watches,
That I might meditate in thy word.

Laziness is deadly. The Bible’s wisdom literature ridicules this sin with a pathetic caricature of a man so lazy that he lacks the energy and will to pick up the food on his plate! “A slothful man hideth his hand in his bosom, and will not so much as bring it to his mouth again” (Prov 19.24). Now, we realize that this is an exaggeration in the physical realm for the purpose of shaming us in our sinful laziness, but let us go with it for a moment. Since like everyone else this sluggard must eat to live, a couple things naturally follow. First, he is extremely lazy if even an empty belly will not motivate him to eat. Second, he who stops eating has taken the course that leads to death.
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Getting Intimate with God (Psa 119.132)

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Look thou upon me, and be merciful unto me,
As thou usest to do unto those that love thy name (Psa 119.132).

God is a holy, glorious, loving, spiritual, and personal Being with deep thoughts, intense feelings, and deliberate plans. Our personhood derives from his, and reflects his. God created us in his image because he designed us, unique among his creatures, for special intimacy with him. He intends us to get close to him, to draw near, to be enveloped in his bosom, to commune with him, as one spiritual being to Another.
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Agreeing with God (Psa 119.128)

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Therefore I esteem all thy precepts concerning all things to be right;
And I hate every false way (Psa 119.128).

The psalmist is praising God in prayer, and testifying of his fellowship with God, to the glory of God. Redemption is on display in this, for although the psalmist was a sinner by nature, he is beginning more and more to fulfill the end for which he was created in the first place—to glorify God and enjoy him forever.
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My Light for Living (Psa 119.105)

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Thy word is a lamp unto my feet,
And a light unto my path (Psa 119.105).

David, the sweet psalmist of Israel (2 Sam 23.1), continues his magnificent psalm of praise for the sacred Scriptures as the word of God. In this verse, he uses two metaphors. The original word order of this couplet stresses the words slightly differently:

A lamp to my feet is thy word,
And a light to my path.1
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Pleasure that Saves (Psa 119.92)

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Unless thy law had been my delights,
I should have perished in mine affliction (Psa 119.92).

There is only one way that anyone can escape being ground up in the wood chipper of life’s trials now and then thrown into the furnace of divine wrath at the end. It might surprise you to learn that the Bible teaches that the saving way is a way of great pleasure. All those who refuse the saint’s delight in this life must suffer the sinner’s despair in the life to come. God’s righteous fury will kindle upon them in an eternal flame.
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Miserably Hopeful (Psa 119.83)

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For I am become like a bottle in the smoke;
Yet do I not forget thy statutes (Psa 119.83).

Spurgeon calls this tenth section of Psalm 119 “the midnight of the psalm, and very dark and black it is,” for it testifies to the psalmist’s “lowest condition of anguish and depression.”1 This verse uses a metaphor unfamiliar to us, but when once understood, it leads us to realize that when we are as low as the psalmist, as believers we have the same spiritual resources and are also bound to be saved.
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Not Yet (Psa 119.82)

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Mine eyes fail for thy word,
Saying, When wilt thou comfort me? (Psa 119.82)

Triumphalism, that unrealistic expectation of enjoying in this life nearly all of the blessings, whether physical or spiritual, of the age to come, threatens the well-being of sensitive Christians because it only deepens their dejection. That crucible of unfulfilled desires, whether holy or natural, instead of being accepted as the normal lot of God’s beloved people, is interpreted rather by triumphalists as a sure sign of exclusion from his favor, and this only increases the miseries suffered by the poor Christian.
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Christian Integrity and Honor (Psa 119.80)

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Let my heart be sound in thy statutes;
That I be not ashamed (Psa 119.80).

A recent study shows that compared to 1975, today’s high school seniors consistently think they are doing very well and have bright prospects for the future, while their actual performance on objective tests of academic achievement is considerably lower. They are proud failures! This is comparable to being high on drugs and feeling very artistic while you cannot draw a straight line.

I am afraid that this divorce between self-respect and performance has carried over into the spiritual realm, and things are perhaps even worse than before. “There is a generation that are pure in their own eyes, and yet is not washed from their filthiness” (Prov 30.12). They think they are Christians but they are mistaken. They may even judge themselves to be quite committed Christians, but they have not understood the ABC’s of biblical spirituality.
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