A Happy Man
"Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked nor stands in the way of the sinners nor sits in the seat of the scoffers but his delight is in the law of the Lord
and on His law he meditates day and night. Psalms 1:1-2
"Blessed is the man"! It is interesting to note that the book of praises to God starts with the description of the conditions for the blessedness of man. Blessed here means not only in the sense of having divine favor, but also in the sense that he is a happy man. No other words could better start this wonderful book of praises. They reflect the very heart of God. Did not Jesus start his first public address with the same word, “Blessed”? God is intensely keen on his creation understanding the key to blessedness. The key to real happiness. And what is this key to supreme happiness of man?
Not surprisingly, we find it in the consistency of his character formed by his relationship to God’s law. The first part of the Psalm tells us what this happy man does not do, the latter part informs us what he does do. What he does do enables him to not do what he ought not to do. He does not walk in the counsel of the ungodly, he does not walk in the path of sinners, and does not join the scoffers, because he delights in God’s law. It is God’s law that informs him what is ungodly, and sinful. It is God’s law that he meditates on which instructs him in righteousness. He has irrevocably bound himself to the law of God and by doing so he is happy!
There has been a surging cry blaming outdated morals of God’s law as the inhibitors of our happiness. Psychologists have laid the problem at the feet of guilt produced by calling some actions as sin; politicians have heralded the idea of “tolerance” by reducing God’s law to a personal opinion; the media has churned out dramas to show the so-called satisfied life that can be had if we can simply unfetter ourselves from God’s law. Freedom from the tyranny of religious morality is considered as the beginning of the road to happiness. Yet, all of this diligent searching and casting off every restraint has brought us nowhere. David Myers, the social Psychologist, in his article, “Resolving the American Paradox”, says, “We've achieved the old American dream: life, liberty, and the purchase of happiness. Yet, paradoxically, we are a bit less likely to say we're "very happy." We are more often seriously depressed. And we are only now beginning to emerge from a serious social recession: doubled divorce, tripled teen suicide, quadrupled juvenile violence, quintupled prison population, and sextupled proportion of babies born to unmarried parents.”1 Surely, the answer is not in untethering ourselves from God’s law. We yearn for happiness, seek it diligently, and the search brings us back to our relationship with God and His law.
A happy man is a man who lives in harmony with God’s law. Happiness, we find, is simply is a by-product of pursuing God and binding ourselves irrevocably to His law. The happy man we find is not pursuing happiness at all, he is simply pursuing holiness. No wonder then, the Lord is hardly worried about making us happy. Instead He says "Be ye holy, as your father in Heaven is holy." Further, this man, this happy man, delights in God’s unchanging law. He does not simply respect the law of the Lord, he does not simply obey the law of the Lord only because it is profitable, as one obeys the law of the land at times. He delights in it. He rejoices in it. He takes pleasure in it. It is his passion! In that absolute abandonment to an unchanging law of his God, he finds his freedom, and his happiness. That is the secret of the happy man. Would you be truly happy? Then abandon yourself irrevocably to God’s law today, and God Himself declares you blessed!
Danesh Manik
References
1. Resolving the American Paradox, Myers, D. G. (2000, June 29).
and on His law he meditates day and night. Psalms 1:1-2
"Blessed is the man"! It is interesting to note that the book of praises to God starts with the description of the conditions for the blessedness of man. Blessed here means not only in the sense of having divine favor, but also in the sense that he is a happy man. No other words could better start this wonderful book of praises. They reflect the very heart of God. Did not Jesus start his first public address with the same word, “Blessed”? God is intensely keen on his creation understanding the key to blessedness. The key to real happiness. And what is this key to supreme happiness of man?
Not surprisingly, we find it in the consistency of his character formed by his relationship to God’s law. The first part of the Psalm tells us what this happy man does not do, the latter part informs us what he does do. What he does do enables him to not do what he ought not to do. He does not walk in the counsel of the ungodly, he does not walk in the path of sinners, and does not join the scoffers, because he delights in God’s law. It is God’s law that informs him what is ungodly, and sinful. It is God’s law that he meditates on which instructs him in righteousness. He has irrevocably bound himself to the law of God and by doing so he is happy!
There has been a surging cry blaming outdated morals of God’s law as the inhibitors of our happiness. Psychologists have laid the problem at the feet of guilt produced by calling some actions as sin; politicians have heralded the idea of “tolerance” by reducing God’s law to a personal opinion; the media has churned out dramas to show the so-called satisfied life that can be had if we can simply unfetter ourselves from God’s law. Freedom from the tyranny of religious morality is considered as the beginning of the road to happiness. Yet, all of this diligent searching and casting off every restraint has brought us nowhere. David Myers, the social Psychologist, in his article, “Resolving the American Paradox”, says, “We've achieved the old American dream: life, liberty, and the purchase of happiness. Yet, paradoxically, we are a bit less likely to say we're "very happy." We are more often seriously depressed. And we are only now beginning to emerge from a serious social recession: doubled divorce, tripled teen suicide, quadrupled juvenile violence, quintupled prison population, and sextupled proportion of babies born to unmarried parents.”1 Surely, the answer is not in untethering ourselves from God’s law. We yearn for happiness, seek it diligently, and the search brings us back to our relationship with God and His law.
A happy man is a man who lives in harmony with God’s law. Happiness, we find, is simply is a by-product of pursuing God and binding ourselves irrevocably to His law. The happy man we find is not pursuing happiness at all, he is simply pursuing holiness. No wonder then, the Lord is hardly worried about making us happy. Instead He says "Be ye holy, as your father in Heaven is holy." Further, this man, this happy man, delights in God’s unchanging law. He does not simply respect the law of the Lord, he does not simply obey the law of the Lord only because it is profitable, as one obeys the law of the land at times. He delights in it. He rejoices in it. He takes pleasure in it. It is his passion! In that absolute abandonment to an unchanging law of his God, he finds his freedom, and his happiness. That is the secret of the happy man. Would you be truly happy? Then abandon yourself irrevocably to God’s law today, and God Himself declares you blessed!
Danesh Manik
References
1. Resolving the American Paradox, Myers, D. G. (2000, June 29).
posted by Danesh Manik | 2:19 PM
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