Finding True Happiness Through God's Word
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Sermon Summary
Bible Study Guide
Sermon Clips
"Blessed is the man, the person, who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers. Scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away." [00:07:34] (35 seconds)
"The choice the psalmist offers us is a simple one. Do we live our lives for ourselves? Do we live our lives for God? If we choose the former, we might find happiness for a time. We might even have success, but it won't last. If we choose the latter, we may suffer. Actually, Jesus says we will suffer. We may not be successful in the way that we normally think of success. We may live in obscurity, but we can, the psalmist says, be truly happy." [00:08:48] (45 seconds)
"Being blessed or truly happy is actually the gift of God. It is not a state we get to or can achieve on our own. And we see this in this psalm. Instinctively know that it's true, but if you're at all like me, you keep looking for loopholes, right? Because you'd like to be spiritual, but also have control. But we have to make a choice. We want happiness on our terms, and the psalmist says that's not going to work. You've got to choose." [00:10:45] (37 seconds)
"This is not a you do you situation or a just follow your heart situation. This is a choice between our way or God's way. And our way may look lots of different ways, but it's still fundamentally different than God's way. And the psalm says or starts, by looking at what? What the righteous person, the truly happy person, is not. What we choose not to be. We do not go along with the wicked, he says." [00:12:57] (36 seconds)
"The language here indicates an ongoing action, a pattern of life, and the things that influence us. Whose ideas are we listening to? Who do we surround ourselves with? What do we participate in? Do we even recognize that we're being formed by the things around us in big ways and in small ways every day? And this poetry here has a progression, right? We see walk and then stand and then sit." [00:14:07] (40 seconds)
"In contrast, the blessed man, the happy woman, is described as having two different aspects when related to God's word. First, he delights in the Lord's instruction. This is something that sets the... the course of our lives. What do we delight in? Not what do we feel is important in the moment. Not necessarily the thing that will make us happy right now. The psalmist talks of the Lord's instruction." [00:17:30] (38 seconds)
"People who delight in a thing, whatever that thing is, maybe sometimes some of the details are not the happiest things for us. And sometimes we don't delight. Read David's Psalms. He has no problem expressing grief and anger and misery and complaint. And sometimes we're going to stumble and sometimes we're going to make the wrong choices. But the issue is, we don't always feel happy." [00:19:25] (25 seconds)
"This is not an, I read the Bible today so I can check the box on the new Bible reading plan I just started this last week. Oh, and I missed the day already. No, this is not a, I read the Bible today so I can check the box on the new Bible reading plan I This is not about, I got to finally read the Bible in a year. Not a bad idea, but that's not what we're talking about here. This is about letting it sink into us." [00:21:39] (31 seconds)
"Delighting and meditating on God. God's word gives us the things that we need to become what we are supposed to be. The psalmist says we become a tree planted by a river. Flowing streams, we read. And that metaphor matters. The psalmist and his original audience were desert people. They understood the significance of water in ways that we often just take for granted." [00:29:12] (32 seconds)
"The blessed person is not a wild tree. It's not alone, not subject to the vagaries of weather and chance. No, this is a person who has been planted by a gardener who has and gives perfect placement. A tree planted by a river doesn't have to worry if the rains don't come because water is abundant. Growth is guaranteed, we read. Leaves don't die. Fruit comes when it's supposed to come. When the storm comes, the tree is healthy." [00:30:04] (34 seconds)
"True happiness, blessedness, the psalmist says, comes from a character formed by God himself. What? What we are rooted in forms us and becomes part of us. I got some Walnut from my dad that I think came from some trees harvested from Sugar Rove, maybe even in the early 1980s. And in this, in these Walnut boards, there's flecks that almost seem gold. And the nearest we can figure is that the soil was kind of sandy." [00:33:09] (41 seconds)
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"The choice the psalmist offers us is a simple one. Do we live our lives for ourselves? Do we live our lives for God? If we choose the former, we might find happiness for a time. We might even have success, but it won't last. If we choose the latter, we may suffer. Actually, Jesus says we will suffer. We may not be successful in the way that we normally think of success. We may live in obscurity, but we can, the psalmist says, be truly happy." [00:08:48] (45 seconds)
"Being blessed or truly happy is actually the gift of God. It is not a state we get to or can achieve on our own. And we see this in this psalm. Instinctively know that it's true, but if you're at all like me, you keep looking for loopholes, right? Because you'd like to be spiritual, but also have control. But we have to make a choice. We want happiness on our terms, and the psalmist says that's not going to work. You've got to choose." [00:10:45] (37 seconds)
"This is not a you do you situation or a just follow your heart situation. This is a choice between our way or God's way. And our way may look lots of different ways, but it's still fundamentally different than God's way. And the psalm says or starts, by looking at what? What the righteous person, the truly happy person, is not. What we choose not to be. We do not go along with the wicked, he says." [00:12:57] (36 seconds)
"The language here indicates an ongoing action, a pattern of life, and the things that influence us. Whose ideas are we listening to? Who do we surround ourselves with? What do we participate in? Do we even recognize that we're being formed by the things around us in big ways and in small ways every day? And this poetry here has a progression, right? We see walk and then stand and then sit." [00:14:07] (40 seconds)
"In contrast, the blessed man, the happy woman, is described as having two different aspects when related to God's word. First, he delights in the Lord's instruction. This is something that sets the... the course of our lives. What do we delight in? Not what do we feel is important in the moment. Not necessarily the thing that will make us happy right now. The psalmist talks of the Lord's instruction." [00:17:30] (38 seconds)
"People who delight in a thing, whatever that thing is, maybe sometimes some of the details are not the happiest things for us. And sometimes we don't delight. Read David's Psalms. He has no problem expressing grief and anger and misery and complaint. And sometimes we're going to stumble and sometimes we're going to make the wrong choices. But the issue is, we don't always feel happy." [00:19:25] (25 seconds)
"This is not an, I read the Bible today so I can check the box on the new Bible reading plan I just started this last week. Oh, and I missed the day already. No, this is not a, I read the Bible today so I can check the box on the new Bible reading plan I This is not about, I got to finally read the Bible in a year. Not a bad idea, but that's not what we're talking about here. This is about letting it sink into us." [00:21:39] (31 seconds)
"Delighting and meditating on God. God's word gives us the things that we need to become what we are supposed to be. The psalmist says we become a tree planted by a river. Flowing streams, we read. And that metaphor matters. The psalmist and his original audience were desert people. They understood the significance of water in ways that we often just take for granted." [00:29:12] (32 seconds)
"The blessed person is not a wild tree. It's not alone, not subject to the vagaries of weather and chance. No, this is a person who has been planted by a gardener who has and gives perfect placement. A tree planted by a river doesn't have to worry if the rains don't come because water is abundant. Growth is guaranteed, we read. Leaves don't die. Fruit comes when it's supposed to come. When the storm comes, the tree is healthy." [00:30:04] (34 seconds)
"True happiness, blessedness, the psalmist says, comes from a character formed by God himself. What? What we are rooted in forms us and becomes part of us. I got some Walnut from my dad that I think came from some trees harvested from Sugar Rove, maybe even in the early 1980s. And in this, in these Walnut boards, there's flecks that almost seem gold. And the nearest we can figure is that the soil was kind of sandy." [00:33:09] (41 seconds)
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