## True Happiness:

## Psalm 1:1-3

The world is seeking happiness. But it is one thing that cannot be bought with money or taken by force. Yet, all people want it! The wonderful news is that God loves us and desires to give us happiness!

Read: Ps. 1:1-3

I. We have a multitude of blessings:

A. The Hebrew word is ‘esher’ and it is always found in the plural.

B. Because our happiness does not come from only one blessing, but from many many blessings.

C. Eph. 1:3, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ’’.

D. When upon life’s billows you are tempest tossed, When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost, Count your many blessings, name them one by one, And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.

E. God has been so good to us, and we so soon forget the blessings He has given us.

II. The blessed man of the Psalms:

A. The blessedness of being forgiven.

1. "Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered" Ps. 32:1

2. When the man who was sick of the palsy was lowered down through the roof, Jesus said, "Man, thy sins are forgiven thee".

3. Think of it today and you cannot help but be happy!

4. Jesus has forgiven us for our sin.

5. If that isn’t cause to rejoice and be happy, I don’t know what is!

B. The blessedness of satisfaction.

1. "Blessed is the man who thou choosest...we shall be satisfied with the goodness of thy house, even of thy holy temple." Ps. 65:4

2. There is true happiness in satisfaction.

3. As a matter of fact, the reason that so many folks are not happy today is that they are not satisfied.

4. There is no real satisfaction to be found in what this world has to offer...only Jesus can satisfy your soul.

5. Paul writes of the ‘peace of God which passeth all understanding’ and it comes as a result of knowing the One who can ‘supply all your need according to his riches in glory’.

C. The blessedness of discipline.

1. "Blessed is the man whom thou chasteneth, O Lord, and teachest him out of thy law." Ps 94:12

2. Some may ask, how can that be possible?

3. The happiness that comes from being disciplined comes from the realization that we belong to Him and He loves us.

4. ‘For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth’ Heb.12:6

5. There is happiness in knowing that ye belong to His family and that He cares enough about us to want us to do right.

D. The blessedness of obedience.

1. "Blessed is every one that feareth the Lord that walketh in his ways" Ps. 128:1

2. Godly fear is not terror in our hearts, but is proper reverence for Him that results in our obedience to His leadership.

3. "Trust and obey, for there’s no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey"

4. There is no happiness to be found outside of the will of God.

D. The blessedness of whole-hearted service.

1. "Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that seek him with the whole heart" Ps.119:2

2. That kind of happiness can be ours when we do as Jeremiah tells us in 29:13, "Ye shall seek me and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart"

3. Half-hearted service neither benefits God, nor does it benefit the individual.

E. The blessedness of faithfulness.

1. "Blessed are they that dwell in thy house: they will still be praising thee." Ps. 84:4

2. There is happiness in store for those who are faithful to His house.

3. It is the ‘meeting house’ because God meets with here in a special way.

4. The power that came to the church on the day of Pentecost did not come to them as they were at home or on the road, it came upon them as they were assembled together.

5. If it wasn’t important to God, He would never have established it and then commanded us not to forsake the assembly.

G. The blessedness of trusting.

1. "O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him" Ps. 34:8

2. Sometimes we have to be coaxed into doing things.

3. Here, David, a man who knows how blessed it is to trust in God, coaxes us.

4. If we would only trust Him, He longs to shower us with His blessings.

5. So many of us are afraid to let go of what we can see in order to take hold of what we cannot.

6. But that is where the happiness is!

Forgiveness - Satisfaction - Discipline - Obedience - Service - Faithfulness - Trusting