No Compromise "No Empty Words, No White Lies, No Token Prayers…"

The Way of Happiness

            Vs. 1 - “Blessed are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the LORD!

 

Blaise Pascal[1] once said,

“All men seek happiness. This is without exception. Whatever different means they employ, they all tend to this end. The cause of some going to war, and of others avoiding it, is the same desire in both, attended with different views. This is the motive of every action of every man, even of those who hang themselves.”

I agree with Pascal’s comment that all men everywhere are in one way or another pursuing their own happiness. The pursuit of happiness is natural. The pursuit of God is not. Here in lies the problem of our engrained desire to be happy: though it is natural for us to pursue and long for happiness, it is not natural for us to find our happiness in the LORD. On the contrary, Ecclesiastes 7:29 says, “That God made man upright, but they have sought out many schemes.” By nature, we have no desire to delight in God. But praise the Lord that we have not been left to our natural desires and that God cares about our happiness.

 

The Way of Happiness will be our focus tonight as we start by looking at the first verse of Psalm 119. We will see that God desires us to find our happiness in the right place. Like Psalm 1, Psalm 119 begins by pointing us to the happiness that all mankind everywhere so desperately desire. It is as though the psalmist is answering the question, “Who are the happy ones?” when he makes the declaration, “Blessed are those whose way is blameless!” In considering the way the psalmist began this psalm, I found Thomas Manton to be very helpful. He said, “Blessedness is that which we all aim at, only we are either ignorant or reckless of the way that leadeth to it; therefore the holy Psalmist would first set us right in the true notion of a blessed man[2].”

 

From the beginning, the psalmist wants us to understand that the happy man is the one “whose way is blameless.” Or in other words, the happy one is the one “who walks in the law of LORD.” But what does it mean to “walk in the law of the LORD” or to be one “whose way is blameless?” To answer this question, let us consider Psalm 1 which says,”

           

Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers;  ² but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night.  ³ 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.  ⁴ The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away.  ⁵ Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous; ⁶ for the LORD knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.  

 

Let us consider the conduct of this blessed man. First, he refuses any association or participation with the evil or wickedness of the world. Notice, He does not heed the counsel of the wicked. The blessed man is not characterized by the world that surrounds him. The wicked give him counsel about life, family, career, and religion, but the blessed man does not listen to their advice. How often do professed Christians turn to the advice and methods of the world for help, instead of turning to the Christ and his Church for guidance and protection?

 

Secondly, the blessed man does not live in the manner of the world. While all the world around him is spending millions of dollars on all the luxurious of this world, neglecting their families for success, building their own kingdom while ignoring God’s, trying to win friends and influence enemies, saving and hording up their possessions in pursuit of the “American dream,” the blessed man is compelled to live differently.

 

And not only does the blessed man not heed the counsel of the wicked or live in the manner of the world, but also makes judgments and decisions that are equitable, charitable, and humble. And why does he do this?

 

“Because his delight is in the law of the LORD and on his law he meditates day and night.” This is what the psalmist means when he says, “Blessed are those whose way are blameless, who walk in the law of the LORD.” For the psalmist, it was not good enough to just give a mere assent to the truth of God’s word. For him, the only proper response to the Word of God was a radical change in lifestyle that was diametrically opposed to the lifestyle of the world. It was a life characterized by a love and obedience to the God’s word.

 

This love for and obedience to the Word of God is re-emphasized in vs. 2 of Psalm 119:

 

            vs. 2 – Blessed are those who keep his testimonies, who seek him with their whole heart,

The blessed life is the life of an undivided heart for the glory of God that is revealed in His word. In the most ultimate sense, there is no middle ground in the heart. There is no neutrality. Your heart is either for God or against God. Your desires are either for God or against God. You either love money or you love God. You either love safety or you love God. You either love family or you love God. You either love self or you love God…. For the Christian, all other loves in our life must be tempered and controlled by our love for God. If we reverse the order, then we become idolaters. Those who seek God with a whole heart are those who are blessed! If you would be happy, then your heart must be undivided.

 

            vs. 3 – who also do no wrong, but walk in his ways!

 

In vs. 3, we are told more about the undivided heart. It is said to “do no wrong and walk in the God’s ways.” We know from the rest of the Scripture that perfection is not the attainable on this earth, so the idea of “doing no wrong” must mean something else in order to be consistent with what else is said regarding man’s nature and state on earth. To help us better understand this statement, let us look at what is spoken of David in 1 Kings 14:7-10:

⁷ Go, tell Jeroboam, 'Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: "Because I exalted you from among the people and made you leader over my people Israel  ⁸ and tore the kingdom away from the house of David and gave it to you, and yet you have not been like my servant David, who kept my commandments and followed me with all his heart, doing only that which was right in my eyes,  ⁹ but you have done evil above all who were before you and have gone and made for yourself other gods and metal images, provoking me to anger, and have cast me behind your back,  ¹⁰ therefore behold, I will bring harm upon the house of Jeroboam and will cut off from Jeroboam every male, both bond and free in Israel, and will burn up the house of Jeroboam, as a man burns up dung until it is all gone.

 

The tendency of my heart is to want to ask, “Which servant David is this passage referring to? Is this the same David that wrote Psalm 51:4 that says ‘Against you, and you only have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight.’” But the tendency of my heart is wrong, because it forgets that God’s evaluation of his servant David was on the basis of the grace of God that granted David to have faith in God for the provision of the Messiah, Jesus Christ. So also, when we consider the description of the blessed man in Psalm 119, we must remember the grace and mercy of God that is provided to his saints who live by faith in Christ. That those who put their faith in Christ, do not walk according to the world, but according to the spirit and do not fulfill the desires of the flesh.

 

How then do we walk in his ways? By faith in Christ! And how is our faith made known as genuine? By obedience to the Word of God! Our faith is made known by our works! It is active and can be seen by the way that we live! And what is faith in Christ? It is trust and reliance on his perfect and all-sufficient work of redemption to suffer and atone for our sins and to provide an acceptable righteousness for us that we might be with him forever and behold his glory. And how is our faith made known by our works? By operating and arranging all matters of our life around our faith in Christ. This means that every decision, every plan, every action, every word should be evaluated and governed by the standard of Christ.

 

Blessed are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the LORD!