How to Live a Blessed Life.
Proverbs 3:13-18
Today it has become fashionable to use
the term ÒblessedÓ and to overuse the term in lots of different ways.
Christians greet one another with a greeting of blessing, or they say something
over the phone like Òbless you,Ó or we hear phrases like Òhave a blessed day,Ó
and in response to the question how are you the answer is Òblessed.Ó
Historically we have examples of some
statement of benediction, i.e. a saying of blessing, being a form of greeting
in the early church. The danger is that when we overuse phrases like this they
lose their significance. They become clichŽs, trite and trivial, and they are
just something that weÕd say that has no meaning or relevance and nobody thinks
about it. In that way the words are diluted and they lose their real meaning.
And one of the tools that Satan uses to attack Christianity, and has done down
through the ages, is to assault the words that we use. From the very beginning
SatanÕs temptation of Eve in the garden focused on a statement of God. He is
focused on propositional truth, challenging the meaning of what God said. So
words are important, they means things and they reflect ideas, and it is
important to think about what we say, how we say it, and that we not be guilt
of trivialization of especially doctrines that are as significant as being
blessed by God; a term closely related to the doctrine of grace.
Sadly, these terms like grace,
holiness, sanctification, tongues, have really been assaulted in the last
100-150 years, especially in our culture, and this has caused these words to
have to be over-defined again and again because they have lost their biblical
meaning within a congregation. Another word is Òworship,Ó a word thatÕs meaning
has changed in the last thirty years and no longer has the same connotation. In
many churches the song leader is referred to as the worship leader, which
totally changes the meaning. The pastor is the worship leader; the song leader
is the song leader. DonÕt confuse the two. It is all part of worship but the
highest form of worship is the study of GodÕs Word, understanding and letting
that drive us to greater devotion and obedience to God. So we have to be
careful of the terms that we use and how we use them.
In the Old Testament there are actually
different words that are translated Òblessed, bless, or blessing.Ó There is the
Hebrew word barak
which relates to blessing, and that is almost always used of God, and God is
the only one who blesses as the subject or the performer of that word. Then
there is the word that we find in our passage here, ashere, which has more to do with the
subjective realization of all of GodÕs goodness to us in the application of His
Word in our lives so that we experience the fullness of life as God intended
for us to have.
Proverbs 3:13-18 is a self-contained
unit of thought within the lesson that the father is giving to the son. In the
verses from 13 down to 35 at the conclusion of this chapter, the father is
extolling and magnifying the blessings and the consequences of having wisdom.
He is showing the son how important it is to have wisdom. He begins with
talking about the value of wisdom in these verses and then he is going to say
some thing starting in verse 19 about wisdom in terms of it eternal
significance, relating it to the essence of God and His use of wisdom in
creation. Then he is going to make application of these things starting at
around verse 27.
As we get into this section he is
really emphasizing to his son how to live a blessed life. We have to understand
what it means to have a blessed life in the context. As we look at the
structure here we see that this is called a chiasm—a literary way of
organizing material, and in the ancient world especially there werenÕt such
thing as font faces, underlining, italics, boldface, etc. to bring out emphases
and so it was done stylistically. A chiasm is based on the Greek letter that
looks like an X in the word christos
for Christ. It looks like the left hand side of an X. So you can have an A
statement, a B statement, a C statement; you can have eight or ten statements
going down and then the eight or ten statement following mirror or reflect the
statements made earlier. So for example, here the A statements are the first
statement and the last statement, both of which emphasize blessing. The first
verse, verse 13, looks at the father pronouncing the person who finds wisdom as
blessed. In the last line, 18b, we read: ÒAnd blessed/happy are all who hold
her fast [retain her].Ó So the last line reflects the first verse, verse 13.
Then in the middle are two statements related to the value of wisdom in vv. 14,
15—wisdom is superior to the value of precious minerals. The benefits are
then stated in vv. 16-18a.
The focal point here is the value and
significance of wisdom emphasized in the middle section. It is usually the
middle section that is sort of like the target that the point of the arrow
addresses. That is the focal point of the passage.
Proverbs 3:13 NASB ÒHow
blessed is the man who finds wisdom And the man who gains understanding.Ó IÕve
always had a problem translating these words as Òhappiness.Ó Because happiness
is one of those words like Òfairness.Ó Fair means different things to different
people. Some people think fair means just. Other people mean fair means
everybody gets the same result. Other people thing fair means whatever they
think is right or consistent with equal distribution. So fair is a nebulous
concept. So is happy. Happy is a subjective term. We often think of a
psychological state of euphoria. Because things are going well and we are
uplifted, we are excited, our football team won a game or somebody that we like
actually responded to us, or whatever it may be we have accomplished something
and we feel uplifted. That is often what we think of in terms of happiness and
that is a rather fluid concept. We can be up and the next day down, and it is
dependent upon circumstances and events. That is not what this word is
emphasizing.
But the word ÒblessedÓ also has its own
problems because of the way it is used today. And it does seem to indicate, not
happiness in that vacillating sense, but more of an enduring joy that is based
on living life as God would have us live it. And
despite our circumstances there is a fullness of life and a fullness of joy and
tranquility and contentment that is the result of doing what God says to do and
of the way He has graciously provided for us in the midst of our circumstances.
So this first word ÒhappyÓ is a translation of the Hebrew word asher,
meaning blessed. It is a state of blessedness or happiness, which is how it is
translated, but it is different from another word that is more frequently used,
barak, or
the noun form barakah.
This first verb, barak, is a word that is most often used
in relation to God. God is the only one who is the subject of this verb; God is
the only one who performs this action of blessing others. It is used of human
beings blessing God, and in that sense it means to praise. So when Scripture
says, ÒBless God,Ó it is an idiom for saying, ÒPraise God.Ó We bless God by praising
Him. We donÕt praise Him by saying ÒPraise GodÓ or ÒHallelujah.Ó The way we
praise God is by rehearsing and bragging upon what God has done for us. We tell
people what He has done. We list items; we name specifics. It is concrete, not
just saying ÒPraise God.Ó Another way in which we have trivialized praise today
is that we sing songs that rehearse these words of praising God, and we havenÕt
praised God if we say praise God. Praise God means to list, enumerate or
identify all of the ways in which God has graciously provided for us,
graciously delivered us from negative circumstances, and all of the ways in
which God has provided for us. That is how we praise God or bless God.
The second word, the word that we find
in this context, is the word that describes more often our subjective
realization of GodÕs gracious benefits for our life. God provides for us, and
through His Word as we grow to maturity our life is stabilized as we walk with
the Lord and we apply His Word. We experience His provision in our life and
that is what is meant by this word in terms of blessing. It is a sense in which
we realize all of the fullness of what God has intended man to experience as
God originally created human beings. This word is often used in a sense where
man is expected to do something, whereas the first word, barak, is used in more of a grace sense
that God simply bestows something freely upon people. With asher
the idea is that there is something that we do in order to experience that
blessing; there are conditions attached. One of the conditions that is stated
in this passage is that if we want to experience the blessing of God then we
must first acquire wisdom and understanding; it is not just bestowed as a free
gift, it is not grace in that sense. It comes as a result of the study and
acquisition of wisdom from a consistent focus on the Word, application of the
Word, claiming promises, and letting our mind be transformed by GodÕs Word so
that we approach life as God would have us approach it.
ÒHappy is the manÓ—the word ÒmanÓ
is adam, like the name of the fist human being. It not only
refers to Adam as an individual but is a word that
refers to mankind, both men and women. So we might translate this, ÒHappy is
the person.Ó Ò É who finds wisdom, And the man who
gains understanding.Ó
Proverbs talks quite a bit about this
kind of blessedness. Proverbs 8:32 NASB ÒNow therefore, {O}
sons, listen to me, For blessed are they who keep my ways.Ó
This is another condition. In Proverbs 13:3 we have to acquire wisdom; Proverbs
8:32 is a personification of wisdom speaking, and wisdom says that if we want
to have this kind of happiness in life then we need to Òkeep my waysÓ or walk
in obedience to wisdom, apply wisdom consistently in life. Proverbs 8:34 NASB
ÒBlessed is the man who listens to me [wisdom], Watching daily at my gates,
Waiting at my doorposts.Ó So the emphasis here is not only on obedience as in
verse 32 but also in attentiveness, seeking out what wisdom has to say, what is
the wise course of action biblically. Again, it drives us back to the Word
again and again and again to discover what God is saying to us through His
Word.
The application of wisdom in terms of
our neighbor: Proverbs 14:21 NASB ÒHe who despises his neighbor
sins, But happy is he who is gracious to the poor.Ó We are not to treat our
neighbor with disrespect, and in the context of this verse it indicates a
neighbor who has difficulties or problems. In the parallel in the second line,
happy is he who is gracious to the poor. The contrast is between despising the
neighbor and having mercy on the neighbor. Since the parallel to neighbor is
the poor we are dealing with a neighbor, someone in our periphery who is going
through difficult times. Rather than treating them lightly we are demonstrating
GodÕs love and grace and mercy in their life. As a result of that we experience
the fullness that God has for our life—described as happiness or being
blessed.
Note: This is an individual decision;
it is not something that is imposed by the government. Too often today we have
a problem because the government has taken over, and takes over more and more
things, like health care and welfare. It is the government saying, ÒI donÕt trust
you to personally provide for the poor or the sick. We are going to take your
money and we are going to decide the best way to distribute that.Ó This is one
of the most inefficient ways possible. Not only is it inefficient in terms of
the bureaucratic distribution of wealth but it is also
inefficient in the sense that it takes away whatever extra individuals might
have to bless others with so that they donÕt have anything to give. The
government has already taken most of it. The more the government takes away the
less it allows the citizens to exercise their own volition and responsibilities
in graciously blessing others and taking care of them. So it destroys personal
responsibility and it destroys opportunities for happiness on the part of
individuals in helping to contribute to these causes.
Proverbs 16:20 NASB ÒHe who
gives attention to the word will find good, And blessed is he who trusts in the
LORD.Ó This is a synonymous parallelism—the first line is
restated in the second line. ÒHe who give attention to the word,Ó i.e.
listening to the Word and applying it in the life, Òresults in discovering that
which is intrinsically good.Ó The second line parallels that, so we understand
that heeding the Word is part of trusting in the Lord, relying upon Him,
believing His Word to be true and applying. The result is that as we experience
that which is intrinsically good in our life then it is fulfilling to our life
as God designed us and we live optimally as God intended for us to live.
Another use of ashere is in Proverbs 20:7 NASB
ÒA righteous man who walks in his integrity— How blessed are his sons
after him.Ó This is addressed to fathers. You walk in integrity. The Hebrew
word there simply means in the wholeness of your honesty and righteousness, and
because you as a father live a life of integrity then your children are blessed
after that.
The final use of the term in Proverbs is
in Proverbs 28:14 NASB ÒHow blessed is the man who fears always, But he who hardens
his heart will fall into calamity.Ó What this is emphasizing is blessed is the
man who continuously walks in the fear of the Lord. If we are always walking in
the fear of the Lord then we are building wisdom and understanding in our life.
The person who has wisdom in the life and has acquired wisdom, as Proverbs 3:13
says, is blessed or happy. So the role of the fear of the Lord is significant
in our spiritual life and spiritual growth.
As we look at Proverbs 3:13 about
finding wisdom and gaining understanding, the word for ÒfindÓ is the Hebrew
word matsa.
It indicates finding something as a result of a conscientious search for it.
This is someone who is searching, diligently seeking wisdom and understanding,
and that is the person who will have this blessed happiness in life because they
have discovered wisdom and gained understanding. The second word for gaining is
the Hebrew word puq,
which means to obtain something, to offer something, to acquire something
through purchase; investing time and energy in order to learn the Word and letting
it shape your thinking.
The two words at the end of the verse,
wisdom and understanding, are chokmah which emphasizes a skill.
It is sometimes translated prudence, but it has the idea of application; and
ÒunderstandingÓ which precedes wisdom. It is also an application though; it is
from the Hebrew word bina which is the exercise of
discernment, being able to choose the wise option. So understanding has to do
with taking the doctrine that we learn, the teaching that we have studied, and
then applying that into real time situations so that we can make wise
decisions. The result of making wise decisions is that we grow in wisdom and we
develop a life that exhibits a certain amount of skill in living because we
know the Word of God.
So there is a flow in the way we
acquire wisdom that we see in Proverbs. First of all, the fear of the Lord is
the beginning of wisdom. So we have to start with a healthy respect bordering
on fear of the negative consequences of the Lord. He is in control and we know
we need to submit to Him in every area of life. Because we fear the Lord we
know that He has commanded that we know Him and know His Word, and so we have
to arrange our lives in such a way that we can acquire a
knowledge of the Word. That means that we have to make time every day to
read our Bible, to listen to the teaching of GodÕs Word, study it on our own,
be in Bible class during the week. This has to be a priority. You canÕt get to
wisdom without knowing the Word and you canÕt know the Word unless this is a disciplined
procedure on your part where you have made this a priority so that you are
there every time you can—whether you in the car, whether you are in the
gym, or wherever you are going to listen to the teaching of GodÕs Word or study
it on your own so that you can some to that knowledge of GodÕs Word.
We begin with the fear of the Lord as
the beginning of wisdom and we acquire knowledge through the study of the Word.
But knowledge isnÕt wisdom. Wisdom comes from application over time. We go from
knowledge to understanding and then to wisdom. That is the way in which we
grow.
The principle is that if we want to
have a fulfilled life, have happiness in life, apart from circumstances no
matter what they might be, then we need to seek and acquire wisdom and
understanding. Why should we do this? We spend our lives doing so many things.
It is hard to carve out the time to really be a student t of GodÕs Word because
we are too busy chasing the dollar—and not always in a bad sense. There
are obligations that are placed upon us and we donÕt have any other option.
Proverbs 3:14 NASB ÒFor her
profit is better than the profit of silver And her gain better than fine gold.Ó
The word ÒprofitÓ is the Hebrew word sachar which refers to the
results of trade. It is the profit. There is nothing wrong with making a
profit, despite the fact that many in our culture want to assault the rich and
raise their taxes as if acquiring wealth is evil. They want the government to
be Robin Hood and take from the rich and give to them. But the reason they want
it is because they, too, really want to be wealthy. But notice the writer here
is validating the importance of profit. Silver and gold are valuable. He is not
denigrating the acquisition of wealth. What he is saying is wealth without
wisdom is an empty life; wealth without understanding of GodÕs Word is not
going to bring happiness.
As much joy as money will bring to
people, and it does, the Word of God and wisdom from the Word of God is going
to make people even happier. Because it is going to give the capacity to use
the silver and gold that is acquired in life in a wise way that benefits. It
will be used in a responsible manner to enrich not only your life and
experience but also your family and those around you: for example, the neighbor
that is destitute and in need of aid.
So there is a positive recognition of
wealth embedded in the comparison that we find here. The profits of wisdom are
better than the profits of silver. It is not saying that there is anything
wrong with the profits of silver. The comparison doesnÕt work if the value of
silver and gold isnÕt significant and isnÕt good. The comparison is that that
is wonderful and it is great but wisdom is even better. This is not on
acquisition of wealth but on acquisition of wisdom.
Then he compares the value to precious
jewels and whatever else you may desire in life. Proverbs 3:15 NASB
ÒShe is more precious than jewels; And nothing you
desire compares with her.Ó Whatever we might think might bring us happiness and
joy in life, wisdom is more precious than beautiful or
valuable things. Whatever we think will bring us happiness,
wisdom will bring us greater happiness. That is his point.
This is a lesson that Solomon understood.
When God told Solomon to ask for whatever it was that he would like to have and
God would give it to him, Solomon responded by saying, ÒGive to your servant an
understanding heartÓ (1 Kings 3:9). ÒUnderstanding heartÓ in the Hebrew is a
listening heart, a hearing heart. It showed tremendous humility, and because he
focused on true humility as his request God said He was not only going to give
him wisdom but also everything else he could have asked for: riches,
popularity, intelligence, etc.
Riches and honor are often used
together in Proverbs. The word for honor is the word kabod in the Hebrew and it literally
means Òheavy.Ó It came to be applied metaphorically to that which has
significance or value and it came to be applied to people who had a weighty
presence or a significant presence, as people who were honored. So riches and
honor has to do with achieving a position in life where one has a certain
amount of influence and weight because of oneÕs wisdom.
Proverbs 8:18 NASB ÒRiches and honor are with me, Enduring wealth and righteousness.Ó Wealth without honor and righteousness will disappear. It will be thrown away and it will have no meaning for the person who has it. But for the person who has integrity and honor and righteousness it will be used well. So the problem is not having wealth, the problem is having wisdom and integrity.
Proverbs 21:21 NASB ÒHe who pursues righteousness and loyalty Finds life, righteousness and honor.Ó
Proverbs 22:4 NASB ÒThe reward of humility {and} the fear of the LORD Are riches, honor and life.Ó The Word of God doesnÕt have any problem with people who accumulate wealth. The problem is if they donÕt accumulate godly character along with it then the wealth will be misspent and abused.
Proverbs 3:16 NASB ÒLong
life is in her right hand; In her left hand are riches
and honor. [17]
Her ways are pleasant ways And all her paths are
peace.Ó Peace is the Hebrew word shalom, which indicates health and wholeness as
well as peace or tranquility and contentment.
In conclusion the father says, Proverbs 3:18 NASB ÒShe is a tree of life ÉÓ This
borrows from a metaphor going all the way back to Genesis chapter two where
there were two significant trees in the garden. God told Adam and Eve they
could eat from all the trees in the garden except for one: the tree of the
knowledge of good and evil. There was another tree in the garden and that was
the tree of life, and that tree of life shows up again in the eternal state as
the river flows out from the throne of God and the river is lined by rows of
the tree of life for the health of the nations. It is not that they are sick
and need to recover health but it provides for an additional blessing and
significance in the eternal state for those who have access to the tree of life.
In the garden
of Eden there was a test related to the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
Adam failed because he sought wisdom from the wrong source. That was the
temptation from the serpent: that God doesnÕt really want you to experience the
knowledge of good and evil and so He doesnÕt have your best interests in mind,
so you need to eat from the fruit of this beautiful tree, and when you do you
will then be like God. What the allusion is here is that there is only one true
source of wisdom and that is wisdom from God, and that provides a quality of
life to whomever acquires wisdom. As a result all who retain wisdom are happy
or blessed: Ò É those who take hold of her, And happy
are all who hold her fast.Ó
In conclusion, passages of Scripture that
talk about blessing and how we acquire blessing. Remember, the word ashere
(blessing) has conditions attached to it. The other word barak is a blessing that is freely given
by God as a grace blessing to individuals. But in order to experience the full happiness
and blessedness that God has for us, the fulfillment of life, we must meet
certain qualifications. One of those is to acquire wisdom and understanding.
The first thing that must be acquired
in life in order to experience a blessed life is a person has to be saved. He
has to come to the cross and trust in Jesus Christ as savior. You cannot have a
blessed life if you are unsaved. If you are spiritually dead, by definition you
are divorced from the grace of God, divorced from the provision of God, outside
of the family of God and still under the judgment and the consequences of
spiritual death.
Psalm 32:1, 2 NASB ÒHow
blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, Whose
sin is covered! How blessed is the man to whom the LORD
does not impute iniquity, And in whose spirit there is
no deceit!Ó So blessedness here is related to salvation, having our sins
forgiven and being in a state where our transgressions are not held against us.
As a believer the most significant
requisite for happiness is to trust the Lord. Again and again and again the
Scriptures make this brief pointÓ ÒBlessed is the man who trusts in the Lord.Ó
Psalm 2:12 NASB ÒDo homage
to the Son, that He not become angry, and you perish {in} the way, For His
wrath may soon be kindled. How blessed are all who
take refuge in Him!Ó
Psalm 34:8 NASB ÒO taste and
see that the LORD is good; How blessed is the man
who takes refuge in Him!Ó (Also Psalm 40:4; 84:5; 146:5; Proverbs 16:20) When
we taste something we bring it into our life and make it part of our thinking.
So we are to accept and receive the Lord and all of His Word into our life and
we will have the experiential realization of His goodness. The result: Òblessed
is the man who takes refuge [trusts] in Him!Ó
Psalm 84:12 NASB ÒO LORD
of hosts, How blessed [happy] is the man who trusts in You!Ó
Psalm 146:5 NASB ÒHow
blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, Whose hope is in the LORD
his God.Ó The hope aspect moves us from simply trusting in God for help to He
is our hope. That is a future focus. He is the one in whom our confident
expectation resides.
Isaiah 30:18 uses the term Òwaiting on
the Lord,Ó which is a synonym for trusting in Him: ÒTherefore the LORD
longs to be gracious to you, And therefore He waits on
high to have compassion on you. For the LORD
is a God of justice; How blessed are all those who long [wait] for Him.Ó
A third thing that we learn from the
passages related to blessing is that the blessed man puts himself under the authority
of the Word of God. The word of God is the defining issue in your life. This is
seen is passages such as Psalm 119:1 NASB ÒHow blessed are those
whose way is blameless, Who walk in the law of the LORD.Ó
Proverbs 29:18 NASB ÒWhere
there is no vision, the people are unrestrained, But happy is he who keeps the
law.Ó This is a great verse for our generation because we live in a world where
people cast off the authority of GodÕs Word, they want to do whatever they want
to do, they donÕt want the Bible or Christians telling them that there are
absolute moral standards. But the Scripture says that happiness resides in
keeping the law. For us that would be keeping the Word of
God, the instruction of GodÕs Word.
1 Kings 10:8 NASB ÒHow
blessed are your men, how blessed are these your servants who stand before you
continually {and} hear your wisdom.Ó
Psalm 1 addresses the issue of
acquiring wisdom from a little bit of a negative: the man who doesnÕt do
certain things. Psalm 1:1 NASB ÒHow blessed is the man who does not
walk in the counsel of the wicked, Nor stand in the
path of sinners, Nor sit in the seat of scoffers!Ó Notice the progression:
walking, to standing, to sitting. You start off walking around with the wrong
crowd, you hang around with them, and then you just stand with them, sit down
and reside with them in all of their human viewpoint error.
But this is what leads to real happiness in a personÕs life. Psalm 1:2 NASB ÒBut his delight is in the law of the LORD, And in His law he meditates day and night.Ó Delight is in the law of the Lord. He is excited about studying the Word and learning what God has to say to him. He meditates continuously. This is a figure of speech. It doesnÕt mean you are meditating on GodÕs Word every minute or every second so that we wouldnÕt get anything else done, but it focuses the entirety of your life. You get up in the morning and focus by reading GodÕs Word and as you go through the day you reflect back upon what you have read. God the Holy Spirit brings to your mind principles and promises for you to claim during the day, and your life and your thinking is shaped by the Word of God.
The result: Psalm 1:3 NASB ÒHe will be like a tree {firmly} planted by streams of water, Which yields its fruit in its season And its leaf does not wither; And in whatever he does, he prospers.Ó Notice that bringing forth fruit is in its season; it is not the same all the time. There are times when that fruit is manifest and times when it is not.
Psalm 1:4 NASB ÒThe
wicked [ungodly] are not so, But they are like chaff which the wind drives
away.Ó The term ungodly is usually a term referring to unbelievers. They shall
perish, v. 6; they are not going to stand in the judgment, v. 5.
Psalm 1:6 NASB ÒFor the LORD
knows the way of the righteous, But the way of the
wicked will perish.Ó The way of the godly is to meditate on GodÕs Word. That is
what we are called to do, that is what is expected of us.
Blessedness or happiness is for the
person who applies doctrine and grace to those around him. It is expressing the
unmerited love of God through us and channeling it to those
around us. Psalm 41:1 NASB ÒHow blessed is he who considers
the helpless; The LORD will deliver him in a day of trouble.Ó
Proverbs 14:21 NASB ÒHe who
despises his neighbor sins, But happy is he who is gracious to the poor.Ó
Psalm 106:3 NASB ÒHow
blessed are those who keep justice, Who practice
righteousness at all times!Ó Notice God doesnÕt use pusillanimous words, wimpy,
weak words, like Òfair.Ó He uses strong words like righteousness and justice.
Those communicate things. How do we know justice? How do we know that absolute
standard? We go to GodÕs Word. Integrity is the path to happiness.
Happiness is for those who obey the
Word. Isaiah 56:2 NASB ÒHow blessed is the man who does this, And
the son of man who takes hold of it; Who keeps from profaning the sabbath, And
keeps his hand from doing any evil.Ó
Blessed are those who have a lot of
children. Psalm 127:5 NASB ÒHow blessed is the man whose quiver is
full of them; They will not be ashamed When they speak
with their enemies in the gate.Ó There is blessing from having children and
raising them in the nurture and admonition of the lord.
There is blessedness in work, in labor, in fulfilling
that which God has called you to do in terms of your job and your career. Psalm
128:1, 2 NASB ÒHow
blessed is everyone who fears the LORD, Who walks in His ways. When you shall eat of the fruit of
your hands, You will be happy and it will be well with
you.Ó Enjoying the production of your own labor. Not having the government come
in and confiscate it through excessive taxation.
Happiness is for the one who is disciplined by God. We
should be happy when God corrects us. Job 5:17 NASB ÒBehold, how happy is the man whom God reproves, So do not despise the discipline of the Almighty.Ó
Finally
the nation. The nation can be happy
if they are focused on the Lord. Psalm 32:12 NASB ÒBlessed is the
nation whose God is the LORD
ÉÓ But when that is removed from the public market place of ideas the result is
that we are going to have a nation of people who are miserable. And that is
exactly what we see in our country and in many countries in the world. There is
such instability internationally and that is because as never before in history
we have a world population that has more and more committed to a path against
God than ever before. The only path of happiness is to focus on the Lord.
Psalm 144:15 NASB
ÒHow blessed are the people who are so situated; How blessed are the people
whose God is the LORD!Ó