Wanna Be Happy?
Psalm • Sermon • Submitted
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Wanna Be Happy?
Wanna Be Happy?
The truth can hurt you
Or the truth can change you
What would truth do to you
I just wanna be happy
But if I keep on doing the things
That keep on bringing me pain
There's no one else I can blame
If I'm not happy
Wasted time but now I can see
The biggest enemy it was me
So I'm not happy
Cry yourself to sleep
Shout and raise your hands
It wont change a thing child
Until you understand
If you're tired of being the same
If you're tired of things not changing
It's time for you to get out the way
Don't get stuck in how you feel
Say Jesus take the wheel
He knows the road that you need to take
(But it only works if)
If you wanna be happy
(Look at yourself and say)
Don't you wanna be happy
I just wanna be happy
Do you want to be happy?
In the 119th Psalm the psalmist lists the ABC’s of the glory of the God’s Law. The writer shares with us an acrostic using the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Using 8 lines for each letter in total you have 176 verses in this chapter. Usually the purpose of using a form like this was for the memorization of an idea because of the importance of the topic. So as we delve into God’s word today I want you to keep in mind that this is something that needs to be stored in our memory banks. It is something that you should open when in times of doubt. Familiarize yourself with the content of the psalmist!
1 Happy are those whose way is blameless,
who walk in the law of the Lord.
2 Happy are those who keep his decrees,
who seek him with their whole heart,
3 who also do no wrong,
but walk in his ways.
4 You have commanded your precepts
to be kept diligently.
5 O that my ways may be steadfast
in keeping your statutes!
6 Then I shall not be put to shame,
having my eyes fixed on all your commandments.
7 I will praise you with an upright heart,
when I learn your righteous ordinances.
8 I will observe your statutes;
do not utterly forsake me.
Lexham Hebrew Bible Chapter 119
1 אַשְׁרֵ֥י תְמִֽימֵי־דָ֑רֶךְ הַֽ֝הֹלְכִ֗ים בְּתוֹרַ֥ת יְהוָֽה׃
2 אַ֭שְׁרֵי נֹצְרֵ֥י עֵדֹתָ֗יו בְּכָל־לֵ֥ב יִדְרְשֽׁוּהוּ׃
3 אַ֭ף לֹֽא־פָעֲל֣וּ עַוְלָ֑ה בִּדְרָכָ֥יו הָלָֽכוּ׃
4 אַ֭תָּה צִוִּ֥יתָה פִקֻּדֶ֗יךָ לִשְׁמֹ֥ר מְאֹֽד׃
5 אַ֭חֲלַי יִכֹּ֥נוּ דְרָכָ֗י לִשְׁמֹ֥ר חֻקֶּֽיךָ׃
6 אָ֥ז לֹא־אֵב֑וֹשׁ בְּ֝הַבִּיטִ֗י אֶל־כָּל־מִצְוֺתֶֽיךָ׃
7 א֭וֹדְךָ בְּיֹ֣שֶׁר לֵבָ֑ב בְּ֝לָמְדִ֗י מִשְׁפְּטֵ֥י צִדְקֶֽךָ׃
8 אֶת־חֻקֶּ֥יךָ אֶשְׁמֹ֑ר אַֽל־תַּעַזְבֵ֥נִי עַד־מְאֹֽד׃
"An Acrostic" by Edgar Allan Poe...
"An Acrostic" by Edgar Allan Poe...
Elizabeth it is in vain you say
"Love not" - thou sayest it in so sweet a way:
In vain those words from thee or L. E. L.
Zantippe's talents had enforced so well:
Ah! if that language from thy heart arise,
Breathe it less gently forth - and veil thine eyes.
Endymion, recollect, when Luna tried
To cure his love - was cured of all beside -
His folly - pride - and passion - for he died.
1 Happy are those whose way is blameless,
who walk in the law of the Lord.
2 Happy are those who keep his decrees,
who seek him with their whole heart,
3 who also do no wrong,
but walk in his ways.
4 You have commanded your precepts
to be kept diligently.
5 O that my ways may be steadfast
in keeping your statutes!
6 Then I shall not be put to shame,
having my eyes fixed on all your commandments.
7 I will praise you with an upright heart,
when I learn your righteous ordinances.
8 I will observe your statutes;
do not utterly forsake me.
1 Happy are those whose way is blameless,
who walk in the law of the Lord.
2 Happy are those who keep his decrees,
who seek him with their whole heart,
Happy
Happy does not convey the same sense of what we would consider to be happy. In our understanding of happiness we usually have to have something HAPPening in order to attain that feeling. But this is not what the writer suggests.
Some versions read happy and some versions read blessed. But there is a distinct difference between the two .
The Hebrew word used here is not the same word used to confer a blessing. That would be the word בִּרַךְ (birach) but this word means to be fortunate.
This word that begins both verse 1 and 2 use the word אַשְׁרֵי (Ashare) which.
Happy in this context describes someone who lives life optimally. One who lives life the way the creator intended.
EX: Think back to the garden, the fall, and the punishment. God never intended for us to have a need to work for food. God never intended for the pain of child birth to be imposed on the woman. God never intended for man to have to sweat/work to eat. God never intended for man to cease from being! God still wants the original intention back!
Do you?
V1
Blameless does not point towards perfection but towards a way of living that cannot be sullied. Cannot be looked down upon. Can be verified as being a part of God.
“Law of the Lord”
This word law is not the same as our understanding would indicate. Law here is the Hebrew word Torah. Which would be better understood as instruction.
EX. God does not place before us anything without telling us how to handle it. Before God sends the Children of Israel into the promised land with Joshua he tells gives them instruction to be “strong and courageous”. Before Jesus sends out the 72 who were to spread the message of the kingdom he tells them about the environment they are going into and how to handle it, who to talk to, and when to move on!. Before Peter is to be involved with the integration of Gentile people God sends him a dream letting him know that all of his creation is good and acceptable! God always gives us instructions! And the psalmist is letting us know that God will show us how to live and the outcome is optimal living!
V2
To keep means to observe and comply. As I have stated heavily already in the year of 2020 if we don’t know what it is that God wants us to do we can’t please him!
EX: It is not enough to continue to show up to worship and NOT obey! It is not enough to know that it is wrong to engage in that sin that trips you up and still not tie your shoes! It is not enough to know that we ought to be serving others and seen feet let alone washed them! We must keep God’s word!
When God presents us information it is neither void or powerless. It is purposeful and commanded!
The writer continues on by stating that it is something that is done with the whole heart!
EX: God is like me, He doesn’t do fractions! He’s not interested in half your heart, a quarter of your effort, or a fifth of your income! He wants 100% of your heart. We know very well what that means. That inner man that whispers contrary things when we know what God’s will is. He wants for there to be no wavering when the whispering begins!
If you’ll notice in verses 1 & 2 this “happy” disposition will do two things. It will effect your walk and your heart.
Absolute commitment to God equals right actions & mind.
3 who also do no wrong,
but walk in his ways.
The Hebrew text has markers that show you where to pause in your reading. And this caused me to remember back to my training in working as a young boy in the worship service.
remember when I first began to do communion reading. Bro Dupree told me as I was training, that when I read to pay attention to the commas, periods, and other markers of punctuation. They were there for a reason and if ignored they could alter meaning of scripture when read out loud. Now when the Psalmist writes this verse it quite literraly says “They also don’t perform injustice” and it asks the reader to pause there for a moment as if to give time to think about what was just said.
INTENTIONAL LONG PAUSE BEFORE ASKING THIS QUESTION...
NOT YET
How many of us have no problem with performing unjust/wrong actions?
I’m talking about will leave worship and then go home and lick down a swisher sweet.
I’m talking about will feign love and then ride home hating their spouse.
I’m talking about singing God’s praise and then use the same mouth to speak profane language!
Happy People don’t do that! They walk in HIS ways!
My ways are not God’s ways. I must walk right!
5 O that my ways may be steadfast
in keeping your statutes!
6 Then I shall not be put to shame,
having my eyes fixed on all your commandments.
The psalmist seems to change who he is speaking to and speaks directly to God!
This is good for us because in reading these words we understand that we are not alone in our failure! This is an interjection where he’s saying “I wish that I was more consistent in my obedience to your ways!” But he uses a different word here. In fact throughout these 8 verses He continues to use different words here for what God has told us to do.
He uses
Law (instruction)
Decrees (an order having the force of law)
Precepts (Orders)
And now statutes (Prescription or a law enacted by the legislative branch of government)
So the Psalmist is saying I want to do what you want me to do but sometimes I know and I still don’t! The psalmist understood that if they could just do better then they wouldn’t feel SHAME When I looked at your commandments!
300 Illustrations for Preachers Man Pays Bill with Interest More than 70 Years Later
Guilt is a real emotion. Sometimes it is more than we can bear and we have to do something about it. In 1941 a 10-year-old boy and his friend realized they didn’t have enough money to pay for their meal at the Lamb’s Grill in downtown Salt Lake City and ran away. The bill was one dollar. In 2014 the man’s daughter went to the Lamb’s Grill and gave the server five dollars to cover the 73-year-old check. Her father was too embarrassed to go in and waited in the car outside.
While a five-dollar restitution is not very much, one can only imagine the relief from guilt the elderly man has experienced.
—Jim L. Wilson and Rodger Russell
We can often let guilt and shame to cause us to take our eyes off of God’s word, to stay away from those who we see as holy, or we may even believe that God is incapable of forgiving and loving us! But I want you to understand!
Everyone makes mistakes. Keep hope alive!
7 I will praise you with an upright heart,
when I learn your righteous ordinances.
8 I will observe your statutes;
do not utterly forsake me.
V7
The Psalmist continues addressing God and he speaks towards the the future!
I
We have to be some forward looking people!
When we realize that we are not enough alone, we must move on to what we will do with God! Even before it happens the psalmist has made the decision that praise is coming! AND that he will have an UPRIGHT heart!
Notice that there are two things present in verse 7.
He has a goal
Do you WANT to be what God wants you to be?
He has a plan
His plan is not his own, but God’s!
V8
Again there is a marker for a pause and it reads literrally
“Your prescription I will keep...”
There is a commitment made to God that there will be observation and compliance to what is prescribed by God.
I will keep it as a frontlet on my forhead, I will write it above the doorpost, I will read my Bible throughout the week, I will attend Bible class, I will attend devo, I will talk to more than bedtime and mealtime, I will KEEP YOUR PRESCRIPTION OH GOD!
He ends by stating “Do not utterly abandon me”! And I have news for you!
Nothing can separate us from the love of God!
Conclusion
Conclusion
Absolute commitment to God equals right actions & mind.
My ways are not God’s ways. I must walk right!
Everyone makes mistakes. Keep hope alive!
Nothing can separate us from the love of God!