“Happy are the people with such blessings. Happy are the people whose God is the LORD.” Psalms 144:15 CSB

“Happy is the one whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord his God.” Psalms 146:5 CSB

“Happy is a man who finds wisdom and who acquires understanding.” Proverbs 3:13 CSB

“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” Proverbs 9:10 CSB

Happy is a pretty overused word in our normal daily language. Happy can convey pleasure, contentment, well-being, peace of mind, and even joy. Happiness is a positive emotional state. How many times have you used a happy face emoji?

Think of times when you’ve said you were happy. Got a few? Now think of times when you were not happy. Got some? What kinds of things made you happy? I know I’m asking you to do lots of remembering here (which is a bit harder for us older folks!) but what made you happy, not happy?

Our Bible verses today tell us that our happiness is not dependent on our circumstances. It is not what is going on around us, but who is with us, the Lord our God.

We are happy because God is our LORD. We are happy because our help and our hope is in the Lord. We are happy to find wisdom and understanding because they come from our fear and knowledge of the Holy One, the Lord. We are happy as the saved and blessed children of the Most High God.

This true happiness can’t be taken away by a bad day, or troubles, or sorrows. We are promised all of these things in this life by Jesus. “I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace. You will have suffering in this world. Be Courageous! I have conquered the world.” John 16:33 CSB

But if our true happiness is in the Lord, we never lose it. Our hope, our peace, our contentment, our well-being and yes, even our joy are because our Lord is with us. We are His beloved children. Does this mean we will never be sad, crying, depressed, down, or troubled? No, but even in our troubles our God is with us, strengthening us, upholding us, comforting us, carrying us, and loving us.

This week let’s find our happiness in the Lord. This week when troubles come, remember whose you are. The Lord is your hope, your help, your strength, and your happiness.

I thank God for each of you! And I thank you for joining me this week as we find our true happiness in the LORD our God.

Blessings and happiness!