How to Be Happy
Sermon • Submitted • Presented
0 ratings
· 1 viewNotes
Transcript
1 O Lord God of my salvation, I have cried day and night before thee:
2 Let my prayer come before thee: Incline thine ear unto my cry;
3 For my soul is full of troubles: And my life draweth nigh unto the grave.
4 I am counted with them that go down into the pit: I am as a man that hath no strength:
5 Free among the dead, Like the slain that lie in the grave, Whom thou rememberest no more: And they are cut off from thy hand.
6 Thou hast laid me in the lowest pit, In darkness, in the deeps.
7 Thy wrath lieth hard upon me, And thou hast afflicted me with all thy waves. Selah.
8 Thou hast put away mine acquaintance far from me; Thou hast made me an abomination unto them: I am shut up, and I cannot come forth.
9 Mine eye mourneth by reason of affliction: Lord, I have called daily upon thee, I have stretched out my hands unto thee.
Introduction
Introduction
(Exegete Psalm 88)
Song of affliction to be sung mournfully by the choir.
Writer: Heman (hay-mawn)
Levite, Seer, Singer, Cymbal Player
16 And David spake to the chief of the Levites to appoint their brethren to be the singers with instruments of musick, psalteries and harps and cymbals, sounding, by lifting up the voice with joy.
17 So the Levites appointed Heman the son of Joel; and of his brethren, Asaph the son of Berechiah; and of the sons of Merari their brethren, Ethan the son of Kushaiah;
19 So the singers, Heman, Asaph, and Ethan, were appointed to sound with cymbals of brass;
He and all his children prophesied in their music:
5 All these were the sons of Heman the king’s seer in the words of God, to lift up the horn. And God gave to Heman fourteen sons and three daughters.
The Bible says he was one of the wisest men of his age except Solomon.
He stood before kings and played joyful songs, yet the only song he wrote almost needs a trigger warning.
The only positive thing in Psalms 88 is that it is a prayer to the God of salvation.
Hay-mawn means “faithful”. He was faithful to pray, even though he was evidently afflicted from his youth.
He wanted to do something for Jehovah.
10 Wilt thou shew wonders to the dead? Shall the dead arise and praise thee? Selah.
11 Shall thy lovingkindness be declared in the grave? Or thy faithfulness in destruction?
12 Shall thy wonders be known in the dark? And thy righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?
13 But unto thee have I cried, O Lord; And in the morning shall my prayer prevent thee.
I’m going to pray even though you don’t seem to answer.
14 Lord, why Castest thou off my soul? Why hidest thou thy face from me?
15 I am afflicted and ready to die from my youth up: While I suffer thy terrors I am distracted.
16 Thy fierce wrath goeth over me; Thy terrors have cut me off.
17 They came round about me daily like water; They compassed me about together.
18 Lover and friend hast thou put far from me, And mine acquaintance into darkness.
I admire him greatly. How can you be that unhappy in your flesh and yet be faithful to prayer, and joyful in praise?
How do you play your cymbals with joy when your life look like that?
Most of us would have given up if we were suffering that much, but he didn’t.
Sometimes we just need to be truthful in expressing how we feel to God.
I’m sick but you are my healer.
I’m lonely buy you are my friend.
I’m dry but you are my water.
I’m poor but my wealth is found in you.
(Job - The Lord Gives and takes away” “Yet in my flesh I shall see God)
Sometimes you have to acknowledge the pain, but also acknowledge the one who can take it away.
I’m human, but God is my helper.
7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.
8 We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair;
9 Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed;
10 Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.
Ask yourself this question: What would make me happy? What would bring joy to my life?
Satan will try to answer that question with what you desire.
(Example: Man who wanted to be happy)
“If I had a girlfriend or boyfriend”
(Example: Skip)
“If I had a better house or car”
“If I had more money”
“If I could just get the perfect job”
“If my wife or husband was gone”
None of these things will fill the hole in your heart.
When Solomon wrote Ecclesiastes he was the unhappiest man anywhere, and he had everything.
1 I said in mine heart, Go to now, I will prove thee with mirth, therefore enjoy pleasure: and, behold, this also is vanity.
2 I said of laughter, It is mad: and of mirth, What doeth it?
3 I sought in mine heart to give myself unto wine, yet acquainting mine heart with wisdom; and to lay hold on folly, till I might see what was that good for the sons of men, which they should do under the heaven all the days of their life.
4 I made me great works; I builded me houses; I planted me vineyards:
5 I made me gardens and orchards, and I planted trees in them of all kind of fruits:
6 I made me pools of water, to water therewith the wood that bringeth forth trees:
7 I got me servants and maidens, and had servants born in my house; also I had great possessions of great and small cattle above all that were in Jerusalem before me:
8 I gathered me also silver and gold, and the peculiar treasure of kings and of the provinces: I gat me men singers and women singers, and the delights of the sons of men, as musical instruments, and that of all sorts.
9 So I was great, and increased more than all that were before me in Jerusalem: also my wisdom remained with me.
10 And whatsoever mine eyes desired I kept not from them, I withheld not my heart from any joy; for my heart rejoiced in all my labour: and this was my portion of all my labour.
11 Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labour that I had laboured to do: and, behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun.
Things won’t make you happy, people won’t make you happy, you were made for more than that.
5 Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.
I’ve had the privilege of being in king’s palaces, from that to the lowest haunt on skid row. And I’ve never seen a contented sinner in my life. That’s right. There is no happiness or contentment outside of Jesus Christ.
I’ve seen them so rich till they had bodyguards with them. And I’ve seen them so poor till they begged for a drink of whiskey. And from the one to the other there’s no satisfaction in sin. 57-0728 - "Thirsting For Life"
The last time human beings were really happy was in the garden of Eden. Before sin.
Since then we’ve been unhappy, but God uses that unhappiness to draw us to Him. If you’re unhappy today look to Him.
He is the source of all true happiness and joy.
Sometimes we feel like Paul “Oh wretched man that I am” “Who shall deliver me from this body of death”.
“I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord”
We may struggle, we may have trials, we may suffer in our bodies:
But in the depths of our heart, there lays happiness, because that we know that we are absolutely secure in Christ Jesus. 53-0512 - "Speak To The Rock"
When Jehovah wrapped Himself in flesh and came down to earth, he came as the suffering servant.
He was born into poverty.
Rumors swirled about who His Father was.
He must have stuck out like a sore thumb, being a teenager who did no sin.
As an adult he never had a house.
20 And Jesus saith unto him, The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.
He had to send Peter fishing to pay his taxes.
He walked everywhere He went, He had to borrow a donkey so the Scripture could be fulfilled.
He only had one set of clothes, never owned a suitcase.
3 He is despised and rejected of men; A man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: And we hid as it were our faces from him; He was despised, and we esteemed him not.
4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, And carried our sorrows: Yet we did esteem him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted.
The King of Glory come down and tabernacled among men from the Ivory Palaces to be, take upon Himself, not the form of Angels, but as a servant of man.
Clothed in humility, wandered about, no place to lay His head, slept wherever He could, scorned by the ones that He loved, and was made, finally, a bleeding Sacrifice. But He pleased the Father insomuch He said, “This is My Beloved Son; hear ye Him.” 51-0929 - "Our Hope Is In God"
12 Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.
Old Testament saints:
37 They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented;
38 (Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.
And sometimes I wonder what Christianity expects today. A preacher going into a town has to be…or some new church or some new charge, calls himself a prophet, walks up there, say, “Well, if they’ll give me so much money. If I can have the best car. If they’ll…If my salary will be raised every six months.”
We have to have the best. We have to have the best homes. We have to have the best clothes. What will we do when we stand in the presence of those men who wandered, in goatskins and sheepskins, no place to lay their heads, wandering about in deserts?
And somebody can make fun of us and we’re ready to quit church and not go back anymore. What Christianity requires today. We ought to be ashamed of ourselves. O God, be merciful to us. 57-0821 - "Hebrews, Chapter One"
What did Jesus do with all this suffering?
On the cross, in His humanity, he reminds us of Psalm 88.
14 Lord, why Castest thou off my soul? Why hidest thou thy face from me?
Look at the similarity:
46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?
It was not a sin for Him to be discouraged or ask why, He still addressed His prayer to the Father.
He was a man when He died on Calvary for a sacrifice, bleeding, the blood running out of Him like a mortal, spit hanging all over His beard. And He was a man disgraced, standing there hanging in shame, taking our place.
He was a man when the pains got so great till He cried, “My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?” That was a man there, but when He rose up on Easter morning He proved He was more than a man. 54-0720A - "The Maniac Of Gadara"
Why did He do it? What made him faithful to the cross, like Heman was to prayer.
1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
He recognized this darkness was temporary, and the hole that was in His heart, for fellowship with you, could only be filled through His death on the cross.
Our temporary unhappiness in spite of all that we have reminds us that there is a place in our lives only He can fill.
1 As the hart panteth after the water brooks, So panteth my soul after thee, O God.
2 My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: When shall I come and appear before God?
It’s a blessed thing to thirst for God.
6 Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
Why do people smoke and drink and run around with women? They’re thirsty. They’re unhappy.
God made a way of escape but they just won’t take it. What makes people do that? Is because God made a man to thirst. How dare any man to try to satisfy that holy thirst with the things of the devil!
Don’t you try to do that, you’ll never be satisfied, it only brings heartaches, make you take a pistol and blow your brains out. That don’t have real life in it, real life comes from God. You can never be satisfied and perfectly happy…
And one of these halfway Christians, supposed to be, is the most miserable person in the world. “Oh, I can’t do this. If my church knowed I did that!” God knows you’re doing it, what difference does it make?
Right there, have your whole heart centered right on God, and stay right with it, then you’re happy, walking peacefully with Him. 61-0218 - "Balm In Gilead"
How can I be happy? Find Him.
You are His joy, let Him be yours.
20 And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said, Blessed be ye poor: for yours is the kingdom of God.
21 Blessed are ye that hunger now: for ye shall be filled. Blessed are ye that weep now: for ye shall laugh.
22 Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man’s sake.
23 Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy: for, behold, your reward is great in heaven: for in the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets.
24 But woe unto you that are rich! for ye have received your consolation.
Laodicea thinks they are rich, so there is no future joy to look forward to. He is outside the door, knocking. We may be poor by Laodicean standards, but we have found Him.
(Illustrate: Bubbling Brook)
I’d say, “Then what makes you so happy?” He would say this: “You see, I am bubbling up, because there’s something behind me pushing me. There’s something bubbling inside. I can’t hold it. It has to bubble out.”
And every man that’s borned of the Spirit of God has the inexhaustible fountain of Christ inside that’s bubbling out, just something that you can’t hold your peace. 57-0613E - "Thirsting For Life"
Why are you happy in church on a Wednesday night?
The house of the Lord is the joy of the Lord, the joy of the Lord is the joy of His people. He wants you to come to church and worship Him, and be happy, and satisfied, giving praise, and honor, and glory, and wisdom, and might, and power to God, He wants you to do that. 61-0125 - "Why?"
Conclusion
Conclusion
There is nothing spiritual about being miserable. Lets be happy in the Lord. Even tho we may feel like Psalm 88, lets sing to the Lord with joy and gladness.