The Pursuit of Happiness

Happy are those who hear the joyful call to worship, for they will walk in the light of your presence, Lord. They rejoice all day long in your wonderful reputation. They exult in your righteousness. You are their glorious strength. It pleases you to make us strong. Yes, our protection comes from the Lord, and he, the Holy One of Israel, has given us our king.

Psalm 89:15-18 NLT

I find it interesting that mankind generally believes its pursuit of happiness is its right and is generally accepted to mean 'whatever gives me pleasure". That's not what the Word of God says. And if we deep dive into history, we'll find that's not what the forefathers meant, either. (Stay with me, I'm not trying to "Americanize" God's Word - we know His Word is to all people.)

In his Commentaries on the Laws of England which are often cited in the laws of the United States, Sir William Blackstone argues that God "has so intimately connected, so inseparably interwoven the laws of eternal justice [from the Bible] with the happiness of each individual, that the latter [individual's happiness] cannot be attained but by observing the former [the Bible]; and, if the former [the Bible] be punctually obeyed, it cannot [help] but induce the latter [Individual's happiness]."1 

Here is what is promised in our pursuit of true happiness - to those who hear the joyful call to worship: 

We will walk in the light of God's presence. 

We rejoice all day long in God's wonderful reputation. 

We exult in God's righteousness. 

God is our glorious strength. 

It pleases God to make us strong. 

Our protection comes from the Lord, and He has given us our King.

We give no eternal allegiance to any man or woman - only God. We don't have to stress over any man or woman's inability to lead. (We are instructed to pray for them!) 

We are free to pursue our happiness in the One who never lies, never abandons us, the One who does not change. The One who loves us so much that He gave His only Son for the redemption of our sins so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish, but will have everlasting life. So we are free to pursue Him.

Prayer:

Father, 

         We pray as Paul prayed in Ephesians 3, that from Your glorious, unlimited resources You will empower us with inner strength through Your Spirit; that Christ will make His home in our hearts as we trust in Him; that our roots will grow down into God’s love and keep us strong. And may we have the power to understand, as all Your people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep Your love is. May we experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully so that we will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from You. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

1 Blackstone, William (1765). "Section the Second: Of the Nature of Laws in General". Commentaries on the Laws of England. Claredon Press. pg. 40. OCLC 65350522U.