Friday, June 6, 2025
Happy Life – Psalm 119:1-6 Submitted by Kay Crumley
Don’t worry, be happy. Isn’t that the goal we all share? What must we do to be happy? Psalm 119 begins with some ideas of what leads to a happy life. Worry is one state of mind that interferes with happiness. The answer to that was presented by Paul in his letter to the Philippians in chapter 4:6-7 6 Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. We solve the dilemma of worry by taking all our cares, fears, or worries to God in prayer. Then we can live in His peace as we are protected by Christ. That sounds simple. However, most of us struggle with trusting our worries completely to God, we think we must help Him in some way to find the answers to our fears. Of course, that’s a false assumption. The sooner we learn and apply that the better.
The focal passage in Psalm begins with an answer to the question I opened with. How are we to be happy? Those who are blameless and live according to the Lord’s instruction are happy. That sounds too easy. Happy also means blessed. We are blessed by God when we live according to His instruction or commands. We are to live according to the teachings in the Word of God. I am sure you’ve heard that one must “sow their wild oats” before they settle down. Living a life that reflects the character of Jesus sounds dull to those with that idea of how to live.
Verse 2 continues with instruction that we will be happy or blessed when we keep His decrees or the covenant between God and His people. Those who do that will naturally seek Him. We are to strive to be like Him, modeling His character. We can only mimic the one we know as well as we know ourselves. We must seek Him wholeheartedly.
1 How happy are those whose way is blameless,
who live according to the Lord’s instruction!
2 Happy are those who keep His decrees
and seek Him with all their heart.
If we keep His instructions and seek Him then we will do nothing wrong because we’re following His ways, living as Jesus lived. The direction of the chapter changes, now, in verse 4, the psalmist is praying directly to God rather than addressing his readers. God has commanded that we diligently keep all His teachings, commands, instructions, and ways.
3 They do nothing wrong;
they follow His ways.
4 You have commanded that Your precepts
be diligently kept.
He cries out to God, confessing he has not always been able to keep those statues. We, as Christ followers, should seek to be like Him but we are not able to achieve that in our own power. We fail to meet that standard, which brings shame as we consider what we should have done. Shame causes worry. What if I’m caught?
5 If only my ways were committed
to keeping Your statutes!
6 Then I would not be ashamed
when I think about all Your commands.
Looking back at the beginning of this devotion, where are we to take our worries? To God in prayer. We place our trust in Him to hear our confession, to forgive our sin, and to restore our peace. That commitment to Him brings us back to dedicating ourselves to following His instruction. We have what the psalmist didn’t have. We have the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives who guards us and knows our heart. He intercedes on our behalf and by Him we can live a life blessed, happy, because we are obedient to His instruction.
Those who are happy have been blessed because they know our Heavenly Father intimately. They are determined and dedicated to following His way as taught in the Bible. They take all their worries to Him on a daily basis as they trust Him to be the source of all peace and happiness. Don’t worry, instead trust in God, be obedient to His statutes and you’ll have a happy life.
