The Key to Happiness: A Study of Psalm 1 (Part 3)

 By: Rebekah Hargraves

Photo Courtesy of: Nitish Kadam

"He is like a tree planted beside flowing streams
that bears its fruit in its season,
and its leaf does not wither.
Whatever he does prospers."

~Psalm 1:3

Two weeks ago, we began a study of Psalm 1. In the first part of our study, we talked about the folly of walking in the advice of the wicked, standing in the pathway with sinners, and sitting in the company of mockers. In the second part of our study, we covered the importance of instead delighting in and meditating on God's Word day and night.

Today, we are looking at verse 3, discovering what Psalm 1 has to say about the one who does love and walk in light of God's Word. In context, Psalm 1:2-3 together say, "Instead, his delight is in the Lord’s instruction, and he meditates on it day and night. He is like a tree planted beside flowing streams that bears its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers."

We are all regularly looking for the key to success, aren't we? We live in a social media influencer age with seemingly everyone running one business or another, engaging in one ministry platform or another, pursuing one book contract, record deal, podcast opportunity, or another. Meanwhile, in all these pursuits, we are oftentimes shelling out hundreds if not thousands of dollars on courses and other trainings in order to discover the secret sauce required for having your reel go viral, a bunch of network marketers to sign up to join your team, or your platform to explode.

But, friends, we are missing something. 

As believers, we should not be doing life, ministry, or business in the same ways the world is. We are called to a different path by an all-wise God. If only we would look to Him instead of looking to the latest online guru promising all the answers but delivering little to nothing of substance!

If we want to discover the key to happiness, if we want to understand how to live a life that produces fruit, if we want to prosper in all we set our mind and hands to, the key is not to follow the advice of some self-proclaimed "expert". They key is to delight in the Lord’s instruction, and to meditate on it day and night.

This is not to say that we view and use God and His Word as vending machines, where as long as we spend time memorizing Scripture, then we will get whatever we want. But it is to say that the source of all wisdom, knowledge, insight, and help ultimately is found in God and that in order to know what is best, we will have to dig our noses deep into Scripture. 

Far from being a mere box to check or a nice little practice for your mornings, spending time in the Word reaps dividends beyond anything we can imagine, for it is in the Word of God that we access the wisdom for life which we so desperately need.

Reflection Questions:

1) Do you spend more time seeking out the opinions and advice of online gurus and self-proclaimed experts or the wisdom and knowledge of God?

2) Which do you think is actually going to prove more helpful to you?

3) What changes can you make in this area?