The Secret to Being Happy

Proverbs chapter 3. Most of our scriptures are

Proverbs 3 · chapter mention

going to be in the Psalms, but we're going to

kind of jump around, so if you don't catch a

scripture we go over, just let me know after

the fact, and I'll tell you where it was. We're

just going to pick a few short, simple scriptures

today, scriptures that I think are easy for us

to understand and for us to remember. We're going

to start in Proverbs chapter 3. I have one correction

Proverbs 3 · chapter mention

from last week. Last week I told y 'all about

a good wife and a good mother in Psalms 31. I

didn't realize I said Psalm. It's actually Proverbs

31. So if you went home last week and you read

Psalm 31 and you said, that don't say nothing

about a good mother or a wife, then you'll know

why. So that was a slip that happens. So it was

Proverbs 31, and today we will be in Proverbs

Proverbs 3 · chapter mention

chapter 3. Today I've got a good word for y 'all,

and the word for y 'all today is, I want everybody

to do what makes you happy. That's a good message.

That message will go far in our world today.

That's the message that people like to hear,

right? We like to do what makes us happy, and

I'm telling you today, that's what I want you

to do. I want you to do what makes you happy.

And some of you are saying, well, what's the

catch? Well, I guess there is a little bit of

a catch. I want to tell you the secret of being

happy, which is also something that we want to

know in our world today, praise the Lord. We

all want to be happy, and today I'm going to

tell you the secret of how to be happy, and then

you can go do whatever makes you happy. Let's

read Proverbs chapter 3, verses 13 and 14, then

Proverbs 3:13

we'll pray and we'll jump into it. Happy is the

man who finds wisdom and who acquires understanding,

for she is more profitable than silver and her

revenue is better than gold. Let's pray. God,

we come to you today. We thank you for being

good to us. I thank you for the love that's in

this place that you show on us that we can share

with one another. We thank you for the blessing

and the freedom we have to come and worship.

I thank you for the folks who come here and the

folks who watch and listen online each week.

I pray, God, that your Holy Spirit would bless

us today, dear Lord. Our lives are full of stress

and chaos and pain and just trouble sometimes,

dear Lord. And maybe there are some today that

are just searching for some peace and some joy

and some happiness. And maybe they've tried a

lot of things, dear Lord, but I pray that through

your word today they can see the real secret,

the real key to the things that... you call us

to to bring joy and happiness in our life. And

I pray that you just bless these few minutes.

Hide me behind the cross, dear Lord, that people

won't see me, but that they would see you and

that you would be glorified, God. Take away any

fear or pride that's within me today that I may

faithfully preach and teach your word. And I

ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen. Now, Proverbs

Proverbs 3 · chapter mention

chapter 3 is a good chapter. We've covered most

of the first few verses over the last couple

of months. We've kind of gone back and forth

and looked at some of those things. And we're

just continuing on on the last verse in Proverbs

we left off on and not really looking at the

whole context of that passage of Scripture starting

in verse 13. In the context, it's really talking

a lot about wisdom. And we're introduced to that

topic, that idea. in these verses that we looked

at today. Now, we may get to those verses that

follow in the weeks to come, but today we're

going to just kind of pluck out that first little

part and not talk too much about wisdom and understanding

today, but really the topic that I shared with

you before, and that is be happy. We want to

be happy. Everybody wants to be happy. That's

what we all want. That's a good feeling when

you're happy. But sometimes it's hard for us

to be happy. Life is tough and stressful, and

there's all kind of stuff that goes on. And sometimes

we just find ourselves just kind of being down

and out and bummed. And maybe it's for a day

or for a week or for a month, or maybe for some

of us it's been years. And you're just not happy.

And that wears on you, and that's really tough.

But praise the Lord, we have the Word of God.

And the Word of God is so good if we would read

it. There are so many things in the Word of God

that are good for us. And we need to read it.

We don't just need to come on Sunday and hear

it. Praise the Lord. I'm glad you're here. For

those who go to Sunday school, I'm glad that

you came. For those who listen online, it's great.

But we don't want to just hear the Word of God

at church. We want to be in the Word of God and

read it ourself. And there are so many things

in there that help us, that encourage us, Really

show us the secret of success and of happiness.

And the answers are right before us in the pages

of Scripture. And we need to make sure that we

read those words. And here we see in Proverbs

Proverbs 3:13

3, verse 13, he says, Happy is the man who finds

wisdom and who acquires understanding. Now, when

I read this verse, I thought, man, there's...

There's quite a few verses that talk about being

happy, and that's kind of our theme today. And

I thought, well, what is the key to happiness?

According to Scripture, there's plenty of Scriptures

that says, happy is the man who does blank, fill

in the blank. Well, we don't get to fill in the

blank ourselves. If we filled in the blank, we

wouldn't do too good. Happy is the man who is

wealthy. Happy is the man who is successful.

Happy is the man who has the biggest house. Happy

is the man who has the most beautiful wife. Happy

is the woman who has the strongest husband. Now,

it's polar alert. The Bible doesn't say any of

those. None of those happy hours are in the Bible.

The things that the Bible says make us happy

are not the things that maybe come to our mind

first. may not be the things that we strive for.

The Bible is so good in that way, that the things

that we think are important to us or that we

think are important to God, when we read Scripture

just a little bit, we realize that maybe God's

ideas of what's important to Him and what should

be important to us are different than ours. And

indeed, they almost always are. But it says here,

Happy is the man who... finds wisdom and who

acquires understanding. Okay, this is good. This

is good. You say, I am unhappy. Alright, here's

a test. Are you seeking wisdom and understanding

in your life? Or do you just keep living in the

same old foolishness? Now for many of us, if

we're honest, we've just kept on making the same

foolish decisions. And there's a part of us who

really know in our heart that it's foolish. We

really know that it's not good, but we keep doing

it. And you may say to yourself, okay, this is

good. I want to be happy. The scripture says

that I need to be one who finds wisdom, one who

acquires understanding. Well, how do I do that?

Well, I'm glad you asked because the scripture

says in Proverbs 2, verse 6, for the Lord gives

Proverbs 2:6

wisdom from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.

Okay, there's our starting point. So we say,

I want to be happy. I want to start with what

the Word of God says. It says I'm happy if I'm

wise and I have some understanding. How do I

find that? Well, we find it through the Lord.

We find it through God's Word. God's Word is

full of things, and it says this is a wise thing

to do. It's a wise thing to do. Maybe not spend

every penny you have. Maybe you don't want to

go to the casino. Every week when you get your

paycheck and put it all on red. And some people

do that. Maybe some in here. There's people that

do that every week. And they lose their money

every week. And they say, but one day it's going

to hit. Well, maybe it will. But guess what?

That's foolishness. Now what does the Bible say

of wisdom? Well, maybe it's things that God blessed

us with. Maybe we need to be a little wiser with

it. Maybe we need to tuck a little back. Maybe

we need to use it to help other people. Those

are the types of things that God's Word says

are wise. That's not what our fleshly desires

may be. Our fleshly desires almost always want

what's foolish. We don't have understanding.

We don't understand, why does this go on? Why

does that go on? Well, you know, when we begin

to read the Word of God, we begin to have a lot

better understanding of things. Not fully. Certainly

there are things that happen in our life or in

our world that maybe even those who walk with

the Lord would say, I don't understand why the

Lord does that. But there are a lot of things

in Scripture that as we begin to read the Word

of God, we begin to get a whole different understanding

of, let's say, what love is. Now our world understands

love to some degree, but a lot of times it's

in a fleshly way. What the world called love

is not really love. But then we begin to read

God's word. We begin to see that we're sinners.

And then we begin to see that Jesus died for

sinners. That he was nailed to a cross. That

he suffered greatly. And you say, why would a

man do that? Well, the scripture tells us that

that's love. That what love is, it's not... Just

a word that we say, but it's an action. It's

shown in how we treat people. And so we have

understanding of, okay, well, God calls me to

love. He calls me to love him. He calls me to

love those that I encounter. We talked about

a lot of that in Sunday school this morning.

What does love look like according to Jesus?

It looks like helping our neighbors, feeding

those who are hungry, clothing those who are

naked. visiting those who are sick and those

who are in prison. Like, these are the things

that God's Word puts kind of at the forefront.

And so the more we read God's Word, the more

we have understanding. Okay, so happy is the

one who finds wisdom and who acquires understanding.

Well, praise the Lord that Scripture tells us

that, that if we continually seek God, that's

where we're going to really learn. The things

that are wise. And we're going to be able to

understand a little more. What's wisdom? The

greatest wisdom in all of Scripture? We see it

in 1 Corinthians chapter 1. It's Jesus Christ

1 Corinthians 1 · chapter mention

crucified and resurrected. That is wisdom. That's

wisdom. Now until we have started with Jesus

Christ, until we have trusted in Jesus Christ,

then we really... haven't fully understood wisdom,

but the moment that we acknowledge our sinfulness

and repent and we trust Jesus Christ, we have

instantly obtained the source of wisdom. We've

come to the source of wisdom. And the more we

seek Him and His ways, and the more we seek God's

instructions in our life, the more we gain understanding,

and the more we walk according to those ways,

guess what that brings in our life? It brings

about... Happiness. Okay, there's our first verse.

If you're not happy today, here's something you

need to try. Try to find wisdom and try to acquire

understanding. That comes through Jesus Christ.

It comes through the Word of God. Here's another

scripture for you to consider today. Psalm 84,

Psalms 84:12

verse 12. Happy is the person who trusts in you,

Lord of hosts. Okay. Praise the Lord. That's

pretty easy. Happy is the one who trusts in the

Lord. Here's a test you can take. One question

test. Let's see if you pass or fail. Don't answer

out loud. Answer to yourself. Do you trust the

Lord? Easy question. Now we probably, because

we're in church, we say to ourselves, of course

I trust the Lord. That's the church answer. But

really, when we look at our life, really who

do we trust? When hard times hit in our life,

do we immediately go to the Lord and really seek

him and leave it in his hands and say, okay,

God, I'm going to trust you. And I don't know

what's going on. It's tough. I don't understand

necessarily what's going on. But God, I'm going

to trust you. So God, please, please answer my

prayer and help me. Okay, that's a good place

to start. but how many times do we pray such

prayers? And then five minutes later, it's like,

well, God, I guess you didn't want to answer

it. And then we start figuring out how we're

going to solve the problem. What can I do to

solve the problem? And that's not to say that

there may not be things that we need to do in

situations in our life, but sometimes we kind

of try to take the ball out of God's court and

just kind of, even though we may not say it,

what we're really saying by our actions is, okay,

Lord, you didn't answer, so I'll take care of

this. And sometimes we try to take care of our

own problems instead of trusting in the Lord.

And guess what happens when we do that? It leaves

us unhappy because we can't take care of our

own problems. We cannot take care of anything.

We don't have the strength. We don't have the

ability on our own. It's only through the Lord

that He can bring about peace. He can bring about

solutions in those situations. Even if our situation

continues to be difficult, there's a certain

happiness that comes from trusting in the Lord.

So happy is the person who trusts in the Lord,

or blessed is the person who trusts in the Lord.

Some of your translations may say happy, some

may say blessed in some of these verses, but

it's the same idea. Okay, so if you're unhappy

today, Are you seeking wisdom and understanding?

Are you trusting in the Lord? If the answer to

those questions is no, then that may be why you're

unhappy. Let's look at another scripture. Psalm

Psalms 119:2

119 verse 2. Happy are those who keep his decrees

and seek him with all their heart. Again, here's

a question. Are we keeping the Lord's decrees?

Are we following the Lord's instructions? Okay,

we read God's Word, and He gives us lots of instructions

of, you know, hey, you need to love people, you

need to even love your enemies, you need to help

people, those kind of instructions. He gives

us all kind of instructions. He says there are

some things you probably need to avoid, some

sinful things that aren't good for you. How do

we know the instructions of God? Well, you have

to read the Word of God. And I think we continually

have to read the Word of God. It's a lot in there.

Maybe it's just me or maybe not. I can't remember

some of those things. I'll read something and

then I'll go for a while and not read a scripture

and read it a couple of years later and be like,

oh yeah, I forgot about that scripture. I think

as humans we just need to constantly be reminded

of the word of God and the instructions of God

so that we can stay sharp and so we can say,

okay God, I'm really striving to do what your

word calls me to do. I want to follow your instructions.

There you go. Happy is the person. Excuse me,

happy are those who keep the decrees and seek

him with all their heart. Are you seeking God

with all your heart? Maybe you're seeking God

with part of your heart. Well, that's a good

place to start. But what God really wants is

for us to seek him with everything in us. Say,

okay, God, I'm not seeking others for help. I'm

not seeking my own strength or ability. I'm not

trusting in my own wealth or any of those things.

God, I'm really seeking you. With all my heart.

And what's the scripture say? Hey. You're happy

if you follow the instructions of God. And you

seek God with all your heart. The result of that

in our life. Is happiness. Here's another good

scripture. Psalm chapter 1 verses 1 and 2. How

Psalms 1:1

happy is the man who does not follow the advice

of the wicked. Or take the path of sinners. Or

join a group of mockers. Instead, his delight

is in the Lord's instruction and he meditates

on it day and night. Okay, this is a real simple

instruction. Happy is the man who does not follow

the advice of the wicked. Easy enough. Now, if

you're unhappy today, you need to answer this

question. Are you following the path of the wicked?

Are you listening to the advice of the wicked?

And if the answer to that is yes, Well, there's

a good chance that your unhappiness is coming

from that. It's hard for us to be happy when

we are in the midst of wickedness, when we do

sinful things that God tells us not to do. It's

hard for us to be happy doing that. We can have

a semblance of happiness for a moment. There

are things that are evil, that are sinful, that

are wicked, that they are so enticing and they

seem good and they feel really good in the moment.

But you know as well as I do, that does not last

very long. You think you're happy, but it's a

lie. It's a false happiness. There's no joy in

doing what's wicked. There's no joy in getting

back at your enemy and getting vengeance on them

in the moment it feels good. There's no joy in

stealing from someone else in the moment. Man,

it may feel good. I stole that money and I used

it to buy or get something that I wanted. And

in a moment, you think that's going to make you

happy, but it doesn't. And you don't even realize

that that's the source of your unhappiness. But

it is because we can never be happy when we are

living in the midst of wickedness and doing wickedness

and following those who do wickedness. And so

happy is the man who doesn't do that. The one

who doesn't follow those evil ways of the wicked,

but the one who follows the Lord's instructions

like we just talked about. And it says, and he

meditates on it day and night. Now, how often

do we meditate on God's instruction? I mean,

there's probably a lot of things that we meditate

on. We may meditate on our job. meditate on our

hobby, how many fish we're going to catch or

how good we're going to play at the golf course

tomorrow or whatever it may be. There's a lot

of things that we meditate on. I've been doing

that a lot, too much lately because I've been

kind of getting back into golf and I'm so horrible.

It is so bad. I'm so horrible. And so I've been

practicing a lot and I'm thinking about it a

lot and I'm listening to YouTube videos. FYI,

you can listen and watch a lot of YouTube videos

for a week. and they don't make your golf game

any better. But that's what I've been meditating

on, right? We meditate on what's important to

us. Now, I'm not saying it's wrong to have a

hobby and to be invested in that to some degree,

but maybe you've got something that you meditate

on that's just on your mind every week. You just

think about it all the time, all the time, all

the time. Well, we need to replace those worldly

things. And we need to start to meditate on the

word of God. One of you just sit down with the

scripture, maybe looking at scriptures similar

to these we look at today, and not just read

through and say, okay, there's a scripture. Thank

you, God. Close the Bible. But really just take

a passage and just meditate on it. Like you might

open your Bible and read like one verse, and

you're like, whoa, what does that even mean?

Like I got to think about that for a second.

Well, that's good. Don't just sit there in the

silence with the Word of God and just think about

it. Kind of think about it when you go to work.

Turn the radio off for a minute and let it kind

of simmer. Just think about it. Meditate on it.

When's the last time that you've meditated on

the Word of God? Well, maybe you should. If you're

unhappy in life and you're spending a lot of

time meditating on the wicked but not on the

ways of God, There's a source of your unhappiness.

These things that the scripture calls us to are

very easy for us to understand. That happiness

comes from wisdom. It comes from understanding.

It comes from following God. It comes from avoiding

sin. This is where our happiness comes from.

If you want to be happy today, God lays it out

for us. Right there in black and white in the

scripture, here's the source of happiness. Let's

read another verse. Psalm 128. Psalm 128, verses

Psalms 128:1–4

1 through 4. It says, How happy is everyone who

fears the Lord, who walks in His ways. You will

surely eat what your hands have worked for. You

will be happy, and it will go well for you. Your

wife will be like a fruitful vine within your

house. Your sons like young olive trees around

your table. In this very way, the man who fears

the Lord will be blessed. Okay, that's pretty

simple instruction right there. Who is the happy

man? The happy man is the one who fears the Lord.

Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.

Happy is the man who finds wisdom. Isn't it beautiful

how God's word just kind of, it just kind of

all ties together? Okay. Happy is the man who

fears the Lord. Simple question. Do you fear

the Lord? You may say, I don't know. Well, you

can measure how much you fear the Lord by how

long it takes you to quit doing the sin that

you're doing. If you're just keeping on in sin,

keeping on in sin, keeping on in sin, knowing

that God's word says it's sin, then bad news

for us is that we don't fear the Lord that much.

If we see that there are things in our life that

shouldn't be there that God does not desire that

are wrong and that are sinful, And we don't like

that and we repent and say, God, forgive me.

And we turn from that sinfulness and we do that

pretty quickly. Well, that's a good indicator

that we probably fear the Lord. Now, that's not

to say that we won't sin again. We may. But are

we content just to live in sin? I hope not. Maybe

we are, though. That's not a good place for us

to be when we are just content to live in sin.

That's not good. There's no joy in that. If you're

in that position now, you're unhappy. So happy

is the man who fears the Lord. You will surely

eat what your hands have worked for. You'll be

happy. Okay, work hard. You want to be happy,

work hard. You feel a lot better when you work

hard and you've really put in a good day's work.

You feel a lot happier when you've contributed

something to society, when you've done your part.

You feel a lot better when you planted the garden

and you worked the garden and you ate from the

garden. You're a lot happier when you've done

the work. You can go steal from somebody else's

garden without them knowing and eating, but it

won't taste as good as when you do the work.

Happy is the man who works hard. You fear the

Lord, you work hard. Happy is the man who has

a good wife. What does it talk about here? It

talks about having a wife that's a fruitful vine

and children who are like an olive tree. That

is children who are going to continue to grow

and thrive. That's happiness, the scripture says.

In this very way, the man who fears the Lord

will be blessed. Now notice that all of these

things that we've looked at so far, they don't

really talk about most of the stuff that the

world says will make you happy. I mean, it's

not talking about wealth and riches and fame.

It's not talking about any of that stuff. And

we think, man, if I just had this, if I could

just be this way, if I could just do that, I'd

be happy. But those are not the things that the

Bible says make us happy. The Bible says fear

God, work hard, raise your family, be a good

husband, have a lot of kids. You'll be happy.

Man, that's good advice. The Bible is full of

these passages. We're not going to look at every

happy passage today. Some of you are saying,

praise the Lord. There's a lot of passages in

here. But we're hitting the high notes. We're

kind of starting to see a pattern of what makes

us happy. Listen to the next verse, Psalm 41,

Psalms 41:1

verse 1. Happy is the one who cares for the poor.

The Lord will save him in a day of adversity.

Man, that's pretty good. Happy is the one who

cares for the poor. Have you done that lately?

When's the last time you've helped somebody?

Like just helped somebody in need. Maybe you

bought somebody a meal. Maybe you did something

for them when they were struggling. Maybe it's

somebody you know. Maybe it's somebody you met

on the street. When is the last time that you

have really been broken? and just saw somebody

in need and said, I just want to help that person.

No matter how little or how much, whatever way

it may be, when is the last time that you took

from what God has given you and you've used it

to help others? Maybe you do it every day, praise

the Lord. Maybe you don't ever do it. Well, if

you're unhappy today, maybe that's why. Maybe

that's the reason why. Maybe it's because you're

not helping people. Because when we don't help

people, it probably stems at least a little bit

from maybe some greediness in our own life. That

we want to keep what we have. Maybe even we become

a little judgmental. And we begin to say, well,

they should have worked for theirs. I'll work

for mine. And I ain't giving a mind, and there

becomes a heart of judgment, and there becomes

a heart of greed. And guess what those things

do for you? They make you unhappy. You may not

even realize that. See, that's the thing with

the things we do. The things that make us unhappy,

we don't realize they make us unhappy. We know

we're unhappy, and we just don't have a clue

why. Because we're denying the word of God. We're

not living for him. We're living foolishly every

day. We're living in sin every day. We're not

caring for our families. We're not helping people

in need. And we're just miserable. And we say,

I just don't know why I'm miserable. And we go

and we pay counselors hundreds of dollars an

hour to listen to us talk about our life and

say, I just don't know why I can't be happy.

Well, I know why you can't be happy. Because

we're not doing the things that God's Word says.

That's why we can't be happy. You say, well,

that stuff don't work. Well, try it. Try it.

Read God's Word, and you see what God's Word

says makes you happy, and you really give it

an effort to try to do what God's Word says.

Try it for a month. And see if you're happier.

Help somebody in need. Take some of the money

that you've got maybe an abundance of and give

it to somebody. And tell me if you're not happier

giving that money than you are getting it. As

hard as it may be to let it go, I can just about

guarantee you that if you do it with the right

heart, you're going to be happier. You're going

to find joy. In these scriptures that we looked

at, it's just the tip of the iceberg. But it

really shows us what's important to God. These

scriptures show us what is important in the word

of God. You know, I'm ashamed to say that I was

pretty old before I think I figured out and really

understood God's word. I said I think. You could

disagree with what I'm going to say. But at some

point in my life, something clicked. And I said

I think I understand God's word now. And it wasn't

as complex and it wasn't as difficult maybe as

I thought. And I began to read God's Word and

I began to see certain things repeated. And here's

the conclusion that I came to. And I could be

wrong about this, but I think that here's what

matters and is important to God according to

His Word. Is that we fear Him and we keep His

commands. That we love one another. And we take

care of one another. That we're a good husband

to our wife, a good wife to our husband, good

parents to our children. That we provide for

them and raise them up in the way of the Lord.

That we trust in God. That we love our neighbor

as ourself. Help those in need. I think that's

it. I think that's the word of God. I think that's

what we see from the Old Testament to the New

Testament. That's what God wants. There are so

many other things that we get caught up in. But

I think those things are the most important.

And those are the things that we looked at today.

Those are the things that God says makes you

happy. Trust me, fear me, listen to me, follow

me. Work hard, raise your family. Help other

people. That's where happiness comes from. If

you're unhappy today, Are you doing those things?

Maybe you're doing some of them. Maybe you're

doing all of them. Maybe you're not doing any

of them. But if you're not doing any of them

today, and you feel kind of bad about it, and

you feel convicted, then praise the Lord. Because

the Bible says that's going to make you happy.

Listen to what the Scripture says in Job 5 .17.

See how happy the man is God corrects. So do

not reject the discipline of the Almighty. You

say, man, I hadn't been doing any of these things.

That's why I'm so unhappy, God. I feel so bad,

God. I just, I feel convicted. Well, happy is

the man that the Lord corrects. Is the Lord trying

to correct you today? Is the Lord trying to get

your attention today? Does the Lord want you

to repent today? He does. If we're living in

sin, if we're living for ourself, if you're unhappy

today, then listen to the Word of God. God says,

look, I correct you because I love you. I tell

you these things that I want you to do because

they're good for you. I tell you these things

that I don't want you to do because they're not

good for you. So today I tell you, do what makes

you happy. But I also tell you, what makes you

happy is not going to be what the world says

makes you happy. What's going to make you happy

is what the Word of God says will make you happy.

That's the secret to happiness. We just looked

at just these few verses today, and we have unlocked

the secret to happiness. It comes through wisdom.

It comes through understanding. It comes through

the fear of the Lord. It comes through Jesus

Christ. He's our source of wisdom. He's our source

of truth. He is the light for us today. And when

you trust in Him and you seek Him and you live

for Him, I can guarantee you your life is going

to be so much better. If you live for God and

seek Him and follow His commands and love others,

I can just about guarantee you that you're going

to be happier tomorrow than you were today. And

every day that we walk with the Lord will bring

happiness. And every day that we do not walk

with the Lord, Will leave us unhappy. Don't leave

unhappy today. Find joy in Jesus Christ. Let's

pray. God we come to you. We thank you for your

good word. I pray dear Lord that you be with

us today. Maybe for some listening. And some

online. And some here today dear Lord. There's

just some unhappiness in their life. And life

is tough. And it's hard to always be happy dear

Lord. There's going to be tough days and sad

days for us dear Lord. We get that. But what

we really want God is. is a deep, deep happiness,

deep within us, God. And I pray that we would

find that today. And that can only be found through

Jesus Christ. And through your word, dear Lord,

that we would live in obedience to it. That's

where the source of happiness. So God, if there

are some who are unhappy today, maybe there are

some things in these verses that they realize

that they haven't been doing right. I pray that

they would repent, dear Lord. If they feel your

conviction today, that they would repent and

trust in you, dear Lord, to find the source.

of happiness. And I ask these things in Jesus'

name. Amen.