Secret of Happiness
Day after day, year after year, David lived alone in the fields with the sheep, so we know that the secret to his happiness wasn’t based on popularity, or being surrounded by great friends. His only companions were sheep – he most likely went days or even weeks without even talking to another human being.
And his
secret to happiness wasn’t having all the comforts of life, like great food or
a nice house.
And we
also know that his secret to happiness wasn’t having a close knit, loving
family. Apparently, his family didn’t really think very highly of David.
1 Samuel
16 tells the story of how God told a prophet named Samuel to go look at Jesse’s
sons, and anoint one of them to be the next king.
So
Samuel went to Jesse, and asked to see all of his sons. 1 Samuel 16:
Jesse had seven of his sons pass
before Samuel, but Samuel said to him,
“The Lord has not chosen these.” So he asked Jesse, “Are
these all the sons you have?”
“There is still the
youngest,” Jesse answered. “He is tending the sheep.” (NIV)
Poor David! His father was just going to keep
David out in the fields- he wasn’t even going to let Samuel know that he had
another son!! But of course, God knew. And God told Samuel, and so
…
Samuel said, “Send for him; we will
not sit down until he arrives.”
So he sent for him and had him
brought in. He was glowing with health and had a fine appearance and
handsome features.
Then the Lord said, “Rise and anoint him;
this is the one.” (1 Samuel 16:1-12 NIV)
So his father apparently didn’t
think too highly of him. And then in the next chapter, we read that his brother didn’t either. When David started asking questions about Goliath,
his older brother Eliab…
burned with anger at (David)
and asked, “Why have you come down here? And with whom did you leave those few
sheep in the wilderness? I know how conceited you are and how wicked your heart
is; you came down only to watch the battle.”
“Now what have I done?” said David.
“Can’t I even speak? (1 Samuel 17:28 NIV)
So,
David had no friends, no comforts of life, and his family didn’t like him, yet
he was happy. What was David’s secret to David’s happiness? Here it
is, in Psalm 26. David tells God:
I have always been mindful of
your unfailing love and have lived in reliance on your
faithfulness. (Psalm 26:3 NIV)
David
was always thinking about God’s unfailing love.
Another Psalm, Psalm 48,
says, “we meditate on God’s unfailing love.” (Psalm 48:9 NIV)
The word meditate in the
Hebrew means, “to converse with one’s self.” (Strong 1983)
David talked to himself.
In Psalm 42, we see how he talks to himself. He says:
Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my
God. (Ps 42:11 NIV)
So, the secret of
David’s happiness was that he talked to Himself- he talked to his soul about
the love of God, the protection of God, the forgiveness of God- David talked to
his soul about all the promises and blessings of God!!
He didn’t beat himself
up because he had no friends
He didn’t beat himself
up because he had a horrible job
He didn’t beat himself
up because his family rejected him…
He comforted himself, he
encouraged himself, he rejoiced that …
his Heavenly Father
loved him
his Heavenly Father
watched over him
And his Heavenly Father
called him a friend
For every problem he
had, David would find a promise in God’s word to rejoice in. That was his
secret.
And he was happy.
I learned David’s secret
when I was a kid. When I was in 8th grade,
my life took a turn for the worse.
I had to
wear braces, and not just braces; my teeth stuck out so much I had to
wear headgear. I had a metal piece that came out of my mouth
and it was connected by little rubber bands to a strap that went around my
head.
So of
course, most of my friends didn’t want to hang out with me anymore. And when I went out into public, little kids
would point at me and ask their parents what that in the world was that thing
on my head.
I
started getting a little depressed then, and I actually developed a bleeding
ulcer because of the stress.
By the 9th grade,
I didn’t have to wear the headgear anymore. But then, my doctor
discovered I had scoliosis – a crooked spine. And so now I had to wear a
brace on my back for 1 ½ years!!
Oh my
goodness – I wasn’t just rejected anymore – now some of the kids actually made
fun of me openly. It was a really hard time, and I went into a pretty
dark depression. And in desperation I picked up my Bible and really began
to read it for the first time. The first book I read in the Bible was the
book of Psalms. As I read about David’s life, all his
struggles and his enemies, and his rejection, I
could identify!!
And I
was amazed by David, because even though he would cry out to God things like…
“Why
is my life so hard? Why do all these people hate me?...
… In the
next verse he would always regroup and say something like…
“yet I
know you will deliver me. I know that you are with me. I know that
you love me.”
And
David’s prayers became a great source of comfort for me. They became my
strength, my hope. I read the Bible like crazy – every day, after school,
I’d go to my room and pick up the Bible.
After I read Psalms, the Lord led me to read the gospels, and I understood for
the first time that Jesus had come to the earth and died to wash away my sins
so that I could get into Heaven.
And I
asked Jesus to forgive me, to wash away my sins. And I felt like He
did!! For the first time in years, I felt happy.
Really happy. I still had my brace, but I was happy!! Do you know why?
It was
David’s secret – I was rejoicing that God loved me. And I really believed
that He was with me!!
I had a
friend again at school – I couldn’t see Him, but He was with me – I just knew it.
In my mind, I talked to Him all day long, just like David
did. And I was happy. It seemed that the more I
rejoiced, the more I was filled with the joy of the Lord!!
It wasn’t
too long after I found the Lord that a wonderful group of new friends reached
out to me and took me under their wing – brace and all. I’ll always be so grateful for their
kindness.
As an
adult, I’ve continued the practice I learned in those difficult days, and over
the years I’ve found more and more promises to meditate on and to rejoice
in! Like:
Jesus is
preparing a place in Heaven for me!
God’s working
all things out for my good!!
No weapon
that’s fashioned against me will stand; the Lord will fight my battles!!
By His stripes
I am healed!!
God will
supply all my needs!!
The Bible says
that when Jesus…
“ascended on high, he took many
captives and gave gifts to his people.” (Ephesians 4:8 NIV)
Jesus
already gave us the gifts. Everything that you need, He
already gave you. You can’t see the blessings yet, because
they are invisible until you begin rejoicing in them. Rejoicing is using
your faith. Believe that you have received, and it will be
yours. (see Mark 11:24)
Preach to
yourself about the promises
Comfort
yourself with the promises
Meditate on
the promises
Rejoice in the
promises
Praise God for
the promises
Train your
mind to focus on the promises of God as much as possible. Paul says:
Since, then, you have been raised
with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at
the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly
things. (Colossians 3:1,2 NIV)
Focus on the
promises of God!! And as you do this, you will discover that you are
happy!!
This is the
secret to happiness.
Don’t focus on
your problems anymore.
For every
problem, find a promise, a great and precious promise of God, and focus on
the promise all day long!!
And you will
discover the secret of happiness!
References
Strong, James. Strongs Exhaustive Concordance: Showing Every Word of the
Text of the Common English Version of the Canonical Books, and Every Occurrence
of Each Word in Regular Order, Together with Dictionaries of the Hebrew and
Greek Words of the Original, with References to the English Words. Baker Book House, 1983.
Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are taken from the Holy Bible,
New International Version, NIV Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by
Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved
worldwide.www.zondervan.com. The “NIV” and “New International Version”
are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by
Biblica, Inc.
Scripture quotations marked (TLB) are taken from The Living Bible
copyright © 1971. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol
Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
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