Praise the LORD!
How blessed is the man who fears the LORD,
Who greatly delights in His commandments.
Psalm 112:1 (NASB)
When I read today’s verse it set me off thinking on the subject of being “blessed”; what does it really mean to be blessed? ‘Esher is the Hebrew word used for “blessed” which in modern language means to be happy, which is easier for us to understand. According to the Bible, happiness is found in fearing (revering) the Lord; that is respecting His place over us and obeying the Word of God – together they give us an internal foundation to build our life upon. A verse often quoted (and misquoted too!) by many is; “… the joy of the Lord is your strength.” The verse comes from when the Israelites returned to Jerusalem and heard the Word of God read, stating how their ancestors had rebelled against God. This resulted in the people falling on their knees weeping in repentance, the first step to redemption, which brings us to the above quote in Nehemiah 8:10. The point being, that God hears and accepts their repentance, that they now have His joy in their hearts and can celebrate. This is the foundation of true happiness for the child of God.
Recently in a hospital waiting area, the TV was on some inane daytime show which had a therapist on teaching their hosts how to laugh. In my opinion, the only thing funny was that these people were getting paid for this nonsense. I say it was nonsense because it was all about creating joy externally and trying to apply it internally, which doesn’t work in reality. True joy comes from within the heart of each person.
Dear Reader, are you happy in the Lord today? Is His joy in your heart lighting the way before you? True love and reverence of our Lord and Saviour is the true power source of the Christian heart, driving us forward in obedience to His call on our life – now that is true happiness!
This is an updated edition of a post originally published on Devotional Treasures
