The longest psalm (119) begins with an echo of the first psalm:

Happy, joyful, blessed are those who walk with God. 

If you halfway pay attention to television shows, you will hear someone say in almost every episode, “I just want you to be happy.” You will also notice that all the things they try to get happy usually fall short of joy. Their pursuits never really lead to what we might call a blessed life. Every conflict resolved leaders to further conflict and more unhappiness.

A screenwriter might protest that people who live happy, joyful, and blessed lives are boring. Conflict is what gains and holds a person’s attention. This is true in entertainment. It is much less true in real (not reel) life. 

There is a new James Bond movie in theaters. I have not seen it, but having seen other Bond films, I can tell you that it begins with a bang. We see conflict immediately and continuously throughout the movie until its ultimate resolution at the end. 

Many, many people live lives of unnecessary conflict. Far too few people live with enduring happiness, endless joy, and perfect blessedness. Psalms 1 and 119 tell us how to eliminate much of our misery. They teach us how to enjoy God’s cup that is forever full to overflowing. 

Step One: Follow God’s instructions. Our Father in heaven will never lead us falsely. He will never lead us into foolishness. He will never play practical jokes on us. He will always lead us along the right path at the right speed while guiding and providing for us. See Psalm 23 for details.

Step Two: Seek God with your whole heart. God is more available than you know. He is forever ready to hear and answer your prayers. He will answer them better than you pray them. He promises that when we seek him with all of our hearts, we will find him. We will never come up empty in such a search.

 Jeremiah 29:10-14 is spoken to a specific group of people in a specific time and place. However, the pattern we see there is repeated throughout the Bible and today.

Step Three: Stay on God’s path. We get in trouble, we experience avoidable pain and grief when we think we have a better way than God’s way. Do not make the mistake that God’s way is, according to screenwriters everywhere, boring. 

He who created elephants and rhinoceroses and eagles and bats and bass and catfish and trees and mountains and on and on and on is anything but boring. If you want adventure, epic, soul-stirring, mind-boggling adventure, take a walk with Jesus. He will empower you to see what you have never seen. You will experience new realities beyond your imagination.

Today is Sunday. This is a good day to make course corrections from this past week. It is a good day to remind yourself of who God is and what he wants for you which is guaranteed to be better than what you could otherwise want for yourself. Get back on God’s path and find true happiness, deep joy, and ultimate blessedness.

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I will walk stay on course by following God’s instructions and enjoying his adventures. 

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