I want to turn to some explanation for this from Scripture, so let’s turn to Psalm 1. That, incidentally, was the longest introduction to a sermon you’re likely to hear until next time I come! Psalm 1, listen to this: “Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree transplanted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatsoever he does prospers.”
You say, “I don’t see the connection between the ‘pursuit of happiness and Psalm 1?” All right, look at the very first word of Psalm 1. It is the word, “Blessed.” Actually it is not only the introductory word for the first psalm; it is the introductory word for the whole book of 150 psalms. It’s about “Blessedness!” The words blessed or blest or blessing are terms that we tend to use quite a lot in ecclesiastical circles, but what does it mean? When you say, “I was blessed,” when you say, “God bless you!” what actually do we have in mind? The word “blessed” that is used here means literally happy and fulfilled because of a sense of life being intrinsically right. Happy and fulfilled because you have a sense that life is intrinsically right. So “blessedness” is a word that describes happiness from a biblical point of view.
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I want you to notice that immediately in verse one, the psalm starts out by showing us where we are free to pursue happiness, but we won’t find it. “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked.” You won’t find happiness there. “Nor stands in the way of sinners.” You won’t find happiness there. “Nor sits in the seat of the scoffers.” You won’t find happiness there. You say, “Oh, don’t give me that, I know lots of people who are happy doing all that kind of stuff.” Let’s examine those three things.
“Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the advice of the ungodly or the wicked.” The word means literally those who are living lives that are morally wrong. If it is true, as the Declaration of Independence states, “that the Creator has endowed his creatures with inalienable rights,” does not common sense demand that the Creator has also endowed His creatures with an understanding of how life should be lived? Is that not common sense? Is that not totally logical?
Now here’s the problem: if it is true that the Creator has not only endowed the creatures with inalienable rights, but in addition has given them instructions as to how they are to live life, what happens if people reject His way of living life? What if they are ignorant of His way of living life? What if they think they know better than the Creator? The answer is: According to the Creator, they’re living lives that are morally wrong.