HAPPY IN HIM

Psalms 72:17-19 (KJV)

His name shall endure for ever: his name shall be continued as long as the sun: and men shall be blessed in him: all nations shall call him blessed.

Blessed be the LORD God, the God of Israel, who only doeth wondrous things.

And blessed be his glorious name for ever: and let the whole earth be filled with his glory; Amen, and Amen.

I have read that, during the heydays of the great Green Bay Packers football team under coach Vince Lombardi, that he would begin every season the same way;

He would gather together all of these great football players and say something to the effect of, “Gentlemen, This is a football.”

He wanted to take them 

• Back to the basics, 
• Back to the foundation
• Back to the fundamentals

Because no matter how good they got at the game, championships are won and lost in the fundamentals.

If we are not careful, we who are Christians can reach a stage in our faith where we forget the fundamentals.

We move on to a kind of faith where we focus on 

• How we can best benefit right now or
• How we can best give right now

• We maybe start teaching a class in Sunday school or
• We get involved in some sort of outreach ministry or
• We focus our energy in song and worship

And all of that is great… if we do not lose sight of our primary purpose for being Christians in the first place.

I want to take you all the way down to the first rung of the Christian faith and remind you that the pursuit of real happiness is a pursuit of Jesus Christ.

Psalms 72:17 (KJV)

His name shall endure for ever: his name shall be continued as long as the sun: and men shall be blessed in him: all nations shall call him blessed.

Allow me to walk you through this Psalm to bring us finally to our personal application.

We will begin with

I. OUR CONTEXT

Psalms 72:1 (KJV)

A Psalm for Solomon. Give the king thy judgments, O God, and thy righteousness unto the king's son.

A. Notice the superscript first of all.

This is “A Psalm for Solomon.”

I readily confess to you that this superscript is not part of the inspired, inerrant Word of God.

It is an “add-on,” it is like a title that the Jews added to the Psalm, similar to those who gave each book of the Bible a title - it’s there to help us in our study of the Word of God but it is not technically the Word of God.

But it does give us some insight into the historical context of this Psalm.

We would take this then to be 

B. A Psalm written by David, in reference to his son, Solomon, who was to be the next King in Israel.

You might think of it in a fashion, as you would

• Isaac’s blessing on Jacob and Esau or
• Jacob’s blessings on his sons

It’s prophetic in nature.

This is King David prophesying what his son’s reign in Israel will be like.

Taken on that level it looks like the words of a pretty proud dad:

• He shall judge thy people with righteousness
• Vs 2
• He shall save the children of the needy
• Vs 3
• He shall have dominion also from sea to sea
• Vs 8
• Yea, all kings shall fall down before him
• Vs 11
• His name shall endure forever
• Vs 17

David has some Biblical reasons for making these sorts of claims for his son.

2 Samuel 7:4-17 (KJV)

And it came to pass that night, that the word of the LORD came unto Nathan, saying,

Go and tell my servant David, Thus saith the LORD, Shalt thou build me an house for me to dwell in?

Whereas I have not dwelt in any house since the time that I brought up the children of Israel out of Egypt, even to this day, but have walked in a tent and in a tabernacle.

In all the places wherein I have walked with all the children of Israel spake I a word with any of the tribes of Israel, whom I commanded to feed my people Israel, saying, Why build ye not me an house of cedar?

Now therefore so shalt thou say unto my servant David, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, I took thee from the sheepcote, from following the sheep, to be ruler over my people, over Israel:

And I was with thee whithersoever thou wentest, and have cut off all thine enemies out of thy sight, and have made thee a great name, like unto the name of the great men that are in the earth.

Moreover I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and will plant them, that they may dwell in a place of their own, and move no more; neither shall the children of wickedness afflict them any more, as beforetime,

And as since the time that I commanded judges to be over my people Israel, and have caused thee to rest from all thine enemies. Also the LORD telleth thee that he will make thee an house.

And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom.

He shall build an house for my name, and I will stablish the throne of his kingdom for ever.

I will be his father, and he shall be my son. If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men:

But my mercy shall not depart away from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away before thee.

And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee: thy throne shall be established for ever.

According to all these words, and according to all this vision, so did Nathan speak unto David.

David had every reason in the world to believe that God was going to do something incredible with Solomon.

On the other hand, 

C. The claims David made for Solomon in this Psalm can’t strictly be attached to Solomon alone. 

1. Solomon’s dominion was not quite as grand as David said

Psalms 72:8 (KJV)

He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth.

He didn’t rule the whole earth.

He didn’t even rule the known world of his day.

2. The passage hints a “salvific” quality that isn’t true of Solomon

Psalms 72:12-14 (KJV)

For he shall deliver the needy when he crieth; the poor also, and him that hath no helper.

He shall spare the poor and needy, and shall save the souls of the needy.

He shall redeem their soul from deceit and violence: and precious shall their blood be in his sight.

Taken in context we know these passages do not speak of salvation in the sense we mean today, but they do at least point the mind in that direction.

For these reasons, I would suggest to you that, while David wrote concerning his son, Solomon, he wrote prophetically of another of his sons, the Lord Jesus Christ.

That leads me then to,

II. OUR CLAIM

Vs 17

…men shall be blessed in Him: all nations shall call him blessed.

The claim I make is that this is a reference to Jesus Christ the Lord and not strictly to Solomon.

Verse 18, fairly well nails my claim down tight when it says,

Psalms 72:18 (KJV)

Blessed be the LORD God, the God of Israel, who only doeth wondrous things.

This brings us back to the fundamental I began the message with; the pursuit of real happiness is a pursuit of Jesus Christ.

Every other sort of blessedness is 

• Temporary, 
• Shaky and 
• Subject to loss

As I understand it, Thomas Jefferson took those inalienable rights of

• Life
• Liberty and
• The pursuit of happiness

From the writings of one of the most talked about philosophers in that day, John Locke.

Locke claimed that all men had the right to

• Life
• Liberty and
• The pursuit of property

I’m glad Jefferson tweaked those words a little bit. 

But it doesn’t change the fact that Americans were almost consumed with the pursuit of property in those days.

The difference between poverty and wealth was land ownership.

In the earliest days of our country, a man wasn’t even qualified to vote unless he was a landowner.

The appeal of our continent was that was so much land available – almost anyone could become someone here. 

But owning land and being wealthy didn’t always make a person happy.

During the Great Depression, affluent people were among the first to take their lives – they couldn’t stand to be poor. 

Jesus offered a much more stable solution for happiness than wealth,

Matthew 6:19-21 (KJV)

Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: 

But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: 

For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. 

Hebrews 13:8 (KJV)

Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.

Pursue Jesus Christ and you will find a happiness that is secure, stable and eternal.

I want to finish with

III. OUR CONCLUSION

Look what happens to those who are “blessed in Him.”

Psalms 72:17-19 (KJV)

… all nations shall call him blessed.

Blessed be the LORD God, the God of Israel, who only doeth wondrous things.

And blessed be his glorious name for ever: and let the whole earth be filled with his glory; Amen, and Amen.

Those who have been blessed in Him, bless Him back.

• It’s natural
• It’s innate
• It’s instinctive 

to them.

Happy people behave happily.

They say things that are happy and positive

They especially show gratitude toward those who gave them happiness.

My point is not that you need to start saying, “Blessed be the Lord God…” to prove that you are happy.

What I am saying is that there is proof here that people who pursue Jesus Christ find happiness.

• Real
• Genuine
• Deep in your soul and also
• Shows on the outside

Happiness, blessedness, joy.

HOW TO BE HAPPY IN A DARK TIME

Psalms 41:1-13 (KJV)

Blessed is he that considereth the poor: the LORD will deliver him in time of trouble.

The LORD will preserve him, and keep him alive; and he shall be blessed upon the earth: and thou wilt not deliver him unto the will of his enemies.

The LORD will strengthen him upon the bed of languishing: thou wilt make all his bed in his sickness.

I said, LORD, be merciful unto me: heal my soul; for I have sinned against thee.

Mine enemies speak evil of me, When shall he die, and his name perish?

And if he come to see me, he speaketh vanity: his heart gathereth iniquity to itself; when he goeth abroad, he telleth it. 

All that hate me whisper together against me: against me do they devise my hurt.

An evil disease, say they, cleaveth fast unto him: and now that he lieth he shall rise up no more.

Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me.

But thou, O LORD, be merciful unto me, and raise me up, that I may requite them.

By this I know that thou favourest me, because mine enemy doth not triumph over me.

And as for me, thou upholdest me in mine integrity, and settest me before thy face for ever.

Blessed be the LORD God of Israel from everlasting, and to everlasting. Amen, and Amen.

Dark times.

As tempting as it is to ignore them and pretend that everything in life is bright and cheery the fact is that dark times happen.

• Sometimes dark times happen in our personal lives
• Sometimes they happen in our family life
• Sometimes to a country or a region

Dark times are such a reality that there is a whole period of history called “the Dark Ages.”

Turns out there has been more than one.

I found this list of periods of dark ages in human history:

• Dark Ages the period in Europe following the collapse of the Western Roman Empire (5th to 15th centuries AD),  1000 YEARS LONG!
• Saeculum obscurum or "dark age" in the history of the papacy, running from 904 to 964 AD
• Irish Dark Age, a period of apparent economic and cultural stagnation in late pre-historic Ireland, lasting from c. 100 BC to c. 300 AD.
• Greek Dark Ages (c. 1100 BC – 750 BC), a period in the history of Ancient Greece and Anatolia after the Bronze Age collapse
• Dark ages of Cambodia (c. 1450–1863 AD)
• Digital dark age, a future time when it might not be possible to read historical digital documents

The United States has experienced some Dark Times too:

• The Civil War when brother was fighting brother
• World Wars I and II
• Korea and the protests of Vietnam

Not to mention the economic depressions of 

• the Reconstruction Era and 
• the Great Depression.

I tend to be the sort of person who deals with my dark times quietly and privately. 

That is not King David’s way of dealing with them.

Mind you, he didn’t crawl into a hole and hide until they were over. He had a country to lead and people to protect in battle.

But neither did he ignore them.

He dealt with his dark times by taking pen and paper and pouring his heart out to God through Psalms.

Expositor’s Bible says

“The central mass of this psalm describes the singer as suffering from two evils: sickness and treacherous friends…”

it then goes on to say,

“…he is comforting his own sorrow with the assurance…”

In other words, he used what he knew to be true about God to comfort and strengthen himself during his own dark times.

I want to take you through this Psalm today under the theme, How to Be happy in a Dark Time.

I want you to notice first of all that David comforted or cheered himself,

I. BY THE GENERAL TEACHINGS AND PRINCIPLES OF THE BIBLE 

Psalms 41:1-3 (KJV)

Blessed is he that considereth the poor: the LORD will deliver him in time of trouble.

The LORD will preserve him, and keep him alive; and he shall be blessed upon the earth: and thou wilt not deliver him unto the will of his enemies.

The LORD will strengthen him upon the bed of languishing: thou wilt make all his bed in his sickness.

Albert Barnes

“…The particular application here is, that if any one showed kindness to him that was sick or enfeebled by disease, he might expect that God would interpose in his case under similar circumstances, and would “preserve” him, or “keep him alive.” Of course this is to be regarded as a statement made under the general principle. It is not to be interpreted as teaching that this would be universally true…”

Generally speaking then, the Bible says that the person who “considers the poor” the person who sees someone suffering and takes them into account.

• He takes the time to notice they are suffering
• He takes the time to consider what sort of suffering they experience and very likely 
• He then takes the time to attempt to alleviate his suffering

Is going to be a happier person than the one who ignores the poor and goes about his own way.

A couple of thoughts I want to present to you here:

A. A poor person is not necessarily financially poor

For instance:

• A wealthy person suffering from a painful disease or
• A strong person suffering from the loss of his family

could easily be considered poor.

I would suggest that, 

• The successful person who is without eternal salvation 

is also suffering poverty of the most terrible kind.

I was taught in the early days of my ministry that,

B. The suffering person can be lifted from their suffering by ministering to people suffering

A depressed person can often be helped from their depression by visiting people in a nursing home.

A person dealing with terminal cancer can often find meaning by ministering to others with the same cancer.

I have a friend who lost a son in Iraq.

She spends a great deal of time trying to be a blessing to other gold star parents and soldiers suffering from PTSD.

Very often those who are in dark times don’t feel like doing much.

The truth is, it is in the doing that they will begin to feel like it and things will begin to seem brighter for them.

C. Notice the general promises of the passage

• The Lord will deliver him
• The Lord will preserve him
• The Lord will cheer (bless) him
• The Lord will protect him (from his enemies)
• The Lord will strengthen him in his sickness
• The Lord will comfort him on his sickbed

It is true that these are general principles and they do not always mean that those who consider the poor will:

• Defeat all of their enemies
• Win all their battles or
• Be healed from all their illnesses

But it does mean that they will be happier for considering the poor while even in their own poverty.

David comforted or cheered himself,

II. BY PRAYERS FOR MERCY AND OF CONFESSION

Psalms 41:4-10 (KJV)

I said, LORD, be merciful unto me: heal my soul; for I have sinned against thee.

Mine enemies speak evil of me, When shall he die, and his name perish?

And if he come to see me, he speaketh vanity: his heart gathereth iniquity to itself; when he goeth abroad, he telleth it. 

All that hate me whisper together against me: against me do they devise my hurt.

An evil disease, say they, cleaveth fast unto him: and now that he lieth he shall rise up no more.

Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me.

But thou, O LORD, be merciful unto me, and raise me up, that I may requite them.

At this point David goes straight to the Lord in prayer, with three specific focuses in this prayer:

A. A clean conscience before the Lord

Vs 4

I said, LORD, be merciful unto me: heal my soul; for I have sinned against thee.

1 John 1:9 (KJV) says,

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

I think we can become too religious about everything and I believe I have known some who have become too religious about this too, they live as they please and feel good about it because every night they confess their sins before they go to bed.

Religious ritual never accomplishes anything.

But genuine confession of our sins to God: 

• Cleans the conscience
• Clears the accounts between us and the Lord and
• Creates an atmosphere of fellowship with the Lord

We ought to confess our sins to God: 

• Sincerely
• Specifically and
• Certainly

B. A clear delineation of the circumstances

Vs 5-9

Mine enemies speak evil of me, When shall he die, and his name perish?

And if he come to see me, he speaketh vanity: his heart gathereth iniquity to itself; when he goeth abroad, he telleth it. 

All that hate me whisper together against me: against me do they devise my hurt.

An evil disease, say they, cleaveth fast unto him: and now that he lieth he shall rise up no more.

Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me.

This part of David’s prayer is a detailed catalog of the circumstances he faced.

In other words, he didn’t sweep his circumstances under the rug.

• Some people deal with their problems by pretending they have problems
• Some people face their challenges by ignoring them

Sometimes ignoring problems can amount to a pretty serious mistake.

I am reminded of the lesson Jesus taught, 

Luke 14:28-30 (KJV)

For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it? 

Lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him, 

Saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish. 

When you are in dark times, it’s best to take the time to “count the cost” and identify the specific problems.

The final focus of David’s prayer was

C. A Concise request for mercy, strength and enablement

Vs 10

But thou, O LORD, be merciful unto me, and raise me up, that I may requite them.

Having laid out exactly what he was facing, David’s next step was to get specific.

Generally speaking, David knew that God was merciful.

Now, he asked for mercy

Generally speaking, David knew that God would lift up those who considered the poor.

Now he asked God to raise him up and heal him.

Generally speaking, David knew that God helped his own defeat their enemies.

Now he asked God to help him defeat them.

1 John 5:14-15 (KJV) says

And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us:

And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.

Confidence that God answers our prayers is a heart cheering thing.

Lastly, David comforted or cheered himself,

III. BY RECOGNIZING GOD’S FAVOR

Psalms 41:11-13 (KJV)

By this I know that thou favourest me, because mine enemy doth not triumph over me.

And as for me, thou upholdest me in mine integrity, and settest me before thy face for ever.

Blessed be the LORD God of Israel from everlasting, and to everlasting. Amen, and Amen.

I think he is doing here what we regularly do in church.

• We remind ourselves of the truths of the Bible
• We encourage each other in the promises of God and
• We join together to worship and praise the Lord because He is worthy of it

I always leave church a happier person.

I am always glad I came into the house of the Lord.

Conclusion

So David teaches us how to be happy in dark times by:

• Reflecting on the general teachings and principles of the Bible 
• Prayers for mercy and of confession and
• Recognizing God’s favor and giving Him worship