Unlocking Happiness | Sunday, November 3, 2024

Make a joyful shout to the Lord, all you lands! Serve the Lord with gladness; come before His presence with singing. Know that the Lord, He is God; it is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; we are His people and the sheep of His pasture. Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name. For the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting, and His truth endures to all generations. (Psalm 100)

When the mind remembers God's goodness, the heart overflows with thanksgiving—and that is the secret to happiness.

A Season for Gratitude

We are just a little more than 48 hours away from the season finale of the U.S. presidential election, and this one has been a doozy—assassination attempts, palace intrigue, a late-season candidate swap. I'll confess I get sucked into the political news cycle every four years more than I should, even though I thoroughly believe God is sovereign over governments, leaders, and this whole situation. When we reach this point in the lead-up, I find myself thinking, Thank God it's almost over—a measure of gratitude, no matter the outcome I'm hoping and praying for.

We've also just finished the Book of Judges, another doozy with some heavy but instructive lessons. Now we enter November, a month our culture associates with Thanksgiving. It's good for us as a church to focus our attention on gratitude this month rather than casually remembering it on one day at the end. I'm grateful our culture encourages this, because gratitude genuinely makes life better.

The Research and the Reason

That gratitude makes life better is taught in Scripture, but it is also observably true and well researched. Studies show gratitude carries emotional and psychological benefits, physical health benefits, social and relational benefits, and cognitive benefits. We don't enjoy being around chronically complaining, ungrateful people; we are drawn to those who are joyful and grateful.

But why does gratitude make life better? Part of it has to do with our nature. As a Christian I believe God made us—"in the beginning God created"—and He made us for certain ends and purposes. As the original equipment manufacturer, He knows best how this equipment works, and He says gratitude is essential. Gratitude is like the lubricant of the machine; it helps us live this life better. That is why God desires and wills our gratitude.

God's Will for Your Life

Pastor Mark pointed to a key gratitude passage this week:

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. (1 Thessalonians 5:16–18)

One of the most frequently asked questions I received as a youth pastor was, "What is God's will for my life?" Here is one place where it is explicitly stated: give thanks in all things.

It is worth noting that Paul wrote this to a newly planted church of new believers in Thessalonica who were themselves facing difficult circumstances and potential persecution. He was also writing as one going through difficulty himself. Just before this, in Philippi, Paul and Silas were beaten and thrown into jail, and there they gave thanks to God in worship. The circumstances didn't compel thankfulness in any way, yet Paul had learned this truth: in everything give thanks, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

The Secret to Happiness

How many of you want to be happier? We live in a culture devoted to the pursuit of happiness, and nearly everyone you meet is seeking it. People conclude that money, power, influence, awards, or success will make them happy—yet almost to an individual, those who achieve these things say afterward, "That didn't make me happy." So what will?

Dennis Prager, a Jewish author whose biblical commentary I find very good (I pray he someday finds Jesus), wrote a book called Happiness Is a Serious Problem. On page 59 he writes:

Yes, there is a secret to happiness, and it is gratitude. All happy people are grateful, and ungrateful people cannot be happy. We tend to think being unhappy leads people to complain, but it is truer to say that complaining leads people to become unhappy.

He concludes: become a grateful person and you will become a much happier person. If that's true—and I believe it is—can you see why God would desire your gratitude?

Point one: God wills our happiness, therefore He wills our thanksgiving. Jesus said in John, "These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full." His aim is the fullness of your joy.

The Eucharist and the Key of Memory

Last week we partook of communion, which more traditional churches call the Eucharist. That Greek word is connected to the verb "give thanks" in 1 Thessalonians 5:18. When we partake of the bread and cup, we remember what Jesus did for us so that we might be stirred to give thanks to Him. Jesus said, "Do this in remembrance of Me."

Point two: a key to gratitude is memory. The Psalms repeatedly model this. "I will remember the works of the Lord; surely I will remember Your wonders of old. I will also meditate on Your work, and talk of Your deeds" (Psalm 77). And Psalm 63:6: "When I remember You on my bed, I meditate on You in the night watches. Because You have been my help, therefore in the shadow of Your wings I will rejoice."

I have a hard time sleeping because I can't shut my brain off—churning over tasks, things that didn't go well, things months away. But when I redirect my thoughts and remember God upon my bed, as the psalmist says, I am freed from what weighs on me and experience joyful rest. As another psalm says, "He gives His beloved sleep."

Don't Forget the Lord

Moses pressed the same point. "Be careful that you do not forget the Lord, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the house of bondage" (Deuteronomy 6:12). Imagine telling people who had been in slavery for 400 years not to forget their deliverance—yet we can. Some of you remember your own slavery, not in Egypt but to sin, and we must be careful not to forget that God rescued us from it.

A couple chapters later: "You shall remember the Lord your God, who led you all these forty years in the wilderness" (Deuteronomy 8:2). Don't forget that He delivered you, and don't forget that He has provided for you every single day since. It's easy to forget His provision once life becomes more secure. My wife and I have known times when God provided in ways that made us ask, "How did that even happen?"—and yet I can so easily forget when the next challenge arises. One of God's names is Jehovah Jireh, "the Lord who provides," and He wants us to know Him that way.

First Chronicles 16:12 and Psalm 105:5 say it word for word: "Remember His marvelous works which He has done, His wonders, and the judgments of His mouth." Psalm 105 begins, "Oh, give thanks to the Lord! Call upon His name; make known His deeds among the peoples." Keep this simple equation in mind: a key to gratitude is memory, and a key to happiness is gratitude. If you want to become happy, become grateful; if you want to become grateful, remember the good things God has done.

A Call to Worship

Psalm 100 is considered a Thanksgiving psalm, traditionally written by King David. It opens with a general call to worship—exactly what we do when we gather. I'll confess that sometimes I arrive not really in the worshipful mood. So what do I need to do? I need to bring my heart and mind into a place ready to make a joyful shout, by doing what Psalm 105 commands: remembering His marvelous works.

The best thing I've learned is to pray a simple prayer: "God, help me to remember what You've done for me—Your greatness, Your goodness, the way You've provided and delivered me." Try that this week, because some things are certainly going to happen that will distract and discourage you. That's a prophecy sure to come to pass. God still calls for our gratitude, and to give it I have to ask Him to help me remember His goodness.

Serve the Lord with Gladness

The psalmist commands, "Serve the Lord with gladness." Many people say, "I'd love to serve, but you don't realize how busy I am—it's hard for me to even come for an hour." Here is a freeing reality from Scripture: your job, your schoolwork, the paper you have to write, the project at work, the things at home with the kids—all of it is service to God. Paul says, "Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him" (Colossians 3:17).

Point three: the key to serving God with gladness is seeing everything you do as service to Him. Reframe your work, and it will change how you view it, how you do it, and how you prioritize it. My dad has a saying—"they did it to themselves"—that runs through my mind in heavy seasons. I'm in a demanding PhD program now, up at four in the morning reading thousands of pages, and sometimes I think, "This book is dumb, this paper is pointless." But when I reframe it—"Lord, I'm doing this as unto You, this is worship"—it completely changes my outlook, my attitude, even how I see my professor. Amazingly, it also frees up time I didn't think I had.

Coming Before His Presence

"Come before His presence with singing." You have the privilege of coming before the King of kings and Creator of all things—not as a fearful subject of a petulant king, but as a child of the living God. Paul writes that God "chose us in Him before the foundation of the world... having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of His will." It brought God joy to make you His child. You were not forced upon Him; He chose, predestined, and adopted you, "to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved."

This is why Hebrews 4:16 says, "Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need." We have bold access by grace, and His grace toward us is abundant and never-ending. Meditate on that, and it will radically alter your attitude.

Know That the Lord Is God

"Know that the Lord, He is God." Is there anything in your life that feels too big, too bothersome, too burdensome? Here is something good to know: your Lord is God—the God of gods, the One who made everything—and He is your Master and Father. This is the One who said, "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest... for My yoke is easy and My burden is light."

"It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves." This is a freeing truth in a culture obsessed with the self-made person. You don't have to make yourself; you simply have to become what God created you to be by His grace and the working of His Spirit. "We are His people and the sheep of His pasture"—we belong to Him, and He cares for us as a shepherd, which echoes Psalm 23: "He makes me to lie down in green pastures... He restores my soul."

Point four: there is freedom and joy in knowing the Creator God as your Lord, Father, and Provider. Many of you are walking through difficult circumstances—health, career, marriage, money, children, aging parents. God says, "In everything give thanks." How? Because He is your Creator, your Lord, and your Father who takes care of you. If you learn to rest in that truth, you will actually experience rest.

Thanksgiving as Overflow

"Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name." Joyful praise becomes easy when we know these truths—but I'm not ready to worship until I've remembered His marvelous works. So I think it's right to say that thanksgiving is the heart's natural overflow when the mind is set upon the goodness and grace of God. It bubbles up, overflows, and splashes onto other people.

My mom is one of those people who joyfully splashes onto everyone, whether you like it or not—like getting soaked at SeaWorld. Sometimes it's a bit overwhelming, but it overflows because her mind is set on God's goodness. And when it isn't like that, you can tell her mind is in the wrong place. It's a good thing to joyfully overflow onto others.

The Lord Is Good

"For the Lord is good." Do you believe that? Sometimes we imagine God isn't happy with us—we didn't pray enough, give enough, serve enough—so He merely puts up with us. In reality, the Lord is good; that is how He chose to reveal Himself. "His mercy is everlasting." We sometimes think He's on His last nerve with us, because if I were Him I'd be on my last nerve with me. But His mercy never ceases. Lamentations says His mercies are new every morning; great is His faithfulness. We never come to the throne of grace and hear, "I'm sorry, the grace ran out." He always has more.

Point five: God's everlasting mercy and grace compels our continual gratitude and praise. Many things distract and discourage us—the state of the world, the nation, our families, finances, careers. But when we refocus our attention on God's grace and goodness, our perspective shifts inevitably to gratitude, and gratitude brings joy. God wills our happiness, therefore He wills our gratitude.

I've discovered from Scripture and experience that gratitude is less a feeling and more a discipline. When I learn that discipline, it radically transforms my view of the world. And it's something we desperately need, because joyful people are attractive people, and joy is one of the greatest evangelistic tools on the planet. People at work, at school, in your neighborhood will wonder why you have joy they don't have. I want the ministry of producing holy jealousy—people looking and asking, "Why does he always have joy?" The fruit of the Spirit—love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, self-control—is attractive. May God make it abundant in our lives.

Closing Prayer

Father God, thank You for Your good word. I pray that we would take these things to heart—the simple truths of Psalm 100—at the beginning of this month and at the beginning of a season when distracting and discouraging things will inevitably come before us. Would You do a work of helping us set our minds on things above, not on the things of this earth, but firmly seated with You in heaven. You are our Father, our Lord, our Provider. Rejoice our hearts, that we might bring to You a shout of praise. Even as we sing this final song, stir our hearts to worship You—for the passage says to make a joyful noise, and some of us are just more noisy than others. We ask this in Jesus' name, and all those who agreed said, Amen.