You show me the path of life.
    In your presence there is fullness of joy;
    in your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

Psalm 16:11

Towards the beginning of this blog, I took up the question of happiness. I said there were three signs of happiness:
1) Happiness is not simply a diversion from unhappiness.
2) Happiness will make us glad to be what we are.
3) Happiness is eternal.

This verse of Psalm 16 posits that all three signs of happiness point to God.

2) The path of life

We’ll start with number two. It’s okay to go out of order if you do it on purpose.

God shows us the path of life. He shows us where we are to go, what we are to do, who we are to be. “This is the way; walk in it.” (Isaiah 30:21) In the way He shows us, there is no fear of examining our lives. We must know ourselves and not despise ourselves, because He loves us.

God loves each of us for many reasons. One of the core ones is our potential to be changed by His mercy and grace. The simplest people, the ones the world tempts us to reject, are the most beloved; they are most likely to open their hearts wide to let in the mercy that others have rejected.

People who open their hearts in this way put another face on grace. They give the rejectors a second chance to accept it. We must all see this as our primary purpose in life: simplicity, humility, loving ourselves as God loves us. When our hearts are the resting places of his grace, it will overflow to all the world.

1) Fullness of joy

In the presence of God, we find the fullness of joy. Joy is not only a diversion; we don’t focus on it to distract us from our deep unhappiness. We focus on joy for its own sake.

When we find true happiness, we will want the object of that happiness to fill our mind and soul, and we would never want to be parted from it. The fullness of joy is the all-encompassing happiness we seek. And it is God.

3) Pleasures forevermore

We can only be happy if our happiness is eternal; we know it will never be taken from us. That is what God offers us. His right hand is outstretched to bestow all blessings on us. All we must do is trust and receive.

In heaven, in His Presence, we will have fullness of joy, life, and pleasures forever more. Even on earth we can participate in happiness. Try to find Him everywhere we are. We turn our minds to Him every moment. When we do that, we have found happiness.