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THE REAL SOURCE OF HAPPINESS (4 OF 6)

by Jonathan McLeod

Scripture: Psalm 16
This content is part of a series.


The Real Source of Happiness (4 of 6)
Series: Summer in the Psalms
Jonathan McLeod
Psalm 16


You make known to me the path of life; in your presence is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore (v. 11).


THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS

We all want to be happy. We pursue different things attempting to find happiness (fame, wealth, beauty, knowledge, power, etc.). Psalm 16 says that true happiness is found in God.

[Read Psalm 16.]


NO GOOD APART FROM GOD

David writes, ''I say to the Lord, 'You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you''' (v. 2). Does David mean ''I have no good other than God,'' or, ''I have no good except for God''? Both are true. There is nothing better to have in our lives than God, and all good things come from him. [List a few of the good things from God, especially salvation.] God is the real source of happiness.


SEARCHING FOR HAPPINESS FROM OTHER GODS

David says, ''The sorrows of those who run after another god shall multiply'' (v. 4). The first commandment says, ''You shall have no other gods before me'' (Exod. 20:3). The apostle John wrote, ''Little children, keep yourselves from idols'' (1 John 5:21). John's was probably writing to Christians living near or in the city of Ephesus. In Ephesus, there was both traditional idolatry and idolatry of the heart. Ephesus was famous for its Temple of Artemis, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. The worship of Artemis was traditional idolatry. The apostle Paul, in his letter to the Ephesians, states that a ''covetous'' person is ''an idolater'' (Eph. 5:5; cf. Col. 3:5). Covetousness is one kind of idolatry of the heart.

John Calvin writes that idolatry is ''to worship the gifts in place of the giver himself.''
Tim Keller defines idolatry as ''the making of good things into ultimate things.'' In his book Counterfeit Gods, Keller writes than an idol is ''anything so central and essential to your life that, should you lose it, your life would f ...

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