1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:07,800 Hello and welcome today to Trinity Sermons. 2 00:00:07,800 --> 00:00:12,880 So glad you're with us here at Trinity Church, Streetsville, a church in Mississauga, Ontario, 3 00:00:12,880 --> 00:00:19,660 where we want to love Jesus, to live like Jesus, and to lead others to Jesus. 4 00:00:19,660 --> 00:00:24,520 This is episode two of our sermon series, What Makes Us Happy? 5 00:00:24,520 --> 00:00:29,720 And we're excited to have Rob Hirkmans with us today to explore one of the world's oldest 6 00:00:29,720 --> 00:00:33,240 songs, Psalm 1. 7 00:00:33,240 --> 00:00:37,800 In today's message, Rob is going to be talking about ancient, timeless wisdom about true 8 00:00:37,800 --> 00:00:38,800 happiness. 9 00:00:38,800 --> 00:00:43,320 There will also be plenty of references to all of your old favourite songs, so don't 10 00:00:43,320 --> 00:00:45,160 miss this talk. 11 00:00:45,160 --> 00:00:54,680 Enjoy the sermon today, and God bless. 12 00:00:54,680 --> 00:00:58,680 Our reading today is from Psalm number one. 13 00:00:58,680 --> 00:01:04,440 God is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked, or stand in the way that sinners 14 00:01:04,440 --> 00:01:11,960 take, or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and 15 00:01:11,960 --> 00:01:15,520 who meditates on his law day and night. 16 00:01:15,520 --> 00:01:23,320 That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season, 17 00:01:23,320 --> 00:01:30,800 and whose leaf does not wither, whatever they do prospers, not so the wicked. 18 00:01:30,800 --> 00:01:33,880 And they are like chaff that the wind blows away. 19 00:01:33,880 --> 00:01:39,920 Therefore, the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the 20 00:01:39,920 --> 00:01:41,420 righteous. 21 00:01:41,420 --> 00:01:48,680 For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked leads to destruction. 22 00:01:48,680 --> 00:01:50,360 This is the word of the Lord. 23 00:01:50,360 --> 00:01:52,640 Thanks be to God. 24 00:01:52,640 --> 00:01:55,600 Well good morning everyone, and welcome to church. 25 00:01:55,600 --> 00:02:01,120 This morning we're going to dispense with the pleasantries and get right down to business, 26 00:02:01,120 --> 00:02:04,000 because there's something that I want to talk to you about. 27 00:02:04,000 --> 00:02:08,640 There is something that I have been noticing, and I wonder if you notice it too. 28 00:02:08,640 --> 00:02:12,880 I think it's important we talk about it, because I think it's kind of a real thing. 29 00:02:12,880 --> 00:02:15,480 So here's the deal, here's the easiest question ever. 30 00:02:15,480 --> 00:02:18,520 How many of you like music? 31 00:02:18,520 --> 00:02:21,400 Yes, everyone likes music. 32 00:02:21,400 --> 00:02:27,200 Well then, if you're like me, have you noticed that it seems like more and more people are 33 00:02:27,200 --> 00:02:35,040 choosing to listen to the old music, older songs, rather than listening to the new songs 34 00:02:35,040 --> 00:02:36,040 these days? 35 00:02:36,040 --> 00:02:41,120 I mean, every day, every week, there's new songs, there's new albums, there's new artists 36 00:02:41,120 --> 00:02:47,200 that are coming out, and yet it seems to me that people seem to be gravitating still toward 37 00:02:47,200 --> 00:02:49,000 all the old stuff. 38 00:02:49,000 --> 00:02:54,640 I will tell you the moment when this kind of really crystallized for me and became clear. 39 00:02:54,640 --> 00:03:03,920 Our daughter Petra, who is actually 14 years old, she created her first playlist on Spotify. 40 00:03:03,920 --> 00:03:08,600 And so what was happening was we were on a trip in the car, some kind of a road trip, 41 00:03:08,600 --> 00:03:13,320 and she said, Dad, would I be able to play my songs from my playlist? 42 00:03:13,320 --> 00:03:15,480 And everyone said, sure, that sounds great. 43 00:03:15,480 --> 00:03:21,040 And I suppose what we were expecting to hear at that point was maybe some Ed Sheeran or 44 00:03:21,040 --> 00:03:25,800 maybe some Taylor Swift or maybe some Justin Bieber or Olivia Rodrigo or whatever. 45 00:03:25,800 --> 00:03:28,200 We were all prepared to kind of hear that. 46 00:03:28,200 --> 00:03:36,040 But then what we heard instead was American Pie by Dom Clank. 47 00:03:36,040 --> 00:03:43,040 And then we heard Don't Stop Believing by Journey and Living on a Prayer by Bon Jovi. 48 00:03:43,040 --> 00:03:44,840 And it just kept on going and going. 49 00:03:44,840 --> 00:03:45,840 It was Motley Crue. 50 00:03:45,840 --> 00:03:47,400 It was Elton John. 51 00:03:47,400 --> 00:03:52,200 It was The Who, Kate Bush, The Police Starship Queen. 52 00:03:52,200 --> 00:03:55,160 And these were some of the songs that I was listening to when I was her age. 53 00:03:55,160 --> 00:03:57,720 And some of them are way older than that, too. 54 00:03:57,720 --> 00:04:01,500 For example, last night when our kids were going to bed, they were cranking out a tune 55 00:04:01,500 --> 00:04:03,720 pretty loud in the house, I might say. 56 00:04:03,720 --> 00:04:05,680 And guess what that tune was? 57 00:04:05,680 --> 00:04:08,360 Carly Simon, You're So Vain. 58 00:04:08,360 --> 00:04:10,760 You're So Vain. 59 00:04:10,760 --> 00:04:14,800 That song was released in 1972. 60 00:04:14,800 --> 00:04:18,440 That was over 50 years ago. 61 00:04:18,440 --> 00:04:22,640 And this is the music that they prefer to listen to. 62 00:04:22,640 --> 00:04:26,720 Now I got to tell you, when she puts it on, everybody's bopping and rocking. 63 00:04:26,720 --> 00:04:28,040 Even mom and dad are bopping and rocking. 64 00:04:28,040 --> 00:04:33,400 By the way, if you want to subscribe to Petra's playlist, there it is. 65 00:04:33,400 --> 00:04:34,400 It's called Favorite Oldies. 66 00:04:34,400 --> 00:04:38,120 There's probably only a million playlists called Favorite Oldies on Spotify. 67 00:04:38,120 --> 00:04:43,360 But this is the one with Mike Wheeler wearing the Ghostbusters costume from Stranger Things. 68 00:04:43,360 --> 00:04:47,360 Stranger Things, by the way, was a TV show that featured all sorts of old music. 69 00:04:47,360 --> 00:04:50,880 But that was a TV show that was geared for younger people. 70 00:04:50,880 --> 00:04:52,220 So there you go again. 71 00:04:52,220 --> 00:04:55,440 You can become one of the subscribers along with Petra and I. 72 00:04:55,440 --> 00:04:59,800 You could be the third subscriber to her playlist. 73 00:04:59,800 --> 00:05:04,720 And I thought, you know what, maybe my kid is just a little weird, a little strange. 74 00:05:04,720 --> 00:05:06,040 And that, you know, it's OK, OK. 75 00:05:06,040 --> 00:05:09,320 So she likes to listen to the old music, right? 76 00:05:09,320 --> 00:05:10,400 But it's actually not true. 77 00:05:10,400 --> 00:05:12,780 It's not just her. 78 00:05:12,780 --> 00:05:14,800 There's a thing happening out there. 79 00:05:14,800 --> 00:05:18,920 New data indicates that people are gravitating toward the older music. 80 00:05:18,920 --> 00:05:24,040 This isn't just me being Grandpa Simpson up here pining for the music of my youth. 81 00:05:24,040 --> 00:05:27,440 No, check out this recent article from the Atlantic. 82 00:05:27,440 --> 00:05:30,560 Whoa, whoa, that just went through about five slides at once. 83 00:05:30,560 --> 00:05:33,040 Can you just back up to the Atlantic? 84 00:05:33,040 --> 00:05:38,600 This article shows that 70% of the music that people are listening to these days is what 85 00:05:38,600 --> 00:05:44,880 they would classify as not current or it's like 18 months old or older, often much, much, 86 00:05:44,880 --> 00:05:45,880 much older. 87 00:05:45,880 --> 00:05:50,200 And so it's true that when you turn on the radio, you'll hear Lizzo or you'll hear Cardi 88 00:05:50,200 --> 00:05:51,560 B or Drake. 89 00:05:51,560 --> 00:05:52,720 And they get all the attention. 90 00:05:52,720 --> 00:05:53,800 They get all the press. 91 00:05:53,800 --> 00:05:54,800 Why is that? 92 00:05:54,800 --> 00:05:57,400 It's because the algorithms favor them. 93 00:05:57,400 --> 00:05:59,080 The publicists promote them. 94 00:05:59,080 --> 00:06:01,120 The DJs hype them. 95 00:06:01,120 --> 00:06:05,240 But evidence indicates it's not where you follow the money. 96 00:06:05,240 --> 00:06:11,400 Follow the money and you will see that by far and by and large, all the money is found 97 00:06:11,400 --> 00:06:15,560 in those old songs getting played over and over and over again. 98 00:06:15,560 --> 00:06:19,720 That's what's driving revenue in just about every music service. 99 00:06:19,720 --> 00:06:28,200 Alan Cross, who is a music columnist, he, sorry, this isn't working really well for me. 100 00:06:28,200 --> 00:06:30,800 Could you just go to the next slide? 101 00:06:30,800 --> 00:06:36,320 He writes that in other words, the data, no, that's not, I'm so sorry. 102 00:06:36,320 --> 00:06:37,320 There we go. 103 00:06:37,320 --> 00:06:42,080 The data appears to indicate that music fans are increasingly gravitating toward older 104 00:06:42,080 --> 00:06:48,080 material because, well, because it's better than the stuff coming out today. 105 00:06:48,080 --> 00:06:49,200 It's more interesting. 106 00:06:49,200 --> 00:06:54,160 It's less predictable and it offers more melodic, structural and lyrical surprises. 107 00:06:54,160 --> 00:06:57,920 That may also actually explain the re-emergence of vinyl. 108 00:06:57,920 --> 00:07:00,720 Have you guys noticed that vinyl is making a bit of a comeback? 109 00:07:00,720 --> 00:07:06,080 Over the last 20 years, sales of vinyl records have been increasing year after year and now 110 00:07:06,080 --> 00:07:08,960 people would say, well, that's just because people like the sound. 111 00:07:08,960 --> 00:07:12,820 They like the, it's a higher quality sound that comes off of a vinyl record. 112 00:07:12,820 --> 00:07:18,480 That may be true or maybe there's something about these records that draws us back to 113 00:07:18,480 --> 00:07:24,360 the old music and there's something about the old music that the new music just doesn't 114 00:07:24,360 --> 00:07:25,360 do for us. 115 00:07:25,360 --> 00:07:32,920 It says something or at least the way it says it resonates with us more. 116 00:07:32,920 --> 00:07:37,520 It seems like the old songs just seem to say it better than the new songs. 117 00:07:37,520 --> 00:07:40,800 Now you can fight through that in your life groups this week. 118 00:07:40,800 --> 00:07:48,160 I didn't mean to start a war here, but you might now say, what does that have to do with 119 00:07:48,160 --> 00:07:49,160 anything? 120 00:07:49,160 --> 00:07:51,120 Well, we're in the midst of a teaching series. 121 00:07:51,120 --> 00:07:56,560 It's called What Makes Us Happy and we're trying to deal with, answer that age old question 122 00:07:56,560 --> 00:07:59,120 about happiness. 123 00:07:59,120 --> 00:08:03,160 And just like in the music industry, when we try to answer this question, we have our 124 00:08:03,160 --> 00:08:09,840 choice, choice between some of the new modern answers, the new music and what it says about 125 00:08:09,840 --> 00:08:16,340 happiness or we can also listen to what some of the oldies, the old answers to the question 126 00:08:16,340 --> 00:08:18,560 of the source of happiness have to say to us. 127 00:08:18,560 --> 00:08:24,000 So my question is, where do you turn when you want to hear for what makes for human 128 00:08:24,000 --> 00:08:27,280 happiness, what makes us happy? 129 00:08:27,280 --> 00:08:30,080 Do you look at the old ideas or do you look at the new ideas? 130 00:08:30,080 --> 00:08:36,240 Do you listen to the old songs and what they say or the new songs and what they say? 131 00:08:36,240 --> 00:08:41,920 The modern idea about happiness tells us that happiness is something that we can kind of 132 00:08:41,920 --> 00:08:49,560 create through our own ingenuity and through human reason and science and innovation. 133 00:08:49,560 --> 00:08:54,480 The newest and best ideas that we come up with can solve so many of the problems in 134 00:08:54,480 --> 00:08:59,120 the world and make life just happier for everyone. 135 00:08:59,120 --> 00:09:04,720 And for 200 years, that has been the song that has been playing on repeat over and over 136 00:09:04,720 --> 00:09:05,720 again. 137 00:09:05,720 --> 00:09:11,600 Technology and science and progress and innovation will make us happier people. 138 00:09:11,600 --> 00:09:14,880 And that song is correct to a point. 139 00:09:14,880 --> 00:09:20,000 There are many advances over the last 200 years that have made life easier, made life 140 00:09:20,000 --> 00:09:28,460 more equitable, made people healthier, made people just safer even in their lives. 141 00:09:28,460 --> 00:09:30,120 So yes, today it's true. 142 00:09:30,120 --> 00:09:31,120 We have more money. 143 00:09:31,120 --> 00:09:32,400 We have more vacations. 144 00:09:32,400 --> 00:09:33,800 We have better health care. 145 00:09:33,800 --> 00:09:38,360 We have more longevity than our ancestors did. 146 00:09:38,360 --> 00:09:43,840 But the question is, are we fundamentally happier than they were? 147 00:09:43,840 --> 00:09:47,120 I think that would be a hard case to make. 148 00:09:47,120 --> 00:09:51,940 In fact, there has been research done on human happiness. 149 00:09:51,940 --> 00:09:59,120 And we can see that the World Happiness Report finds that people are in fact feeling worse, 150 00:09:59,120 --> 00:10:01,440 worse than they did in the past. 151 00:10:01,440 --> 00:10:05,660 In the past 50 years, 50 years, by the way, which had some of the greatest inventions 152 00:10:05,660 --> 00:10:10,060 and some of the greatest innovations in all of human history, happiness on a whole still 153 00:10:10,060 --> 00:10:18,660 has decreased, which means that the new music, the new ideas, the new opinions about what 154 00:10:18,660 --> 00:10:24,560 makes for a happy life, they have not landed well and they're not working. 155 00:10:24,560 --> 00:10:27,760 They haven't resulted in an increase in human happiness. 156 00:10:27,760 --> 00:10:33,240 No, if you want to find the answer to human happiness, you've got to go back. 157 00:10:33,240 --> 00:10:37,960 You've got to go back to the old songs and to the wisdom of the past. 158 00:10:37,960 --> 00:10:41,800 Even the authors of this, remember the study that we talked about, The Good Life, it was 159 00:10:41,800 --> 00:10:45,360 a study from Harvard on what makes for human happiness. 160 00:10:45,360 --> 00:10:46,560 Even they acknowledge this. 161 00:10:46,560 --> 00:10:49,440 They say the ancients beat us to it. 162 00:10:49,440 --> 00:10:50,440 Right? 163 00:10:50,440 --> 00:10:55,140 They, yes, we're living in a different time, but their world is still our world. 164 00:10:55,140 --> 00:11:00,840 Their wisdom is our inheritance and we should take advantage of it. 165 00:11:00,840 --> 00:11:04,640 To translate that into kind of another way of putting it, what they're saying is take 166 00:11:04,640 --> 00:11:07,520 the old records off the shelf. 167 00:11:07,520 --> 00:11:09,200 Sit and listen to them by yourself. 168 00:11:09,200 --> 00:11:11,560 Today's music ain't got the same soul. 169 00:11:11,560 --> 00:11:14,960 I like that old kind of rock and roll. 170 00:11:14,960 --> 00:11:15,960 Right? 171 00:11:15,960 --> 00:11:21,480 The ancient wisdom, the ancient wisdom on happiness that the Bible teaches is this. 172 00:11:21,480 --> 00:11:26,960 It's that human happiness is not found through advances in technology or through advances 173 00:11:26,960 --> 00:11:32,080 in psychology or advances in science or philosophy. 174 00:11:32,080 --> 00:11:36,360 These are all wonderful advancements and they're great and they do make life better, but the 175 00:11:36,360 --> 00:11:41,880 Bible teaches us that fundamentally the things that make you happy or unhappy are deeply 176 00:11:41,880 --> 00:11:49,320 spiritual, and that that has remained unchanged for millennia. 177 00:11:49,320 --> 00:11:51,440 So you want to learn about happiness? 178 00:11:51,440 --> 00:11:52,440 You got to go back. 179 00:11:52,440 --> 00:11:53,560 You got to go deep into the catalog. 180 00:11:53,560 --> 00:11:56,280 You got to go way back and listen to the old songs. 181 00:11:56,280 --> 00:11:58,560 And today we're going to do just that. 182 00:11:58,560 --> 00:12:04,720 Today we are going to go and pull one of the oldest records, the oldest records off the 183 00:12:04,720 --> 00:12:06,000 shelf ever. 184 00:12:06,000 --> 00:12:11,360 And we're going to look at one of the oldest songs that was ever, ever written. 185 00:12:11,360 --> 00:12:16,800 And that song is Psalm number one. 186 00:12:16,800 --> 00:12:17,980 Psalm number one. 187 00:12:17,980 --> 00:12:22,600 That song just happens to be all about what it takes to be happy. 188 00:12:22,600 --> 00:12:24,680 Now you would be like, wait a second. 189 00:12:24,680 --> 00:12:26,000 Psalms as a song. 190 00:12:26,000 --> 00:12:27,000 What are you talking about? 191 00:12:27,000 --> 00:12:28,000 You're getting your words mixed up. 192 00:12:28,000 --> 00:12:30,280 But no, it's, it's actually a lot of people don't realize this. 193 00:12:30,280 --> 00:12:34,760 The book of Psalms was meant to be put to music. 194 00:12:34,760 --> 00:12:36,960 These words are for singing. 195 00:12:36,960 --> 00:12:40,120 So when you pick up your Bible and basically all you got to do is open your Bible right 196 00:12:40,120 --> 00:12:41,820 to the very middle. 197 00:12:41,820 --> 00:12:51,000 You will find yourself smack dab in this album, this musical album with 150 tracks. 198 00:12:51,000 --> 00:12:55,200 These are the oldest songs ever written. 199 00:12:55,200 --> 00:12:57,400 Talk about oldies, right? 200 00:12:57,400 --> 00:13:02,280 And if you were to put this record, if you were to dust this one off and you were to 201 00:13:02,280 --> 00:13:07,720 put that one on your record player and you were to put the needle down, the very first 202 00:13:07,720 --> 00:13:11,880 thing that you would hear are these words. 203 00:13:11,880 --> 00:13:15,480 Happy is the one who dot dot dot. 204 00:13:15,480 --> 00:13:21,880 Keep in mind, this is track one, Psalm one, the oldest song perhaps ever written, the 205 00:13:21,880 --> 00:13:30,680 headliner for the entire album and the first word is happy, joyful, satisfied. 206 00:13:30,680 --> 00:13:37,020 Happy is the one who, and the time that I got left this morning, I just want to say, 207 00:13:37,020 --> 00:13:43,840 what is this old song trying to teach us about happiness that the new songs just aren't teaching? 208 00:13:43,840 --> 00:13:48,200 And I think we can break it down into three things that that is this, that happiness is 209 00:13:48,200 --> 00:13:51,200 essentially something you can have. 210 00:13:51,200 --> 00:13:56,160 Happiness is something you can keep and happiness is something you can choose. 211 00:13:56,160 --> 00:14:00,480 Let's go through that and let's start by dropping the needle on this one. 212 00:14:00,480 --> 00:14:03,200 Happiness is something you can have. 213 00:14:03,200 --> 00:14:07,880 Now when you first hear me say that you say, Rob, that doesn't sound all that revolutionary. 214 00:14:07,880 --> 00:14:10,480 That's not like a real big idea, is it? 215 00:14:10,480 --> 00:14:16,040 But it actually is pretty profound because when someone opens with these words, happy 216 00:14:16,040 --> 00:14:22,240 is the one who, what it's actually saying is that happiness on the one hand is not a 217 00:14:22,240 --> 00:14:23,400 guarantee. 218 00:14:23,400 --> 00:14:26,680 It's not like everybody is automatically happy. 219 00:14:26,680 --> 00:14:30,720 And on the other hand, it is not saying that happiness is something that's out of reach 220 00:14:30,720 --> 00:14:32,240 and nobody can be happy. 221 00:14:32,240 --> 00:14:34,800 No, it's saying there is a pathway. 222 00:14:34,800 --> 00:14:38,360 There is a way to being happy. 223 00:14:38,360 --> 00:14:43,560 Now I remember when I was a kid, I think I had a view of the world that everybody was 224 00:14:43,560 --> 00:14:48,240 happy and that I was happy and that being happy was just kind of a natural part of life. 225 00:14:48,240 --> 00:14:50,080 I was a happy-go-lucky kid. 226 00:14:50,080 --> 00:14:55,400 Not every kid was, but generally when we're young, we have a very happy outlook on life. 227 00:14:55,400 --> 00:14:58,520 We think that everyone's happy and everyone's going to be happy. 228 00:14:58,520 --> 00:15:01,880 Then as we grow up and we go through life and we have a few hard knocks and we have 229 00:15:01,880 --> 00:15:06,560 some tragedy and some hurts and those kinds of things happen, the very opposite starts 230 00:15:06,560 --> 00:15:07,560 to happen. 231 00:15:07,560 --> 00:15:12,440 Pretty soon we get cynical and we get jaded and we think, you know, happiness is actually 232 00:15:12,440 --> 00:15:15,480 out of reach and I'm giving up on the whole happiness thing. 233 00:15:15,480 --> 00:15:19,040 I would settle just for survival. 234 00:15:19,040 --> 00:15:23,960 And so we go in life from thinking that happiness is natural and everyone has it to thinking 235 00:15:23,960 --> 00:15:28,000 happiness is impossible and no one can attain to it. 236 00:15:28,000 --> 00:15:34,000 I remember one of the bands that I used to listen to when I was growing up was a band 237 00:15:34,000 --> 00:15:35,000 called REM. 238 00:15:35,000 --> 00:15:38,320 Do you guys remember the band REM? 239 00:15:38,320 --> 00:15:42,640 And I remember that in 1991 they released this one song. 240 00:15:42,640 --> 00:15:44,440 It was called Shiny Happy People. 241 00:15:44,440 --> 00:15:46,440 It was a fun, silly song. 242 00:15:46,440 --> 00:15:48,320 It was all about shiny, happy people. 243 00:15:48,320 --> 00:15:55,000 It was actually so popular that it nearly became the theme song for the TV show Friends. 244 00:15:55,000 --> 00:15:57,760 It was like that close, but it ended up not being chosen. 245 00:15:57,760 --> 00:16:03,600 But it was all about just a happy, silly, everyone's kind of happy, happy, happy song. 246 00:16:03,600 --> 00:16:09,000 And the next year, I think it was in 1992, they came out with another album and the number 247 00:16:09,000 --> 00:16:15,080 one song off that other album was Everybody Hurts. 248 00:16:15,080 --> 00:16:20,840 So from one year to the next, we went from shiny, happy people to everybody hurts. 249 00:16:20,840 --> 00:16:23,120 Wait, I thought everybody was shiny and happy. 250 00:16:23,120 --> 00:16:26,720 Now you're saying that everybody is hurting? 251 00:16:26,720 --> 00:16:32,300 There are statistics out there that say that newer music is sadder music. 252 00:16:32,300 --> 00:16:36,040 But the new songs that we hear, far more of them are sad rather than happy. 253 00:16:36,040 --> 00:16:40,280 And it could be because most of us just feel like that's the way life is. 254 00:16:40,280 --> 00:16:41,840 Life is tough and life is hard. 255 00:16:41,840 --> 00:16:47,080 And so we resonate more with the sad songs than with the happy songs. 256 00:16:47,080 --> 00:16:51,160 But someone comes along and says something different. 257 00:16:51,160 --> 00:16:55,080 This old song pushes back against both these ideas. 258 00:16:55,080 --> 00:16:59,680 The lyrics, on the one hand, they don't pretend that everybody's life is happy and easy. 259 00:16:59,680 --> 00:17:05,880 And on the other hand, the song is not all about hurt and pain. 260 00:17:05,880 --> 00:17:09,560 Psalm 1 tells us there is a way for you to be happy. 261 00:17:09,560 --> 00:17:12,000 There is a pathway to happiness. 262 00:17:12,000 --> 00:17:14,140 Happiness is possible. 263 00:17:14,140 --> 00:17:15,140 You don't need to be cynical. 264 00:17:15,140 --> 00:17:17,320 You don't need to be naive. 265 00:17:17,320 --> 00:17:18,560 You don't need to be jaded. 266 00:17:18,560 --> 00:17:19,560 It is possible. 267 00:17:19,560 --> 00:17:26,200 It is possible in this world for you to be a happy person fundamentally and consistently 268 00:17:26,200 --> 00:17:28,280 happy. 269 00:17:28,280 --> 00:17:30,960 That's just the first thing that Psalm 1 is telling us. 270 00:17:30,960 --> 00:17:33,200 You can be happy. 271 00:17:33,200 --> 00:17:36,560 Happiness is something that you can have. 272 00:17:36,560 --> 00:17:39,960 But then it goes on and the second thing this ancient song is trying to tell us is not only 273 00:17:39,960 --> 00:17:43,600 happiness is something you can have, it is something you can keep. 274 00:17:43,600 --> 00:17:48,760 And this too is a fairly radical idea because all of us, of course, from time to time, we 275 00:17:48,760 --> 00:17:54,080 experience moments of happiness, but then the trouble comes and then the problems arise 276 00:17:54,080 --> 00:18:00,440 and our happiness evaporates and our joy is gone and we're miserable once again. 277 00:18:00,440 --> 00:18:05,360 So where does Psalm 1 get off saying that happiness is something that you can keep and 278 00:18:05,360 --> 00:18:11,480 doesn't need to go away and doesn't need to come and go as circumstances change? 279 00:18:11,480 --> 00:18:17,360 Just thinking back to another song that I remember back in my childhood, a song that 280 00:18:17,360 --> 00:18:23,620 you still hear on the radio today, ain't got no place to lay your head. 281 00:18:23,620 --> 00:18:24,840 Bobby came and took your bed. 282 00:18:24,840 --> 00:18:27,160 Don't worry, be happy. 283 00:18:27,160 --> 00:18:28,680 Landlord says your rent is late. 284 00:18:28,680 --> 00:18:29,680 He may have to litigate. 285 00:18:29,680 --> 00:18:31,160 Don't worry, be happy. 286 00:18:31,160 --> 00:18:36,960 Ain't got no cash, ain't got no style, ain't got no gal to make you smile. 287 00:18:36,960 --> 00:18:38,560 Don't worry, be happy. 288 00:18:38,560 --> 00:18:40,840 Wait a second, Bobby McFerrin, what are you talking about? 289 00:18:40,840 --> 00:18:41,840 Where do you get off being so happy? 290 00:18:41,840 --> 00:18:43,880 Look at all these horrible things that are happening to you. 291 00:18:43,880 --> 00:18:45,700 How can you still be happy? 292 00:18:45,700 --> 00:18:47,640 By the way, do you know Bobby McFerrin was an Anglican? 293 00:18:47,640 --> 00:18:48,640 It's true. 294 00:18:48,640 --> 00:18:49,640 He was. 295 00:18:49,640 --> 00:18:50,640 He grew up in an Anglican church. 296 00:18:50,640 --> 00:18:51,640 Maybe that's why. 297 00:18:51,640 --> 00:18:57,960 But actually, the truth is Bobby McFerrin probably read Psalm number one. 298 00:18:57,960 --> 00:19:04,200 And he read that happy people are like, they're like trees. 299 00:19:04,200 --> 00:19:09,240 They're like trees that are planted by rivers of water. 300 00:19:09,240 --> 00:19:11,680 Can we go to the next slide there? 301 00:19:11,680 --> 00:19:14,320 Trees are planted by the rivers of water. 302 00:19:14,320 --> 00:19:19,400 You see, most, most trees are subject to all the changes of the seasons. 303 00:19:19,400 --> 00:19:22,440 In a time of drought, a tree is not always fruitful. 304 00:19:22,440 --> 00:19:24,400 Its leaves can sometimes wither. 305 00:19:24,400 --> 00:19:25,760 It doesn't always look beautiful. 306 00:19:25,760 --> 00:19:26,760 There aren't always blossoms. 307 00:19:26,760 --> 00:19:28,480 It doesn't always have green leaves. 308 00:19:28,480 --> 00:19:32,080 But look, this tree in Psalm one is different, right? 309 00:19:32,080 --> 00:19:38,260 It is planted by a riverbank and it has roots that go down deep and they access this constant 310 00:19:38,260 --> 00:19:39,920 source of water. 311 00:19:39,920 --> 00:19:44,180 Water that is there even when the heat and the drought come. 312 00:19:44,180 --> 00:19:46,940 The point is this, you can't miss it. 313 00:19:46,940 --> 00:19:53,360 If you seek happiness in external circumstances, you will never be able to keep your happiness. 314 00:19:53,360 --> 00:19:57,400 You'll always be up and down because life is always taking us up and down. 315 00:19:57,400 --> 00:20:00,940 So Psalm one says don't seek happiness externally. 316 00:20:00,940 --> 00:20:03,200 Seek it internally. 317 00:20:03,200 --> 00:20:05,520 Real happiness isn't found around you. 318 00:20:05,520 --> 00:20:11,320 It's found within you and under you where your roots are and where they go. 319 00:20:11,320 --> 00:20:18,280 Happiness is never about what happens to you, but what happens in you. 320 00:20:18,280 --> 00:20:20,520 Now I don't want, again, this to sound too simple. 321 00:20:20,520 --> 00:20:21,520 Don't get me wrong. 322 00:20:21,520 --> 00:20:25,840 Psalm one is not saying that when bad things happen, just smile and laugh and whistle the 323 00:20:25,840 --> 00:20:27,400 tune and don't let it get to you. 324 00:20:27,400 --> 00:20:28,400 Pretend like nothing happened. 325 00:20:28,400 --> 00:20:32,680 No, what it is saying is that when drought comes, when difficulty comes in your life, 326 00:20:32,680 --> 00:20:37,000 when bad things happen and tragedy strikes and you're going through all that, you have 327 00:20:37,000 --> 00:20:41,580 to dig down even deeper into God's supply of strength. 328 00:20:41,580 --> 00:20:48,720 You have to rely even more on God's love and pull even harder from God's grace in your 329 00:20:48,720 --> 00:20:49,720 life. 330 00:20:49,720 --> 00:20:54,240 So Psalm one, it's already doing these pretty amazing things. 331 00:20:54,240 --> 00:21:01,200 It's saying happiness is something you can have, but it's also, once you have it, it's 332 00:21:01,200 --> 00:21:06,640 something you can keep because it's not circumstantial. 333 00:21:06,640 --> 00:21:07,640 It's spiritual. 334 00:21:07,640 --> 00:21:13,520 It doesn't come from preventing bad things from happening to you, but it comes from planting 335 00:21:13,520 --> 00:21:15,440 yourself in God's goodness. 336 00:21:15,440 --> 00:21:18,160 You can't control what's going to happen out there, right? 337 00:21:18,160 --> 00:21:21,060 But you can draw on what God gives us in here. 338 00:21:21,060 --> 00:21:27,080 And those are lessons you just don't learn in the new songs, the new ideas. 339 00:21:27,080 --> 00:21:32,560 You got to turn to the old songs, to the ancient music of God and the scriptures to learn that 340 00:21:32,560 --> 00:21:33,560 kind of stuff. 341 00:21:33,560 --> 00:21:38,280 And that brings us to the third and final thing that Psalm one teaches us about happiness. 342 00:21:38,280 --> 00:21:39,800 It's not just something we can have. 343 00:21:39,800 --> 00:21:46,840 It's not just something we can keep, but it's something that we can choose. 344 00:21:46,840 --> 00:21:52,240 Happy is the one who does not walk and step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners 345 00:21:52,240 --> 00:21:56,960 take or sit in the company of mockers. 346 00:21:56,960 --> 00:22:02,660 Those are three action words in that sentence, walking, standing, and sitting. 347 00:22:02,660 --> 00:22:08,800 And they all represent choices that you and I can make each and every day, choices that 348 00:22:08,800 --> 00:22:13,920 determine our happiness or our lack of happiness. 349 00:22:13,920 --> 00:22:20,440 First, happy people are really careful about who they walk with. 350 00:22:20,440 --> 00:22:25,440 The image of walking with someone is the idea that as we walk with people, we are talking 351 00:22:25,440 --> 00:22:30,540 to them and we are listening to them and we're taking in their advice and we're listening 352 00:22:30,540 --> 00:22:34,260 to what they say as we kind of contemplate the big decisions of life. 353 00:22:34,260 --> 00:22:35,280 What is life all about? 354 00:22:35,280 --> 00:22:38,160 As we walk with someone, we're listening to them, right? 355 00:22:38,160 --> 00:22:40,520 And everybody's got an opinion about what life's all about. 356 00:22:40,520 --> 00:22:42,060 Oprah Winfrey has an opinion. 357 00:22:42,060 --> 00:22:44,320 Your next door neighbor has an opinion. 358 00:22:44,320 --> 00:22:53,760 But happy people are really discerning about who they walk with and who they listen to. 359 00:22:53,760 --> 00:22:56,240 We get to choose who we walk with. 360 00:22:56,240 --> 00:23:02,440 Secondly, though, happy people are very careful about who they stand with. 361 00:23:02,440 --> 00:23:07,200 Now, again, taking the imagery a little further, to stand with someone now means you're not 362 00:23:07,200 --> 00:23:08,680 just walking with them and listening. 363 00:23:08,680 --> 00:23:13,780 To stand with them means that now you are in some kind of agreement with them. 364 00:23:13,780 --> 00:23:16,000 You're fist bumping with them. 365 00:23:16,000 --> 00:23:19,680 You're saying, yes, I'm with you on this. 366 00:23:19,680 --> 00:23:25,440 The biblical idea of standing with someone is that you are together agreeing upon a certain 367 00:23:25,440 --> 00:23:29,640 way of life, a type of lifestyle that you are choosing. 368 00:23:29,640 --> 00:23:35,240 And believe me, happy people are very careful about who they stand with and how they're 369 00:23:35,240 --> 00:23:36,520 going to live their lives. 370 00:23:36,520 --> 00:23:39,000 They don't just stand with anyone. 371 00:23:39,000 --> 00:23:43,160 They don't just live their life according to anyone. 372 00:23:43,160 --> 00:23:49,640 They stand with God and they live their life according to God's commands and according 373 00:23:49,640 --> 00:23:53,500 to the teachings of Jesus. 374 00:23:53,500 --> 00:23:56,160 Happy people are very careful about who they stand with. 375 00:23:56,160 --> 00:23:57,880 It's a choice you can make. 376 00:23:57,880 --> 00:24:01,360 The third choice we can make is who we sit with. 377 00:24:01,360 --> 00:24:06,040 You know, pretty soon if you walk with someone long enough and then you stand with them long 378 00:24:06,040 --> 00:24:09,040 enough, then now you're sitting down with them. 379 00:24:09,040 --> 00:24:12,440 And that is a sign that really you are in total agreement with them. 380 00:24:12,440 --> 00:24:13,840 And these are now your people. 381 00:24:13,840 --> 00:24:18,960 It says that to sit in the company of mockers, happy people are very careful that they don't 382 00:24:18,960 --> 00:24:24,600 find themselves sitting with a group of people who are constantly laughing at God or mocking 383 00:24:24,600 --> 00:24:26,360 the faith. 384 00:24:26,360 --> 00:24:31,680 If you want a recipe for unhappiness, then here's the recipe. 385 00:24:31,680 --> 00:24:37,800 Make your best friends some of the cynical, mocking, jaded people that we spoke about 386 00:24:37,800 --> 00:24:39,600 earlier who are constantly critical. 387 00:24:39,600 --> 00:24:45,040 But if you want to be happy, be careful who you sit with. 388 00:24:45,040 --> 00:24:47,120 Find people who love God. 389 00:24:47,120 --> 00:24:51,480 Find people who serve God and sit with them. 390 00:24:51,480 --> 00:24:55,560 In fact, if you want to be really happy, the Psalm goes on and says, happy is the one whose 391 00:24:55,560 --> 00:25:01,480 delight is in the law of the Lord and meditates on that law day and night. 392 00:25:01,480 --> 00:25:02,680 Now don't get it wrong. 393 00:25:02,680 --> 00:25:07,520 The word law there does not just mean the part of the Bible where the rules are. 394 00:25:07,520 --> 00:25:08,520 No. 395 00:25:08,520 --> 00:25:13,760 Law means the whole story of the Bible, the whole message of the scriptures, from the 396 00:25:13,760 --> 00:25:19,280 part where God created you out of love to the part where he redeems you out of Christ's 397 00:25:19,280 --> 00:25:25,080 love to the part where he recreates heaven and earth out of love, the whole message. 398 00:25:25,080 --> 00:25:26,640 Don't you see? 399 00:25:26,640 --> 00:25:29,400 Happiness is always a choice. 400 00:25:29,400 --> 00:25:37,320 It's a choice of who we walk with, who we stand with, who we sit with, and what we model 401 00:25:37,320 --> 00:25:41,360 our life after, what we meditate our minds on. 402 00:25:41,360 --> 00:25:46,500 It's all within our power to choose. 403 00:25:46,500 --> 00:25:50,040 So just as we wrap up, Ziggy Marley. 404 00:25:50,040 --> 00:25:56,680 Ziggy Marley once said, he said, old music used to mean something. 405 00:25:56,680 --> 00:25:58,200 And there's none of that today. 406 00:25:58,200 --> 00:26:06,840 But he was wrong, actually, because the old music, the ancient tune of God's song is still 407 00:26:06,840 --> 00:26:08,240 playing today. 408 00:26:08,240 --> 00:26:09,480 It's still there. 409 00:26:09,480 --> 00:26:11,340 It's as relevant as ever. 410 00:26:11,340 --> 00:26:13,440 It's an oldie, but it is a goodie. 411 00:26:13,440 --> 00:26:17,800 And if we listen carefully, we can still hear it. 412 00:26:17,800 --> 00:26:20,320 If we hear it, what is it telling us? 413 00:26:20,320 --> 00:26:23,600 It's saying happiness is something you can have. 414 00:26:23,600 --> 00:26:26,320 It's saying happiness is something you can keep. 415 00:26:26,320 --> 00:26:28,740 And happiness is something that you can choose. 416 00:26:28,740 --> 00:26:29,920 You can choose how to walk. 417 00:26:29,920 --> 00:26:31,380 You can choose how to stand. 418 00:26:31,380 --> 00:26:33,240 You can choose how to sit. 419 00:26:33,240 --> 00:26:35,880 In fact, today, I want to invite you. 420 00:26:35,880 --> 00:26:46,600 I want to invite you to choose to walk with us here at Trinity as we listen to God together. 421 00:26:46,600 --> 00:26:51,440 Together, we're trying to tune out some of those competing voices and competing songs 422 00:26:51,440 --> 00:26:57,520 and learn to listen for that song that God is singing to us and that God is singing over 423 00:26:57,520 --> 00:26:58,520 us. 424 00:26:58,520 --> 00:27:05,680 Yeah, I want to invite you to choose to stand with us today here at Trinity as we try to 425 00:27:05,680 --> 00:27:11,340 learn a new way of life, a lifestyle, not based on what anyone says, but trying to live 426 00:27:11,340 --> 00:27:14,320 our lives the way that Jesus teaches us. 427 00:27:14,320 --> 00:27:16,520 And today, I want to invite you. 428 00:27:16,520 --> 00:27:23,720 Join us at Trinity and sit with us as week by week and day by day, we delight in God's 429 00:27:23,720 --> 00:27:29,240 Word and meditate on His law day and night. 430 00:27:29,240 --> 00:27:32,680 That is a playlist that will make you happy. 431 00:27:32,680 --> 00:27:37,240 And that is one that has stood the test of time. 432 00:27:37,240 --> 00:27:48,080 And if we listen to what God is singing, what God is saying, it will be music to our ears. 433 00:27:48,080 --> 00:27:50,080 So thanks be to God. 434 00:27:50,080 --> 00:27:51,080 Amen. 435 00:27:51,080 --> 00:27:54,200 Thank you so much for joining us today. 436 00:27:54,200 --> 00:27:58,080 And we hope that this message brought you some happiness as we learned more about the 437 00:27:58,080 --> 00:28:01,380 Bible's wisdom on the state of happiness. 438 00:28:01,380 --> 00:28:05,960 And if you enjoyed the show today, please take a minute to rate and review our podcast 439 00:28:05,960 --> 00:28:10,640 so that we can continue to spread the good news with others. 440 00:28:10,640 --> 00:28:15,920 Today's sermon was taken from the September 24th, 2023 10am service at Trinity Church 441 00:28:15,920 --> 00:28:18,760 Streetsville in Mississauga, Ontario. 442 00:28:18,760 --> 00:28:31,640 Come back again next week and thanks again for listening.