How to be Happy (Part 1)
November 4, 2026
SCRIPTURE COLLECTION
Today's Scripture Passage
Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers...
Psalm 1:1
Related Scriptures:
Jeremiah 17:5–8
John 3:19–21
Romans 5:1–2
Romans 6:20–23
1 Corinthians 15:33
2 Corinthians 5:21
Ephesians 5:6–11
James 1:13–15
1 John 1:8–9
Psalm 16:11
Notes & Reflections
Every person alive wants to be happy.
From the youngest to the oldest, everyone is searching for the way of life that seems to be the best option for reaching the goal of true fulfillment.
They do it through health choices, financial decisions, hobbies, education, and government. Man has set up a system, from governments down to individuals, with this one goal in mind.
What is the answer?
Psalm 1 tells men and women plainly.
It starts with the word “blessed.” This is a word for being supremely happy and fulfilled. It goes straight to the point and attacks the question with great boldness and clarity.
The Psalmist shows us the answer to happiness by giving us a profile of two kinds of people: the righteous and the wicked. He points out their contrasting lifestyles and then shows us the end result of both. The Psalmist’s mission is to make the correct choice so obvious that we, the readers, become convinced which direction to choose. If the Psalmist used today’s vernacular, he would say, “Have common sense!”
The question is then, what is a happy man?
The first part of the answer to this question is found in the first verse. He says,
“Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers…”
The plain answer is: a happy man doesn’t sin.
This doesn’t mean a happy man never stumbles, but that he doesn’t make his home in sin.
This one answer sheds light on a thousand things around us. We live in a world filled with sin. Sin affects and destroys everything. Men themselves are sinful.
They are lovers of darkness and seek after their selfish desires apart from God and His law. This means that when they seek happiness, they are seeking it through things that are being manipulated through this selfish and godless lens. Indeed, everything they touch is used wrongly.
When they seek happiness through money, they end up proud, partial, and perverted. They spend their wealth on their own selfish gain and pleasure.
When they seek happiness through health, they end up obsessed with their body image and flaunt themselves for attention. Men jump from thing to thing in their pursuit of happiness, yet they never come to the realization that until their sin is taken care of, they will never have happiness. You and I are these men.
Sin always goes from bad to worse. The Psalmist makes this clear with the progression found in this verse. Sin goes from walking, to standing, and then to sitting. Men and women slowly listen to sinful lifestyles, and then soon they are living comfortably in them. They even begin to laugh and agree with sinful things, and in all of this the Psalmist makes it clear that happiness is not found here, but in not doing these things.
True happiness is found where there is no sin.
Through the Gospel and Christ’s work on the cross, our sin is taken care of. Christ, who is the ideal man, was sinless and died in our place. He gave us peace with God, and in this we will have happiness.
This is the first answer to our question: What is a happy man?
Where is true happiness found?
True happiness is not found in money, health, or anything else man chases, because sin twists everything it touches. It is found only where sin has been dealt with, through Christ, the sinless One who died in our place and gave us peace with God, so that the blessed man no longer makes his home in sin (Psalm 1:1; Psalm 32:1–2; Romans 5:1; 2 Corinthians 5:21).
Study Questions
QUESTION 01
Psalm 1:1 moves from walking to standing to sitting. What does each step show about how sin takes hold of a person?
QUESTION 02
According to James 1:14–15, how does desire grow into sin and then death, and how does that match the progression in Psalm 1:1?
QUESTION 03
Psalm 32:1–2 calls the forgiven man “blessed.” What does that show about where the happiness of Psalm 1 comes from?
How To Cling Today
Cling to Christ today by trusting his work alone for salvation and happiness.
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