The Way to the Good Life

“Blessed is the man
Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly,
Nor stands in the path of sinners,
Nor sits in the seat of the scornful.
But his delight is in the law of the Lord,
And in His law he meditates day and night.”
(Psalm 1:1, 2)

Blessedness is goodness, happiness, the state we would all like to be in. Aristotle and the Founding Fathers observed what all philosophers eventually get to: Everyone is looking for happiness, and everything we do is devoted to that pursuit. The trick is in knowing how to get there from here.

How do we get there, to the “good life”? God’s answer is in the negative first (and, yes, God does lay out negatives about as much as He does positives): You get to the blessed land by avoiding the advice of those who despise God. God is the author and source of all blessedness, and those who despise that Source are going to head you off on the wrong track—every time.

The advice of the ungodly is dirt cheap these days and everywhere to be found. Unfortunately many of us inundate ourselves with it daily, whether by way of the Internet, movies, television and radio (yes, even—or perhaps especially—“the news”), books/magazines, the government, pop psychology, our “friends,” relatives, education, culture, history (the interpretation of which can teach us lies as well as lessons), “style,” or the all-ruling spirit of the age. These things and others have become to one degree or another the prevailing voices in so much of our everyday lives, and thus the subtlety of the lies they feed us can easily turn us out of the way in pursuit of our true goal (happiness, remember).

Walk not in it, God says. We are instead to listen to His counsel and filter all other counsel through His one all-wise Scripture-grid. God puts it fairly succinctly in the gospels: we are either traveling on the broad way that leads to destruction—following the road signs of the ungodly—or we are walking in the narrow way that leads to life, guided by the Holy Spirit who speaks to us predominantly through the Word of God. Christ said His sheep hear His voice and follow Him—not the world.

“Great God in heaven, Source of all Blessedness, we give You thanks for all of the blessing You have poured out on us in and through Christ. We pray that You would help us to walk in Your ways and not in the ways of the world. Teach us Your paths, O God, and grant us discernment and wisdom that we might avoid the counsel of those who despise Your ways. Fill us with Your Holy Spirit, and fill us with a deep, abiding love for Your Word and Your ways. Grant us the grace to do as well as to know the things that lead to true happiness and joy. For it is all by Your grace and Yours alone—we look to You to satisfy our deepest longings and delight in You to find the answer to the desires of our hearts, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.”