Psalm 1:5-6

What is it that makes a man happy? What makes a man happy can only be found in God, the Creator. The gift of God’s salvation is the joy of every soul. The Psalmist talks of the assembly of the righteous, but is anyone born righteous? “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).

Only faith in God and the crucified and risen Saviour, Jesus Christ, the Righteous One, makes us righteous. God takes away our sins through Christ Jesus and imputes His righteousness on everyone who believes in Jesus Christ, His holy Son. “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Corinthians 5:21)

The ungodly reject God and His ways. They delight in sin, evil and wickedness and do not delight in God and His righteousness. “Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.” (Psalm 1:5). What makes a man happy exceeds this lifetime. The Apostle Paul says, “If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.” (1 Corinthians 15:19).

The ungodly lack the hope of eternity with God. The fate of the ungodly is eternal damnation. Only the righteous shall rise again, those who have been washed in the blood of the Lamb. The Old Testament saints understand eternal judgment and also have the hope of resurrection. “Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt.” (Daniel 12:2).

The righteous rejoice in God’s providential care. “For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.” (Psalm 1:6). God knows the way of the righteous. He supervises, guides, keeps and preserves the righteous and leads them into everlasting joy.

The Lord Jesus says, “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” (John 10:27-30). The righteous belong to God and are secure in the hollow of His hand.

This psalm begins with the blessedness of the righteous and ends with the ruin of the wicked. What is it that makes you happy? God’s way or the way of the ungodly, the godly or ungodly lifestyle?