Psalm 1 Happiness in Living the Gospel

Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.  But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.  And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.

Let me preface any remarks I make about these verses with a personal confession.

One - I don't like scriptures that classify people into the "righteous" and the "unrighteous" - the good and the bad.  That's too simplistic for me.  We are all sinners.  Even the worst of people have some good in them.  And, after all, we are all children of God.  So I must re-frame this language to find a meaningful interpretation and application for my own life.

I choose to see this dichotomy in terms of principles.  In this mortal earthbound phase of our existence we make a lot of choices.  There are principles we can choose to follow that bring happiness into our lives both as individuals and as societies.  The righteous are those who base their lives for the most part on these "true principles."  There is an overriding connotation to that word that evokes "goodness".

There are also actions or choices that have devastating consequences, that lead to unhappiness for both individuals and societies.  The unrighteous are those who having made such choices do not learn from the consequences and choose to repeat the bad choices.  The overriding connotation here is more like "evil".

But all the above - no matter what the choices they make are beloved children of God.  They are loved by Him.  I think it is too easy to think the Lord hates those who make unrighteous choices.

So as I study the scriptures I don't say I am looking for ways to be "righteous" because I cannot say  I am righteous without a sense of self-righteousness.  I must instead look for principles that make for a happy life - for goodness and joy.

I think that is what the word "blessed" means.  To be blessed is to live in a state of happiness. That state is a reflection of the principles we choose to live.  It reflects a deeper sense of life- not the fun of vacations and parties and sports; the activities of the day but of gratitude and forgiveness, of love and sacrifice, of service and commitment. 

Two - the scriptures often reflect another simplistic belief and that is instant reward for good choices and instant consequences for bad choices.  In verse 3 the final words are "and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper."  I wish life was that simple but it is not.  Good people lose their jobs, have their homes burned or flooded, die in accidents, are cheated or robbed and so much more.  I think it is important to re-frame this idea also and I choose to re-frame this by distinguishing between our inner and outer lives. 

Our "inner life" reflects who we are, our character, our virtue, the person we have become. This is who we will be when we stand before the Lord having left all else behind.  The "outer life" is the trappings of mortality, the things we own, the ways we define ourselves in the world.  This is everything that can be taken away from us, everything we leave behind when we die.

The problem I see is that we begin to think that the Lord's blessings will come to us in terms of this outer life; that to "prosper" means less problems, more money, etc.  If we believe that way, we may find ourselves very disappointed with life and with the Gospel.  "I pay my tithing faithfully.  Why am I not being rewarded in my financial well being?"  That expectation and disappointment can lead to a frustration with tithing.  That person may stop paying tithing because obviously there is no reward.

The person, though, who pays his tithing because he is acknowledging that all we have is the Lord's and he wants to thank the Lord and help build up His work on the earth; well, each time he happily tithes he is prospering in his ability to share, to be grateful, to be selfless. The inner man has prospered.

So lets interpret that psalm.  Blessed or happy is the person who delights in the law of the Lord, who has based his life on principles that create happy living.  He prospers because of the contentment found in righteous living.

I testify that such happiness is found in living the principles of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 

However, it is also a fact of life that we learn from our mistakes.  The road to joy isn't always straight.  Mortal journeys are fraught with detours and wrong turns.  We want to make changes when necessary but not beat ourselves up along the way.  We are imperfect mortals. 

I like what Edison said about the light bulb. After all, he made 1,000 unsuccessful attempts at inventing the light bulb. When a reporter asked, "How did it feel to fail 1,000 times?" Edison replied, "I didn't fail 1,000 times. The light bulb was an invention with 1,000 steps.". 

Dare we use that analogy in the religious sense?  I finally learned to forgive, to love unconditionally, to respond to hate with love, etc.  It took me 999 times before I got it right but at last I did it.   

The blessing of repentance and forgiveness is that we can use them over and over and over until we finally get it right.  The Savior died for us because He knew we would make mistakes.  His plan is so kind, so forgiving, so loving.  He always invites and never closes the door to any of us.  I love reading the new Testament and pondering especially His words and teachings.  To the extent I follow Him I am happy.  I am blessed.