THE HAPPY HEART
Psalms 16:7-9 and Proverbs 15:15 NKJV
7 I will bless the Lord who has given me counsel;
My heart also instructs me in the night seasons.
8 I have set the Lord always before me;
Because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved.
9 Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices;
My flesh also will rest in hope.
15 All the days of the afflicted are evil,
But he who is of a merry heart has a continual feast.
Happy Father's Day to all dads. Being a father is a tough job, but by God's grace, we can do it! Today, I am pulling the daily double and taking verses from both Psalms and Proverbs. I saw a connection here that can help us.
Proverbs 15:15 says all the days of the afflicted are evil. The word afflicted is also translated as despondent and oppressed and implies those who are suffering and in a state of misery. That state of misery can be impacted by many factors, but someone in that state is definitely living on the wrong side of life. It's similar to when you are down and despondent; everything looks bad. Because the contrast is someone with a merry or happy heart, it makes me think our attitudes and perspectives are at play with our being afflicted. So then the question becomes how can we obtain and keep a happy heart? Because a happy heart has continual good days, not evil. To a happy heart, life is good.
Our verses in the Psalms give us insight into a happy heart. David is blessing and praising the Lord, who has given him counsel. How? David says his heart instructs him in the night seasons. We can surmise that David is lying down and getting quiet, and the Lord gives him counsel in his heart. The spirit of man is the candle of the Lord (Proverbs 20:27). The Lord enlightens us in our spirit, or we can say, our hearts. So David is glad about that.
David says that he keeps the Lord in his consciousness. "I have set the Lord always before me" is not a physical thing but a place we keep the Lord in our minds. The Lord is at his right hand, so David is conscious of the Lord being close. David was the author of the twenty-third psalm and spoke of walking through the valley of the shadow of death but not fearing. His reason for not being afraid was knowing that the Lord was with him.
Because the Lord provides counsel and instruction, and because the Lord is near and David is conscious of His presence, his heart is glad. He rejoices and has rest because he has hope, an expectation, in the Lord. These are some of the reasons for David having a happy heart. And a happy heart has a continual feast. The party does not stop for the happy heart.
David is not happy because everything is perfect. He is not happy because he has no problems. David has a happy heart because God is giving him answers. He is happy because God is with him, and sensing God's presence gives David stability. A happy heart is much more connected to a relationship with the Lord than with a happy set of circumstances.
APPLICATION
As someone who has experienced depression and grown up in a home where depression and oppression were common, I totally relate to our verses for today. When I was depressed, nothing looked good. And I knew that my depression was a result of my poor-quality thinking and perspective. That may not be the case with everyone, but our thinking and believing plays a major role.
As someone the Lord has helped move past depression, I can relate to the Lord playing a major part in my having a happy heart. No, my life is not perfect. But the more I learned to look to the Lord, His word and His Spirit, the less oppressed and despondent I became. There is great joy in believing that our heart condition can change for the better.
PRAYER
Lord, I pray for those who are despondent and in misery today. I pray that the light of Your truth will shine on them, and they can begin to move past the bad days to days that have hope. You do not want Your children living in misery. You want us to have a happy heart.