"Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge.

2 I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you.”

3 As for the saints in the land, they are the excellent ones, in whom is all my delight.

4 The sorrows of those who run after another god shall multiply; their drink offerings of blood I will not pour out or take their names on my lips.

5 The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot.

6 The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance. 7 I bless the Lord who gives me counsel; in the night also my heart instructs me.

8 I have set the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.

9 Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices; my flesh also dwells secure.

10 For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see corruption.

11 You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore." Psalm 16

Psalm 16:11 is the end and the beginning of the happiness that is the birthright of the child of God.

How to Awaken and Maintain Happiness

1. “PRESERVE me O, God, for in you I take refuge.”

Display a h_______ d_______ upon the tender daily mercies of the Lord.

ANSWER KEY: humble, dependence

“Give us this day our daily bread.” We pray that of God’s free gift we may receive a competent portion of the good things in this life and enjoy his blessing with them. The Fourth Petition, The Small Catechism, Martin Luther

QUESTION 195: What do we pray for in the sixth petition?

ANSWER: In the sixth petition, (which is, And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil,) acknowledging, that the most wise, righteous, and gracious God, for divers holy and just ends, may so order things, that we may be assaulted, foiled, and for a time led captive by temptations; that Satan, the world, and the flesh, are ready powerfully to draw us aside, and ensnare us; and that we, even after the pardon of our sins, by reason of our corruption, weakness, and want of watchfulness, are not only subject to be tempted, and forward to expose ourselves unto temptations, but also of ourselves unable and unwilling to resist them, to recover out of them, and to improve them; and worthy to be left under the power of them: we pray, that God would so overrule the world and all in it, subdue the flesh, and restrain Satan, order all things, bestow and bless all means of grace, and quicken us to watchfulness in the use of them, that we and all his people may by his providence be kept from being tempted to sin; or, if tempted, that by his Spirit we may be powerfully supported and enabled to stand in the hour of temptation; or when fallen, raised again and recovered out of it, and have a sanctified use and improvement thereof: that our sanctification and salvation may be perfected, Satan trodden under our feet, and we fully freed from sin, temptation, and all evil, forever. The Sixth Petition, Question 195, Westminster Larger Catechism

2. Proclaim we have no good apart from God.

“For my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water.” Jeremiah 2:13

“It is of infinite importance...to know what kind of being God is. For he is...the only fountain of our happiness.” Jonathan Edwards, Selected Sermons

“The Gospel is like wine which makes us glad. Let a man truly know the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and he will be a happy man! And the deeper he drinks into the spirit of Christ, the more happy he will become! That religion which teaches misery to be a duty is false upon the very face of it, for God, when He made the world, studied the happiness of His creatures.” Charles Spurgeon, A Free Salvation, Sermon 199

3. The people of God who are the excellent ones, princely, noble ones in whom is all our delight.

QUESTIONS

1. What caused Paul to go from a self-satisfied, legalistic, arrogant Pharisee to a broken, joyful, worshiper who treasured the reality of Jesus?
2. What does the following statement mean? “We don’t want to linger there (in the law) any longer than we have to. Some preachers, teachers and parents love to dwell in the smoke and fire of Mt. Sinai more than in the love and grace of Mt. Calvary.” David Murray, The Happy Christian, p. 37
3. What does 1 Peter 2:17 teach us about believers being the “excellent ones/noble ones/the true aristocracy”?
4. How do believers delight in the fellowship of the people of God?
5. According to the Spurgeon quote, what is the wine that makes us glad? How do we drink in more deeply of the spirit of Christ in order to be more happy?