Happy People
by Bishop T. Garrott Benjamin, Jr., D.Min.
1 As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God.
2 My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God?
3 My tears have been my meat day and night, while they continually say unto me, Where is thy God?
4 When I remember these things, I pour out my soul in me: for I had gone with the multitude, I went with them to the house of God, with the voice of joy and praise, with a multitude that kept holyday.
5 Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance. (Psalm 42:1-5 KJV)
This 42nd Psalm of David is so powerful because it is so personal and so painful. It is both a confession and a cry for help. The psalmist is giving an agonizing account of his pain predicament, and the unhappiness of his soul.
There are usually many causes for unhappiness in the life of even those who believe in God. This Psalm keeps it real because it reminds us to keep it real. Even Christians get down sometime. B. B. King is not the only one who sings the blues. The Psalmist had been teased and taunted by his enemies and possibly discouraged by his friends. We get down on ourselves and even worse, we spread it and get down on each other and down on those we say we love the most. And yet by definition, we are called and chosen to be “happy people.”
The Psalmist came to the conclusion that when you have a case of the blues or you are down in the dumps, the only way out is to praise your way out. When you do not know what to do, praise your way through. It will not change until we change our attitude. It is not what happens to us that counts, it is how we respond to it. We worry about things that never happen and about people who do not matter.
The Psalmist tasted tears for breakfast, lunch, and dinner because of the verbal abuse of his enemies and the discouragement of his friends. His frustration was compounded by his hunger and thirst for God. He who had been a worshipper was wiped out. His tears were his “meat day and night.” He was undone and unhappy. Yet he knew that was not his place. He knew that deep down inside he was different than his dilemma. He knew that he was destined for delight, not depression, and so “as deer panteth after the cold stream,” so his soul sought to praise God and his thirst could only be quenched by pouring out praise upon the Joy Giver.
When the praises go up, the blessing of happiness comes down. Frankie Beverly used to sing about “Happy People.” I am not sure who he was talking about, but Christians ought to be the happy people because you are one of the happy people.
Christian and unhappy do not go together. It is the classic oxymoron, and yet many are miserable. Spiritual depression has to be addressed because something is wrong when we who are called to be happy are actually unhappy and worse, we show it.
The good news is that in spite of it all, we are a happy people, and our happiness is not based on “happy hour.” It is based on a “happy power” that we received the moment we first believed in Jesus as Lord. Each one of us who belongs to Jesus are happy people underneath but our challenge is to bring it to the surface. My grandmother used to say, “if you have joy on the inside, why keep it a secret from your face.” Remember, no matter what the problem, you can always praise your way out.
You may write to Dr. Benjamin at Bishop@lightoftheworld.org or at Light of the World Christian Church, 4646 N. Michigan Road, Indianapolis, IN 46228.
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