April 9

The Psalmist tells us in Psalm 84:4 just how we can attain true happiness. This is not the fleeting emotion that is contingent upon how much we own or how we look or how other people think of us or how successful we are in our interactions with others. This is the abiding kind of happiness that gives us the strength to transcend our circumstances.

The secret to this happiness that overcomes adverse circumstances lies in our proximity to the God who fashioned us for Himself. As Augustine observed centuries ago, “Lord, You have made us for Yourself and restless are our hearts until they rest in You.”

When we rest—are at peace with our circumstances and with ourselves because we know we’re secure in His love—we will acknowledge as did David, “Blessed is the man who dwells in Your house, in Your presence. He will sing songs of deliverance all the day long.” David goes on to advise his reader to ponder that truth.

If the magnitude of its meaning is to impact the lives of believers, it must be an integral part of our thoughts and attitudes. For that to occur within us, we must give ourselves to prayer as the Word admonishes in Psalm 109:4. Then we shall rest in the security of His presence where there is fullness of joy (Psalm 16:11) and there discover His joy to be our strength (Nehemiah 8:10).