PSALM 86:4-5 – Gladden the soul of your servant, for to you, O Lord, do I lift up my soul. For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving, abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon you.

THEME OF THE DAY. GLADNESS AND HAPPINESS GOD’S WAY. Everybody wants to be glad and happy. God “wired” us for both when He said, “Let us make man in our own image” (Genesis 1:26-27). And God has provided for our gladness and happiness. Yes, our first parents forfeited the only source of true happiness – fellowship with God – by disobeying Him in the Garden of Eden, but in the great mercy and grace of God, He restored the way back through His Son, the Lord Jesus. However, God will not just “zap” us with instant gladness or happiness. Provide it? Yes. Grant it? Yes. But not without us doing our part. And today’s scripture gives us the “roadmap” to enjoy gladness and happiness.

First, the pursuit of God’s gladness and happiness begins with prayer – “Gladden the soul of your servant, for to you, O Lord, do I lift up my soul.” David begins where we must begin. He recognizes and seeks the only place gladness and happiness exists – the Lord. It will not be a change of circumstances, sensual pleasures, or anything of human origin. And prayer reveals our dependency on the only one who may satisfy our soul with gladness and happiness.

Next, to obtain and enjoy the gladness and happiness the Lord provides, we must set our minds and affections on who God is – “For You, O Lord, are good and forgiving, abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon you.” Enter David’s prayer and heart. When you can, read the entire Psalm. It is a prayer from start to finish. Within the seventeen verses, thirteen petitions appear. Of them, only three have any resemblance of asking for physical things. The rest are cries for fellowship with God and of a spiritual nature. What does this reveal to us? Gladness and happiness do not depend on what God does for us but who God is to us. During David’s trial, and he is facing a trial causing him grief, not gladness, his focus is on God’s character – good, forgiving, merciful, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love, and faithful.

And here is where our souls will find lasting gladness and happiness. It won’t be through asking God to make us glad and happy. It will be in those wonderful times of prayer, meditating upon the character of God. I encourage all of us to “test” this truth. Make an appointment with God. Don’t postpone it, cancel it, or allow it to be in a place where phones, computers, and human interruptions exist. In this setting, take our Bibles and read over Psalm 86. Try ten times. Aloud to God. Then meditate on every verse and take extended time doing so in the verses exposing us to God’s character. At the end of this sacred time with the Lord, our heart will be glad and happy. And as we do this, we will find God’s prescription for true gladness and happiness – fellowship with Him. There will also be another benefit from taking this mini-retreat in Psalm 86. It will lead to more retreats in other portions of the Bible.

The Lord desires and has provided for us to live with glad and happy hearts. May He help us to seek it His way in His book through seeking prayer.

PRAYER: “Lord, I praise You for showing me the way to a glad heart in You.”

QUOTE: “God doesn’t give us a ‘spiritual zap’ of gladness. He shows by His Word and prayer how to get there.”