True Happiness: Psalms 1 and 107

Description

Martyn Lloyd-Jones’s True Happiness offers an expository exploration of Psalms 1 and 107, emphasizing the biblical path to lasting joy and spiritual fulfillment. The book contrasts the lives of the righteous and the ungodly while highlighting God’s redemptive mercy, framed through Lloyd-Jones’s characteristic clarity and pastoral insight.

Psalm 1: The Path of Righteousness
Lloyd-Jones dissects Psalm 1’s contrast between the “blessed” righteous and the doomed wicked. He stresses that true happiness is not fleeting emotion but a state of being rooted in God’s Word. The righteous are likened to a tree planted by water—stable, fruitful, and nourished by divine truth. Conversely, the ungodly, depicted as “chaff,” lack spiritual substance and face eternal separation from God. Lloyd-Jones underscores that salvation is God’s work, achieved through the Holy Spirit’s regeneration, not human effort.

Psalm 107: God’s Steadfast Love in Redemption
Focusing on Psalm 107, Lloyd-Jones examines four scenarios of divine rescue (e.g., wanderers, prisoners, the sick) to illustrate God’s chesed—steadfast love. He parallels these deliverances with New Testament salvation, emphasizing God’s power to free sinners from sin’s bondage, depicted as slavery, sickness, and spiritual death. The psalm’s refrain—“Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord”—reinforces the call to gratitude for God’s transformative grace.

Key Themes
Regeneration Over Religion: True faith involves a radical transformation of nature, not mere moral reform.

God’s Sovereignty: Salvation is monergistic—initiated and completed by God, as seen in His control over creation and redemption.

Assurance in Christ: Security comes from resting in Christ’s righteousness, not self-effort, enabling believers to face life’s trials without fear.

Lloyd-Jones’s exposition bridges Old and New Testaments, showing how Psalms 1 and 107 prefigure the gospel’s promise of salvation through Christ. His tone, described as gentle yet uncompromising, invites readers to find rest in God’s unchanging love.