Jeff Schreve - Is True Happiness Really Possible? (01/04/2026)
Summary:
In this sermon, the preacher uses the book of Ecclesiastes to show how King Solomon searched for true happiness in every possible earthly source—wisdom, pleasure, alcohol, wealth, sex, and accomplishments—but found it all vanity because he looked «under the sun» without God. The key idea is that people today make the same mistakes, chasing happiness in the wrong places and ending up empty. The conclusion is that lasting happiness is found only in the Son—Jesus Christ—through fearing the Lord and walking in His ways.
Introduction: Everyone Wants to Be Happy
Nobody wants to go through life unhappy. Everybody in this room, everybody under the sound of my voice, would say, «You know, that’s what we want in life. We want to be happy.» I mean, from the time you’re little and you hear stories, and you are introduced to the phrase «and they lived happily ever after,» you say, «That’s right. That’s what I want.» And, you know, in our preamble to the Constitution, we have the pursuit of happiness. We have happiness put in there; we’re like, «Yeah, happiness, that’s what we want.» But so many people are not happy.
As a matter of fact, many, many, many people are unhappy—very unhappy. Single people are unhappy; they want to be married. Married people are unhappy; they want to be single. If somebody said, «What is marriage?» it’s like a windowpane. You have flies on the inside wanting to get out and flies on the outside wanting to get in. We just kind of go through life thinking, «Well, something else is going to make me happy because I’m not very happy right now.» Sometimes we can wonder, «Is true happiness really even possible? Is it possible to live happily ever after?»
I was listening to an interview this morning with Pat O’Brien. He was talking about celebrities and said, «Of all the celebrities I know, there aren’t more than 10 who are really happy.» They have everything that we think we need to be happy, and they’re so unhappy. Many people are unhappy. Why is that? Could it be because they are looking for happiness in all the wrong places? I think so.
The Series and the Question of Happiness
We’re in a series called «Life’s Big Questions,» and today we want to talk about the question of happiness: Is true happiness really possible? We are going to look at King Solomon, who was an unhappy camper. I like what Jim Gaffigan says about camping: he doesn’t like camping. He said, «Camping must be pretty bad because we always talk about unhappy campers. We never talk about happy campers. There aren’t any happy campers.» He said, «You’d want to know who’s happy—the guy leaving the campsite. He’s happy!» But King Solomon, we would call him an unhappy camper.
The reason he was unhappy is in the book of Ecclesiastes, which is a strange book. It’s one of the wisdom books. You know that’s the way the Bible is divided up: you’ve got history, and then you run into wisdom—Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon—and Solomon, the King in Israel, the son of David, wrote most of Proverbs, Song of Solomon, and Ecclesiastes. Ecclesiastes is one of those books that people say, «I don’t understand why that’s in the Bible. It just seems so dismal and depressing: 'Vanity of vanities, ' says the Preacher, 'vanity of vanities, all is vanity.'» People would say, «Well, that shouldn’t be in there.» But it should, and God put it in there because Solomon is going to be the poster child, the one who goes on an expedition.
His expedition is this: «I am going to try and find true happiness.» But here’s how I’m going to find it: «I’m going to try and find it under the sun.» That phrase, «under the sun,» is used 29 times in the book of Ecclesiastes, according to the New American Standard Bible. What does that mean, «under the sun»? Solomon says, «I’m going to keep God out. I’m going to keep heaven out. I’m just going to look at everything that you can do in life and see where the source of satisfaction is, where happiness can be found.» And we’re going to find, as we go on the search with Solomon, that he was looking for happiness in all the wrong places.
Solomon’s Executive Summary
In Ecclesiastes chapter one, and in a lot of these verses today, I’m going to use the easy-to-read version because I like the way it puts it. Solomon gives us his executive summary right in chapter one, and he says this: «I, the teacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem. I decided to study and use my wisdom to learn about everything that is done in this life. I learned that it is a very hard thing that God has given us to do. I looked at everything done on earth, and I saw that it is all a waste of time. It is like trying to catch the wind.» «Vanity of vanities,» says the Preacher, «vanity of vanities, all is vanity.» Trying to find happiness, he didn’t find it under the sun.
So here’s the question, Solomon: where did you look to find happiness? Because maybe I’ve found it in a place you didn’t find it. Maybe I’m going to look in a place where you didn’t look. Now, remember this: when God sends Solomon on a search for happiness, Solomon is much smarter than you are. He’s much smarter than I am. He’s really probably the smartest guy who ever lived outside of mortal man—obviously, Jesus is not included. But Solomon—God had blessed Solomon with wisdom, discernment, and breadth of mind, the Scripture says, like the sand of the seashore.
Solomon had resources that you and I don’t have. So when Solomon searches out something, he searches it out completely to see if there is happiness here. Can I find the source of happiness here? He looks in six areas where people are looking today. In these same six areas he lived three thousand years ago, and yet people today are still doing what he did and ending up empty, just like he ended up. So let’s look at these areas.
1. Wisdom and Knowledge
Area number one is the area of wisdom and knowledge. Solomon concluded that true happiness is not found in wisdom, knowledge, learning, or education. He says in Ecclesiastes 1:17–18: «I decided to learn how wisdom and knowledge are better than foolish thoughts. But I learned that trying to become wise is like trying to catch the wind. With much wisdom comes frustration; the one who gains more wisdom also gains more sorrow.» Now Solomon put his mind to the books; he began to study and study and study, learn and learn and learn, and he said it’s like trying to chase the wind. It’s pointless; it’s meaningless. I mean, he knew so much about so many things.
If you could say, «Hey, sit down with Solomon,» if I could sit down with Solomon, I don’t care what your field of expertise is—he’d be able to talk to you about it and talk intelligently about it because he knew so many things about so many subjects. He knew about chemistry; he knew about biology; he knew about botany; he knew about philosophy—all these things. And he said, «That’s not making me happy. That’s not the source of happiness.»
Knowing things, learning and education—I think it’s good to educate yourself. I think it’s good to learn. I think it’s good to have an understanding of things, but that’s not going to make you happy. As a matter of fact, he says in the New American Standard Bible, «In much wisdom there is much grief, and increasing knowledge results in increasing pain.» Did you know that in America, we know more now than we’ve ever known? I mean, we’re in a technological explosion, and knowledge is increasing so fast it’s hard to keep up.
Man, when I was graduating from high school, we were just starting in with computers in 1980. And now, I mean, everybody’s got a computer in their pocket—in their smartphone! I used to watch Star Trek, the original series, with Kirk and Spock and McCoy, and I thought, «Man, how cool if you could have a communicator like Captain Kirk had! How cool if you could be on the bridge and go ship to ship and see the person’s face!» We do that today, just like was depicted in Star Trek in the 60s—that is commonplace today. And we know so much, and yet so many people are so unhappy—more unhappy than ever before.
We have more people than ever before taking antidepressants. Why? Because they’re so happy? No, because they’re so unhappy. True happiness is not found in wisdom and knowledge. So Solomon said, «Well, okay, let me switch gears. I’m going to go in a totally opposite direction. I’ve been hitting the books so hard; now I’m going to switch gears, and I’m going to quit learning and I’m going to start laughing.» He said, «I’m going to look for happiness in fun and games—in laughter and frivolity.» But he found out that true happiness is not found in fun and games.
2. Fun and Games
So it’s not found in wisdom, knowledge, and education. It’s also not found, number two, in fun and games. That’s what he says in Ecclesiastes 2, beginning in verse 1: «I said to myself, I should have fun; I should enjoy everything as much as I can. But I learned that this is also useless. It is foolish to laugh all the time. Having fun does not do any good.» Now, I think having fun is important. We had these wonderful families up on the stage for a parent-baby dedication. Hey, it’s very important that families have fun together.
And it’s important, I think, for dads to bring the fun. Even if they’re not naturally very fun, they need to learn how to make the house fun. And if the wife is more fun than the husband, then he needs to really employ her help in making it fun. Home needs to be fun, and we need to have fun in life. But fun and laughter and games—that’s not the source of happiness. If you seek after that—one comedy movie after another, one comedy show after another trying to find the source of happiness—you’re not going to find it there because it doesn’t exist. Solomon tried that, and he said, «No, that’s not where it’s at.»
You’re not going to find it. You know the Scripture says in Proverbs 14:13, written by Solomon, «Even in laughter, the heart may be in pain, and the end of joy may be grief.» How she heard the story Billy Graham used to tell about a man who was just so down and discouraged and miserable. He goes to the psychiatrist and says, «Can you help me? I need help! I am so down, and I am so depressed, and I am so miserable in life, and I’m so lethargic.» The doctor examined him and said, «Well, sir, there’s nothing physically wrong with you, but you obviously have a heavy heart. I have a prescription for you: the circus is in town. I went last night and it’s great! There’s a man at the circus, a clown at the circus. He’s hilarious; he’s the funniest guy I’ve ever seen! You go to the circus tonight; listen to that clown and he’ll be the cure for your heavy heart.»
The man looked at him and said, «You don’t understand. I am that clown!» Even in laughter, the heart may be in pain; in the end of joy, there may be grief. We were all shocked and saddened when Robin Williams took his own life. He was so funny, yet he took his own life. Back in the 70s, there was a rising star of a comedian named Freddie Prinze Sr. He took his own life. We laughed at him on TV, and he was dying inside. Other big funny guys, like John Belushi—he didn’t take his own life, but he kind of did with drugs and alcohol. Chris Farley followed in his footsteps and did basically the same thing.
Hey, true happiness is not found in fun and games, in laughter and frivolity. So then Solomon said, «All right. I haven’t found it in wisdom and learning. I haven’t found it in laughter and fun and games. Now I’m going to try a third area.»
3. Drugs and Alcohol
The third area: drugs and alcohol. Maybe I can find satisfaction and happiness in drugs and alcohol. But he found out that true happiness is not found in drugs and alcohol. He says in Ecclesiastes 2:3, «So I decided to fill my body with wine while I filled my mind with wisdom. I tried this foolishness because I wanted to find a way to be happy.»
He’s looking for happiness. «Maybe I can find happiness in a bottle. Maybe I can find it in a pill. Maybe there’s something external that I can bring inside of me that will make me happy.» But he didn’t find happiness in drugs and alcohol. The Bible also says in Proverbs 20:1, «Wine is a mocker; strong drink is a brawler; and whoever is intoxicated by it is not wise.» Don’t do that. Don’t go there with wine; don’t go there with strong drink; don’t go there with drugs, because you’re not going to find happiness there.
As we know, if you go down that road of alcohol and drugs, what you find is «instant heaven» that leads to «everlasting hell.» It will wreck and ruin your life. I tell people all the time. I’ve had some people challenge me on this and say, «Well, Jeff, I don’t understand why you tell people not to drink because Jesus obviously drank. He turned water into wine.» I don’t want to get into that with them as much as just to say, «Look at it this way: wine is a mocker; strong drink is a brawler; and whoever is intoxicated by it is not wise.»
Scripture says, «Do not look on the wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup. At last, it goes down like a serpent and it stings like a viper.» I think the Bible is saying, «Hey, wine was just a word used in the Bible kind of like 'drink.' We use that today—'drink' could be alcoholic or it could be iced tea. It’s just a drink.» Well, they had wine; that’s what they drank; sometimes it was alcoholic, sometimes it wasn’t.
I think the Scripture is saying, «Hey, when it starts to sparkle in the cup—when it’s fermented—stay away.» Why? Because your mind will see strange things. You’ll start to see perverse things. You’ll get drunk, and that’s not a good thing. «Wine is a mocker; strong drink is a brawler; and whoever is intoxicated by it is not wise.» I look at alcohol this way: what’s the upside if I drink? What’s the downside if I drink? The downside is huge—huge! I’ve talked to people who’ve wrecked and ruined their lives with drugs and alcohol, alcohol especially. They say, «Well, you know, I just started drinking and then I couldn’t stop.»
F. Scott Fitzgerald was the one who said this first: «You take a drink, then the drink takes a drink, then the drink takes you.» I had a friend of mine years ago; his name was Vic. He wanted to go out to breakfast. We went out to breakfast, and he said, «I really need to talk to you.» He was in my Sunday school class. He said to me—he was in his 20s—"I got to tell you something.» I said, «What’s that?» He said, «I’m an alcoholic.» And he said, «That stuff is ruining my life, and I wish I had never been introduced to it.»
I’ve never forgotten that. I think it is so much wiser for people to say, «That stuff is bad news; I don’t want to have anything to do with that. I’m just going to leave that alone.» You know who never becomes an alcoholic? Those who never start drinking. You know who never has a drug problem? Those who never take drugs. You know who never gets addicted to cigarettes? Those who never start smoking. You know who never has trouble with gambling? Those who never start. You just don’t open the door in those areas because on the other side of that door is a 500-pound gorilla that can get on your back. True happiness is not found in drugs and alcohol.
Most of us know that, but many of us struggle with that.
4. Money and Possessions
Number four: true happiness is not found in money and possessions. Solomon learned that. Now Solomon had more money than anyone has ever had. We talk about people today like Bill Gates and Warren Buffett and some of these guys. I mean, Bill Gates has so much money. Listen! Compared to King Solomon, Bill Gates was a street beggar! Solomon had everything—it was phenomenal—all the riches that King Solomon had.
When the Queen of Sheba came to see Solomon’s kingdom and hear from Solomon, she said, «Man, I heard these stories about you, and I thought, 'No way! ' But then I come and hear you and I come and see your kingdom—I mean, not half was told to me! Your greatness exceeds even the stories I heard, which I thought were embellished.» Solomon had so much. He says in verse 8 of chapter 2, «I also collected for myself silver and gold and the treasures of kings and provinces.» He had so much silver; the Bible says that during the reign of Solomon, silver was as common as stones.
They didn’t really think silver was very valuable during the reign of Solomon. Why? Because gold was it! Solomon covered everything in gold. When he made the temple of God and when he made his palace, it was just gold—gold, gold, gold! He would bring in 666 talents of gold every year, the Scripture says. He was so rich. And most of us think, «That’s what will make me happy.» I think there are lots of people in this room today, lots of people watching on television, listening, who say, «You know, I think the problems in my life would be solved if I just had more money.»
So many people think, «Man, if I just had more money, then I would be happy! Then I would be satisfied.» Ecclesiastes 5:10: «He who loves money,» Solomon says, «will not be satisfied with money.» It’s impossible because money can’t do it. Money is like salt water. You’re thirsty, and you can’t drink salt water because salt water can’t quench your thirst. Money is like that. That’s why Pat O’Brien said that he knows very few celebrities, very wealthy people, who are happy. Why? Because they think that their celebrity status, all that stuff, is supposed to make them happy, and it doesn’t, because it can’t.
It’s like drinking salt water, and it won’t do the job. Interestingly, some of you like to play the lottery. I don’t know who you are that plays the lottery, other than Larry, but some like to play the lottery. I think it’s ridiculous for people to play it, but lots of people play the lottery. Time magazine, in 2016, ran an article that said this: «Here’s how winning the lottery makes you miserable.» It said so many of the people that win the lottery wind up unhappy or wind up broke; people have had terrible things happen.
That’s Don McNay, a financial consultant. He said, «People commit suicide. People run through their money—easy come, easy go. They go through divorce, or people die.» Now Jack Whittaker, he won a 350 million dollar lottery pot in West Virginia, and he said this: «I wish that we had torn up the ticket. I just don’t like Jack Whittaker anymore. I don’t like the hard heart I’ve got. I don’t like what I’ve become because of all the money.» Abraham Shakespeare, he won a thirty million dollar lottery jackpot. He said, «I’d have been better off broke.»
Donna Mikan, she won a thirty-four point five million dollar lottery in the New York state lottery in 2007. She said, «My life was hijacked by the lottery. If you had asked me before I won, I would have said, 'I’m a pretty happy person.' But now my life has been hijacked, and I’m very unhappy.» Isn’t that strange? But we think that money is going to do it. Money is not going to do it; money can’t do it.
So many people long for it, scheme for it, dream for it, sell their souls for money, and then what happens? As Ted Turner, billionaire Ted Turner said, «Money is like a paper bag. Everybody wants the paper bag, and when you finally get the paper bag, you open it up and find out it’s empty.» It’s empty. He who loves money will not be satisfied with money. Solomon, who had more money than anyone, said, «Hey, that’s not the source of satisfaction.»
5. Sex and Sexual Immorality
So he said, «I’m going to try something else,» and he tried what many people try: sex and sexual immorality. He found out that true happiness is not found in sex. It’s not found in sexual immorality. Verse 8 of chapter 2 says, «I provided for myself male and female singers, and the pleasures of men—many concubines.» Many concubines! What’s a concubine? It’s like a love slave. She lives in the harem, and she’s just in the bullpen there. He had 300 of them; he had 700 wives and 300 concubines—not porcupines, we’re talking concubines—just waiting around in the bullpen for Solomon to call him up.
Now, if you’re one of a thousand-three hundred in the bullpen, seven hundred wives, I mean, the implication is he had sexual relationships with a thousand different women! Well, that’s a lot. He gave himself over to that. It says in God’s Word Translation, «I had all the women a man could want.» I would say so! If you had a thousand—"all the women a man could want"—well, did that satisfy you, Solomon? No! «Vanity of vanities, all is vanity!»
Now he calls it the pleasures of men—many concubines. And yes, that is pleasurable; sex is pleasurable. When God created sex, he put pleasure in there—for procreation, yes, but it’s also pleasurable. The Scripture talks about the passing pleasures of sin. He says in Hebrews 11 that Moses endured ill treatment with the people of God rather than choosing the passing pleasures of sin. Sin is pleasurable, but it’s pleasurable for a moment.
As I shared with you, those who take the route of drugs and alcohol experience instant heaven that leads to everlasting hell. I mean, it’s fun for a moment, but then the bills come due. And that’s the way it is with sexual immorality—it’s fun for a moment, but then the bills come due. We live in a world that is just so saturated with sex and sexual immorality and sexual images. It’s just all over the place.
We talked about the technology in America; we talked about how the smartphone has ruined so many people, because it’s just things they can pull up at the click of a button. It didn’t used to be like that. When I was in high school, we didn’t have anything like that. We didn’t have cable TV; we had three channels and maybe a couple of UHF channels, and you could flip through pretty quick. It was like, «There’s nothing on! Let’s go outside and play!» I mean, that’s the way it was. It’s not like that anymore.
In many young people, they ruin themselves with sexual immorality right off the bat. We live in a «Romans 1» society. We don’t want to acknowledge God any longer; Scripture makes that clear because it says in Romans 1 that the people didn’t want to acknowledge God anymore. They didn’t want to honor him as God or give him thanks, but their foolish heart was darkened. And so what does God do? When you say to God, «I don’t want to acknowledge you anymore,» God says, «All right, I’m giving you over.»
The Scripture says in Romans 1 that God gave them over to the lusts of their minds, and men were consumed with lust. We have seen men and women just say, «We’re not going to be married; we’re just going to have sex.» And we’re just going to go out on dates and have sex. So many people, on their first date, are just having sex. God gives you over to a lustful mind like that. But then God takes it a step further; he gives you over to a degrading passion, and now it’s not just men going after women—it’s men going after men and women going after women.
The Bible calls that a degrading passion! That’s sexual immorality with an exclamation point on it because that’s not natural. Then it goes even further, where God gives them over to a depraved mind—where their mind is corrupt; they can’t process things correctly because their mind has been corrupted by sin. That’s the world in which we live today. Some people say, «Well, you’re too hard on this stuff!» You know why I’m hard on this stuff? Because I want people to be happy, and you’re never going to be happy if you’re going after same-sex marriage.
You’re never going to be happy if you live in fornication and adultery. You just can’t be. Why? Because you’re sinning against God, that’s why. «Let the marriage bed be undefiled» (Hebrews 13:4), for fornicators—those who have sex and they’re not married—and adulterers, those who have sex outside of their marriage, God will judge! Man, it’s a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God. We act like it’s no big deal.
Oh, well, you know, I had a girl tell me one time when I was in college, «Well, I just think God understands that we can’t control ourselves.» I said, «Well, I think God understands what temptation is like. Jesus was tempted in all points as we are, yet without sin.» But he doesn’t just wink at that and say, «Oh, well, they couldn’t handle it; they couldn’t say no, so I understand.» Yeah, it’s okay! God doesn’t do that. He says, «It’s a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Fornicators and adulterers, God will judge.»
I realize there is a huge temptation there. I realize that it’s difficult to just say no. Like Nancy Reagan said so many years ago when it came to drugs—just say no! Well, when it comes to sexual immorality, just say no! But it’s like, «Yeah, but there’s a part of me that wants to say yes!» And that’s the struggle. Here’s the thing to remember: you will never find happiness going after sexual immorality—never!
And you all, as Christians, if you do that, you’re going to be convicted in your heart. The Holy Spirit of God is going to be stabbing you in your heart, saying, «What you’re doing is wrong!» And you can try to kick the spirit to death, try to kick your conscience to death, but in the middle of the night, you’re going to know: «I am in sin before God!» And you’re going to question your own salvation, if you have it at all, because how can you live this way? If you’re truly born again, your conscience would just be writhing in pain because you’re walking in the darkness, and the Lord will be convicting your heart.
Hey, you’re not going to find happiness in that arena. Solomon didn’t, and he had sexual experiences with a thousand women! He said, «Well, maybe if I had a few more!» It’s not there! Wilt Chamberlain, who said he had more sexual prowess than Solomon, claimed he had sex with 20,000 different women—20,000! Somebody did the math and said, «How could you even do that?! That’s impossible!» But then he said this: «I found that it would have been better to have sex with one woman a thousand times.» Pretty astute from Wilt; he realized, «Hey, all this doesn’t satisfy!» What would have satisfied? If I had been with one woman—faithful to one woman!
The girl I dated in high school moved away. I wasn’t a Christian; she wasn’t a Christian. We dated in high school, but when she moved away, she got in with the wrong crowd, and she started going in the wrong direction. I remember having a date with her my sophomore year in college. We met for dinner, and we hadn’t seen each other for a few years. I was telling her about coming to know Christ at the end of my senior year in high school, and she was telling me about how she had given herself away to so many different guys. She said, «You know, everybody makes a big deal about sex. Sex isn’t that big of a deal.»
I thought to myself, «You’re 20 years old; you’re not married! Something that is so wonderful that God has been saving for you—you have spoiled it.» You know, when the Lord says, «Don’t do this,» He’s not keeping sex from you; He’s keeping sex for you so that it would be special, so that it would be precious between you and your spouse. Solomon said, «Hey, happiness isn’t found in sex and sexual immorality!»
6. Work and Achievement
Then he said, «How about this? Number six: work and achievement. Surely I will find happiness in my work! Surely I’ll find happiness if I achieve, if I do these great things!» The true happiness isn’t found in that.
He said in verse four, «Then I began doing great things. I built houses and I planted vineyards for myself. I planted gardens and I made parks. I planted all kinds of fruit trees. I made pools of water for myself and used them to water my growing trees.» Oh man, he built all these gardens and parks, and it was so beautiful. It’s like, «This is what Solomon built!» And man, I’m going to get happiness out of that; that’s going to be the source of happiness! It’s not; all his work wasn’t satisfying to him. He goes on to say this in verse 17: «So I hated life, for the work which was done under the sun was grievous to me, because everything is futility and striving after wind.»
That’s right! «I hated all the fruit of my labor for which I have labored under the sun, for I must leave it to the man who will come after me. Who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool? Yet he will have control over all the fruit of my labor for which I’ve labored by acting wisely under the sun. This too is vanity.» Therefore, I completely despaired over all the fruit of my labor for which I had labored under the sun. «Man, I’ve worked and worked and worked, and I built this huge kingdom! But then I’m going to pass on, and I got to give it to someone else! Who knows if I don’t leave this to a bonehead?»
And that’s what he did, because Rehoboam was a bonehead. He lost the kingdom—ten tribes said, «We’re not following you anymore, Rehoboam.» We think that if we just achieve, if we get that next promotion, if we get to the next rung on the ladder, if we get that degree, if we achieve something, then we’ll be happy. Perhaps you saw the interview done a few years ago with the greatest quarterback in the history of NFL football, Tom Brady.
It was after he had won his third Super Bowl. He was sitting down with 60 Minutes, and they were talking to him about, «Man, you got it all! You’ve done it all! I mean, you’re a Super Bowl champ, you’re the greatest quarterback, you’ve got this beautiful wife!» Tom said, «Yeah, yeah, I got it all,» and he said this: «But there just has to be more than this.»
So telling! You could see it in his face—he’s just, «Yeah, I’m just so empty, but I have it all.» «But I don’t have it. I have a paper bag, and there’s nothing in it.» And this is supposed to make me so happy, but it doesn’t! It’s just a passing pleasure, and then it’s just like, «Ah, that’s all there is!»
Conclusion: Happiness Is Found in the Son
Hey, you’re never going to find happiness in any of these things. Why? Because happiness is not found under the sun; it’s only found in the Son—in the S-O-N—in the Son of the living God. True happiness is only found in the Lord. He says in verse 25, «For who can eat, and who can have enjoyment without him?» Answer: no one. No one!
You can have some passing pleasure in some of the things, but it’s not the source of satisfaction, and you’ll never find happiness in going after learning, laughter, drugs, alcohol, women, or work and achievement. None of that stuff is going to do it; it’s only in the Lord. Psalm 128 says this: «How blessed, how happy is everyone who fears the Lord, who walks in his ways! When you shall eat of the fruit of your hands, you will be happy, and it will be well with you. Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine within your house, your children like olive plants around your table. Behold! For thus shall the man be blessed who fears the Lord.»
It’s in the fear of God, it’s in walking in His ways—that’s where you find happiness. He’s the source of happiness. I love how it says, «You’ll be happy, and it will be well with you, and your wife.» It speaks of the home. You know, lots of unhappy couples today—lots of unhappy couples in church, in our church and other churches—many unhappy couples. You wonder, «Why did you guys get married? Because you seem to hate each other!»
Did you go to the justice of the peace or the Secretary of War? What’s the deal with you guys? Here’s the thing about marriage: many people come into marriage, and Larry Sims shared this with me the other day; he saw a little cartoon. The wife is at the altar, and there’s a little thing above her head like she’s thinking, «He is going to make me happy.» And the husband, the groom, he’s there at the altar, and he’s got the little bubble over his head: «She is going to make me happy.»
You know, it’s almost like a tick looking at a dog, saying, «Oh, I can just suck off of you. I can just feed off of you. You’re going to make me happy.» You know what marriage is? It’s two ticks and no dog! That’s what marriage is! You’re in a lot of trouble because you’re thinking, «Well, that person’s going to make me happy.» He said, «Well, this person’s going to make me happy.»
The only person who can make you happy is Jesus Christ, and if couples will seek him individually and then come together and seek him, their marriage will turn around; their life will turn around; everything will turn around! People are unhappy in marriage! Why? Because they’re unhappy with themselves. They’re unhappy in life because they’re looking for happiness in all the wrong places.
We have to look for happiness in the one who is the source, and that is Jesus. I’ll close with the words of this hymn written by Henry Harry Lowe in 1915: «Friends all around me are trying to find what the heart yearns for by sin undermined. I have the secret; I know what is found-only true pleasures in Jesus abound. All that I want is in Jesus. He satisfies; joy he supplies. Life would be nothing without him; all things in Jesus I find.»