Happiness

Passages on this topic

From Nave’s Topical Bible (1896), a historical reference index. The groupings are Nave’s; the verses are shown in the text used across this site.

Of the Wicked

Is limited to this life

• Psalm 17:14 from such men, O LORD, by Your hand— from men of the world whose portion is in this life. May You fill the bellies of Your treasured ones and satisfy their sons, so they leave their abundance to their children.
• Luke 16:25 But Abraham answered, ‘Child, remember that during your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things. But now he is comforted here, while you are in agony.

Is short

• Job 20:5 the triumph of the wicked has been brief and the joy of the godless momentary?

Is uncertain

• Luke 12:20 But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be required of you. Then who will own what you have accumulated?’

Is vain

• Ecclesiastes 2:1 I said to myself, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure; enjoy what is good!” But it proved to be futile.
• Ecclesiastes 7:6 For like the crackling of thorns under the pot, so is the laughter of the fool. This too is futile.

Is derived from

Their wealth

• Job 21:13 They spend their days in prosperity and go down to Sheol in peace.
• Psalm 52:7 “Look at the man who did not make God his refuge, but trusted in the abundance of his wealth and strengthened himself by destruction.”

Their power

• Job 21:7 Why do the wicked live on, growing old and increasing in power?
• Psalm 37:35 I have seen a wicked, ruthless man flourishing like a well-rooted native tree,

Their worldly prosperity

• Psalm 17:14 from such men, O LORD, by Your hand— from men of the world whose portion is in this life. May You fill the bellies of Your treasured ones and satisfy their sons, so they leave their abundance to their children.
• Psalm 37:3–4 Trust in the LORD and do good; dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness. Delight yourself in the LORD, and He will give you the desires of your heart.
• Psalm 37:7 Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for Him; do not fret when men prosper in their ways, when they carry out wicked schemes.

Gluttony

• Isaiah 22:13 But look, there is joy and gladness, butchering of cattle and slaughtering of sheep, eating of meat and drinking of wine: “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!”
• Habakkuk 1:16 Therefore he sacrifices to his dragnet and burns incense to his fishing net, for by these things his portion is sumptuous and his food is rich.

Drunkenness

• Isaiah 5:11 Woe to those who rise early in the morning in pursuit of strong drink, who linger into the evening, to be inflamed by wine.
• Isaiah 56:12 “Come, let me get the wine, let us imbibe the strong drink, and tomorrow will be like today, only far better!”

Vain pleasure

• Job 21:12 singing to the tambourine and lyre and making merry at the sound of the flute.
• Isaiah 5:12 At their feasts are the lyre and harp, tambourines and flutes and wine. They disregard the actions of the LORD and fail to see the work of His hands.

Successful oppression

• Habakkuk 1:15 The foe pulls all of them up with a hook; he catches them in his dragnet, and gathers them in his fishing net; so he rejoices gladly.

Marred by jealousy

• Esther 5:13 Yet none of this satisfies me as long as I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king’s gate.”

Often interrupted by judgments

• Numbers 11:33 But while the meat was still between their teeth, before it was chewed, the anger of the LORD burned against the people, and the LORD struck them with a severe plague.
• Job 15:21 Sounds of terror fill his ears; in his prosperity the destroyer attacks him.
• Psalm 73:18–20 Surely You set them on slick ground; You cast them down into ruin. How suddenly they are laid waste, completely swept away by terrors! Like one waking from a dream, so You, O Lord, awaken and despise their form.
• Jeremiah 25:10–11 Moreover, I will banish from them the sounds of joy and gladness, the voices of the bride and bridegroom, the sound of the millstones, and the light of the lamp. And this whole land will become a desolate wasteland, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon for seventy years.

Leads to sorrow

• Proverbs 14:13 Even in laughter the heart may ache, and joy may end in sorrow.

Leads to recklessness

• Isaiah 22:12 On that day the Lord GOD of Hosts called for weeping and wailing, for shaven heads and the wearing of sackcloth.

Sometimes a stumbling-block to saints

• Psalm 73:3 For I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
• Psalm 73:16 When I tried to understand all this, it was troublesome in my sight
• Jeremiah 12:1 Righteous are You, O LORD, when I plead before You. Yet about Your judgments I wish to contend with You: Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why do all the faithless live at ease?
• Habakkuk 1:13 Your eyes are too pure to look upon evil, and You cannot tolerate wrongdoing. So why do You tolerate the faithless? Why are You silent while the wicked swallow up those more righteous than themselves?

Saints often permitted to see the end of

• Psalm 73:17–20 until I entered God’s sanctuary; then I discerned their end. Surely You set them on slick ground; You cast them down into ruin. How suddenly they are laid waste, completely swept away by terrors! Like one waking from a dream, so You, O Lord, awaken and despise their form.

Envy not

• Psalm 37:1 Of David. Do not fret over those who do evil; do not envy those who do wrong.

Woe against

• Amos 6:1 Woe to those at ease in Zion and those secure on Mount Samaria, the distinguished ones of the foremost nation, to whom the house of Israel comes.
• Luke 6:25 Woe to you who are well fed now, for you will hunger. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep.

Illustrated

• Psalm 37:35–36 I have seen a wicked, ruthless man flourishing like a well-rooted native tree, yet he passed away and was no more; though I searched, he could not be found.
• Luke 12:16–20 Then He told them a parable: “The ground of a certain rich man produced an abundance. So he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, since I have nowhere to store my crops?’ Then he said, ‘This is what I will do: I will tear down my barns and will build bigger ones, and there I will store up all my gr…
• Luke 16:19 Now there was a rich man dressed in purple and fine linen, who lived each day in joyous splendor.
• Luke 16:25 But Abraham answered, ‘Child, remember that during your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things. But now he is comforted here, while you are in agony.

Exemplified

Israel

• Numbers 11:33 But while the meat was still between their teeth, before it was chewed, the anger of the LORD burned against the people, and the LORD struck them with a severe plague.

Haman

• Esther 5:9–11 That day Haman went out full of joy and glad of heart. At the king’s gate, however, he saw Mordecai, who did not rise or tremble in fear at his presence. And Haman was filled with rage toward Mordecai. Nevertheless, Haman restrained himself and went home. And calling for his friends and his wife Ze…

Belshazzar

• Daniel 5:1 Later, King Belshazzar held a great feast for a thousand of his nobles, and he drank wine with them.

Herod

• Acts 12:21–23 On the appointed day, Herod donned his royal robes, sat on his throne, and addressed the people. And they began to shout, “This is the voice of a god, not a man!” Immediately, because Herod did not give glory to God, an angel of the Lord struck him down, and he was eaten by worms and died.

Of the Righteous

• Deuteronomy 33:29 Blessed are you, O Israel! Who is like you, a people saved by the LORD? He is the shield that protects you, the sword in which you boast. Your enemies will cower before you, and you shall trample their high places.”
• Job 5:17–27 Blessed indeed is the man whom God corrects; so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty. For He wounds, but He also binds; He strikes, but His hands also heal. He will rescue you from six calamities; no harm will touch you in seven. In famine He will redeem you from death, and in battle from…
• Psalm 36:8 They feast on the abundance of Your house, and You give them drink from Your river of delights.
• Psalm 40:8 I delight to do Your will, O my God; Your law is within my heart.”
• Psalm 63:5 My soul is satisfied as with the richest of foods; with joyful lips my mouth will praise You.
• Psalm 128:1–2 A song of ascents. Blessed are all who fear the LORD, who walk in His ways! For when you eat the fruit of your labor, blessings and prosperity will be yours.
• Psalm 133:1 A song of ascents. Of David. Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in harmony!
• Psalm 144:15 Blessed are the people of whom this is so; blessed are the people whose God is the LORD.
• Psalm 146:5 Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the LORD his God,
• Proverbs 3:13–18 Blessed is the man who finds wisdom, the man who acquires understanding, for she is more profitable than silver, and her gain is better than fine gold. She is more precious than rubies; nothing you desire compares with her. Long life is in her right hand; in her left hand are riches and honor. All…

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