This week on the Word of the Lord endures forever we finish our walk through this altar for the time being,

looking at Psalms 71 and 72, my mouth is filled with your praise, I will remind them of your righteousness,

give the king your justice, and blessed be the Lord. Then off into Ecclesiastes with Vanity of vanities.

Join me, Pastor Will Whedon,

for the Word of the Lord Endors Forever,

your daily 15-minute verse-by-verse Bible study on demand.

Listen at thewordendors.org or your favorite podcast provider.

Music It is a big part of our American way of thinking about ourselves and our society.

We believe that we are entitled to life liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That last one is the odd one there.

What does it mean? What did it mean when the founders first said it? Maybe they had a different

concept of happiness than we have today. And what does it mean to people in the West now?

Welcome back to Issues, Et cetera. I'm Todd Wilkin, joining us to discuss biblical happiness.

Dr. John Bamborro, he's senior pastor at St. James Lutheran Church in Lafayette, Indiana,

an author of a column titled Rehabilitating Happiness.

John, welcome back.

Thanks, Todd. It's nice to be with you once again.

What did the idea of happiness in classical literature for really millennia used to mean?

Well, whether one was a Greek or a Jew, happiness would be bound up with virtue, a way of living before God or the gods in civic society with integrity.

Now, that civic society aspect of it is really important.

So happiness was a result of virtuous living, which left a person with deep-seated peace and joy.

Among the Greeks, there were two dominant schools of thought in the pursuit of happiness. In the Stoic school of thought, one pursued Adiraxia,

which was imperturbability, that despite whatever circumstances were happening around you,

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