The Promise of Happiness in the Song of Solomon

The pursuit of happiness on our own terms rather than pursuing happiness on God's terms will always lead to misery. In both the Old Testament and the New Testament, our relationship with God is presented to us as a marriage. C.S. Lewis says that God cannot give us peace and happiness apart from himself because there is no such thing. And so what James is after here is that we would understand that every time we sin against God, we are actually sinning against ourselves.