18454027 psalm-27-verse-3-commentary

PSALM 27 VERSE 3 COMMENTARY
Written and edited by Glenn Pease
3 Though an army besiege me,
my heart will not fear;
though war break out against me,
even then will I be confident.
1. He is an incurable optimist. Wars and invading armies were just a part of his
daily life, and God had given him assurance that he would be king, and so with
complete trust in the promise of God he faced danger and death with full confidence
that he would survive. "Give it your best shot" is what David is saying to his
enemies, for he is confident that victory will be his. No matter how bad the news
would be down the road for David, he could face the future without fear. He was
expressing the same faith that Paul had when he said, "If God be with us, who can
be against us?" Ro 8:31.
1B. David had the same optimistic view of life as the little girl in this story.
"A little girl walked daily to and from school. Though the weather that
morning was questionable and clouds were forming, she made her daily trip to
school. As the afternoon progressed, the winds whipped up, along with
thunder and lightning. The mother of the little girl felt concerned that her
daughter would be frightened as she walked home from school, and she herself
feared that the electrical storm might harm her child.
Following the roar of thunder, lightning, like a flaming sword would cut
through the sky. Full of concern, the mother quickly got in her car and
drove along the route to her child's school. As she did so, she saw her
little girl walking along, but at each flash of lightning, the child would stop, look up
and smile. Another and another were to follow quickly, each with the little girl
stopping, looking up and smiling. Finally, the mother called over to her child and
asked, "what are you doing?" The child answered, "smiling, God just keeps taking
pictures of me." Contributed by Bo Strong
2. Spurgeon wrote, "Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not
fear. Before the actual conflict, while as yet the battle is untried, the warrior's heart,
being held in suspense, is very liable to become fluttered. The encamping host often

inspires greater dread than the same host in actual affray. Young tells us of some--
"Who feel a thousand deaths in fearing one." Doubtless the shadow of anticipated
trouble is, to timorous minds, a more prolific source of sorrow than the trouble
itself, but faith puts a strengthening plaister to the back of courage, and throws out
of the window the dregs of the cup of trembling. Though war should rise against me,
in this will I be confident. When it actually comes to push of pike, faith's shield will
ward off the blow; and if the first brush should be but the beginning of a war, yet
faith's banners will wave in spite of the foe. Though battle should succeed battle,
and one campaign should be followed by another, the believer will not be dismayed
at the length of the conflict."
3. It could be interpreted that David is being over confident, and even showing some
pride here, but the whole context shows us that he is just using the power of positive
thinking in facing trials and tribulations. The rest of the Psalm reveals that he does,
in fact, have fears, but he does not want to yield to those fears, but to rely on faith to
overcome them. David Humpal wrote, "The next thing that David does to overcome
his fears is to speak in faith. As we read through this psalm, we see clear indications
that David’s fear was real. It was there facing him in the face. But instead of
allowing terror to overwhelm him, he forced himself to make these statements of
trust – "my heart shall not fear" and "yet I will be confident." This does not mean
that David didn’t feel some dread in his heart nor that there weren’t moments of
doubt as we can see from verses 7, 9, and 12. But it does mean that he was willing to
trust in God and discipline his thoughts to not abandon his faith in the face of
calamity."
4. David had so much experience to fall back on, but that it not always true of
believers in every circumstance. The disciples of Jesus became so fearful when Jesus
was arrested that they fled and hid in the upper room fearful that they too might be
taken prisoners. Peter boldly took a swipe with a sword and cut off an ear of the
enemy, but he was rebuked, and then later denied that he even knew Jesus. They all
became cowards in the face of serious danger, and doubtless all of us would have
been in that same category under those circumstances. Jesus never held in against
them, and he never forgave them, for he did not consider it a sin that they forsook
him under that kind of pressure. After the resurrection they were bold and
courageous, and they did not let fear hold them back again. They marched against
all enemies and faced death fearlessly, and each of them died as martyrs for the
faith.
5. R. A. Torrey wrote about Christian cowardice in his day in London. "My next
text is in John xii. 42 and 43: "Nevertheless among, the chief rulers also many
believed on Him, but because of the Pharisees they did not confess Him, lest they
should be put out of the synagogue. For they loved the praise of men more than the
praise of God." Now that was written about Jerusalem in Christ's time, but it
sounds just as if it were written about London to-day. How many men there are in

London, leading men, just like these chief rulers of Jerusalem, who believe in Jesus
Christ in their hearts, but they do not confess Him with their mouths for fear of
what men will say of them, for they love the praise of men more than the praise of
God. It is moral cowardice. There are hundreds and thousands and tens of
thousands of men and women just as fully convinced as I am that Jesus Christ is the
Son of God, and yet holding back from open, public confession of Christ because of
moral cowardice."
"I wish to say right here at the beginning that it takes courage to be a Christian, to
be a real, true, outspoken follower of Jesus Christ. You and I live in a God-hating
world; we live in a compromising age -an age in which men professing to be
Christians are trying to please the world and carry on the Church of Christ so that
there will be no difference between the church and the world. Now in a God-hating
world like this, and in a compromising age like this, it takes courage to be an out-and-
out soldier of Jesus Christ. It takes more courage than a great many of you
have got. Many a man to-day who has great courage, who has courage enough to be
a soldier, who has courage enough to go to war, courage enough to go to the front,
courage enough to stand on the firing line, and stand in the face of a galling fire
from the enemy's guns, has not courage enough to go back to the barracks at night
and kneel down and say his prayers, and endure the chaff of his fellow-soldiers. It
takes Courage, the sublimest courage to be an out-and-out Christian."
6. Matthäus A. von Löwenstern wrote,
Lord of our life, and God of our salvation,
Star of our night, and Hope of every nation,
Hear and receive Thy church’s supplication,
Lord God Almighty.
See round Thine ark the hungry billows curling!
See how Thy foes their banners are unfurling!
Lord, while their darts envenomed they are hurling,
Thou canst preserve us.
Lord, Thou canst help when earthly armor faileth;
Lord, Thou canst save when sin itself assaileth;
Lord, o’er Thy rock nor death nor hell prevaileth;
Grant us Thy peace, Lord.
Peace, in our hearts, our evil thoughts assuaging,

Peace, in Thy church, where brothers are engaging,
Peace, when the world its busy war is waging;
Calm thy foes raging!
Grant us Thy help till backward they are driven;
Grant them Thy truth, that they may be forgiven;
Grant peace on earth, or after we have striven,
Peace in Thy heaven.
7. It may sound very strange to you when I say that these two verses that talk of
enemies and war, and threats galore, are a basis for studying God's sense of humor.
I say this because of some of the crazy ways God saved his hide from those who
wanted to kill him. On one occassion we see him running from Saul, who was
desperate to wipe David from the face of the earth. Let me read the text.
I Sam. 21:10-15 "That day David fled from Saul and went to Achish king of Gath.
11 But the servants of Achish said to him, "Isn't this David, the king of the land?
Isn't he the one they sing about in their dances " 'Saul has slain his thousands, and
David his tens of thousands'?"12 David took these words to heart and was very
much afraid of Achish king of Gath. 13 So he pretended to be insane in their
presence; and while he was in their hands he acted like a madman, making marks
on the doors of the gate and letting saliva run down his beard. 14 Achish said to his
servants, "Look at the man! He is insane! Why bring him to me? 15 Am I so short of
madmen that you have to bring this fellow here to carry on like this in front of me?
Must this man come into my house?"
David excaped death by deception. He played the role of an insane madman so well
that the king wanted nothing to do with him, and he was set free. Some people
question if a believer should ever deceive someone, or pretend and be the hypocrite
to escape danger, but it is foolish to do so, because deception is a valid part of
warfare. Deception is a part of competition in sports, for you often have to pretend
to move one way, and then suddenly move the other way to win the point. You have
to fool your opponent and deceive them into making the wrong move. This is true in
warfare as well, and that is what camaflough is all about. You try to hide things
from the enemy, and you pretend your forces are going one way, but really they are
going another way to attack you. Deception is a basic part of all the wars that
America has fought, and it is true in the warfare of the Bible as well. This is a major
theme we could get back too, for it runs all through the Bible, but for now our
theme is to trace the humor of God in saving David's life. God just had to get a kick
out of this clever way that David saved his neck. He had to laugh as David acted like
a total slobbering idiot with saliva running down his beard, and how funny is it that
the king scolded his men from bringing this madman into his presence. He makes a
funny himself by saying he has no shortage of his own madmen, and he does not
need to add to his supply. The whole scene is a sitcom out of ancient history, and

God directed the whole thing, as another of his close call escapes for sparing David's
life. Clearly, we see the humor of God here.
8. Now we move ahead to I Sam. 23:7-14 "Saul was told that David had gone to
Keilah, and he said, "God has handed him over to me, for David has imprisoned
himself by entering a town with gates and bars." 8 And Saul called up all his forces
for battle, to go down to Keilah to besiege David and his men. 9 When David learned
that Saul was plotting against him, he said to Abiathar the priest, "Bring the
ephod."10 David said, "O LORD , God of Israel, your servant has heard definitely
that Saul plans to come to Keilah and destroy the town on account of me.11 Will the
citizens of Keilah surrender me to him? Will Saul come down, as your servant has
heard? O LORD , God of Israel, tell your servant." And the LORD said, "He will."
12 Again David asked, "Will the citizens of Keilah surrender me and my men to
Saul?" And the LORD said, "They will."
This is finally it. Saul wins and David loses. It is all over for David. His life ends
right here in podunkville, for God has stated it point blank that Saul will come and
destroy the town to get him, and then says the people will turn him over to Saul. He
is right where Saul wants him, and he is trapped. God knows the future, and he tells
David exactly what is going to be in his near future, and it is doom. How will David
escape this time? It was quite simple. In fact, it was so simple that it is funny. David
just used his knowledge of the future to avoid it. That is what we read in the next
few verses.
13 So David and his men, about six hundred in number, left Keilah and kept moving
from place to place. When Saul was told that David had escaped from Keilah, he did
not go there. 14 David stayed in the desert strongholds and in the hills of the Desert
of Ziph. Day after day Saul searched for him, but God did not give David into his
hands."
Here is God again directing a sitcom, and a suspense thriller at the same time. God
says Saul is coming, and David will be turned over to him, but he gave David the
good sense to realize that what God knows is going to happen is subject to change if
you make choices that are different than the ones you are now making. God knew
what was going to happen if David stayed there, but David had the freedom to leave,
and he did, and found a better hiding place in the desert and hills. He again
outwitted Saul, and by the grace of God was saved again. There is some serious
theology here that we need to mention, but it is another instance of the humor of
history that God builds into it by his providence. What was certain to be did not
happen, for David got inside information that enabled him to change that future
that God saw was a certain thing. By means of prayer David became clever in
avoiding death, and time and time again God saved David by one clever means or
another, and he had to get a chuckle as he watched his chosen king outwit Saul, his
rejected king, every time. Saul said, "its in the bag for me now, for God has finally
leaned to my side with David trapped in that town." Wrong again Saul, for God's
money is still on David, and you are left with an empty bag again.

The serious note before we move on is this: God knowing something is going to be
does not mean that it has to be. He knows all of the possibilities of the future, but by
our free willed choices we change what God knows. He knows you will have a flat
tire if you do not get it fixed, and that will lead to an accident or a long delay that
causes you to miss an important appointment. That is a lot of bad news that he
knows is coming into your life. But none of it needs to be what God sees if you take
care of the tire or get a new one with some threads on it. With that choice taking
place God now sees a successful appointment that brings you a promotion and much
joy. God sees both pictures of the future, and which one comes to pass depends on
your choices. That is why we pray for wisdom and guidance to know the will of God.
He wants to see us fulfill the good future and escape the bad as was the case with
David. Everything we learn from Scripture and others, and everything we seek God
for in prayer are all guiding us to choices that determine our future. God told Jonah
to go and tell the Ninevites that they had 40 days and then they would be destroyed.
It was God's clear message by his chosen prophet. When the 40 days were up the
city was not destroyed as God said it would be. Why? Because the people repented,
and God in mercy let them survive for several more generations. Jonah hated it, and
was hopping mad at God for changing his mind, for it made him look like a fool. But
God will change his mind and history in favor of grace rather than judgment every
time when people make the right choices. Even the most wicked people can change
the future if they wise up and turn to God. This is serious business, but it is also
often funny when we see examples of how God's people change the future and
outwit the negative forces of evil. It makes God and man laugh together.
9. How do I know God laughs in situations like we have been describing? I know it
from the times that God reveals his laughter in the Psalms. As I read the three
passages that reveal God laughing, pay attention to the fact that they all have to do
with the wicked who plot and conspire to attack and overthrow the righteous. They
are all in a context of conflict between good and evil. God laughs at evil men and
nations who think they can oppose God and his people and succeed. God laughs in
the same way any father will bust a gut when his three year old son gets angry and
decides to take on dad and give him the pounding of his life. Dad holds him by his
head as he swings his fists with all his might, and his very seriousness in his attack
makes dad almost crumble to the floor because it is so hilarious. Listen now to the
three times God is said to laugh out loud.
1. In Psalm 4:1-4 we read,
1 Why do the nations conspire
and the peoples plot in vain?
2 The kings of the earth take their stand
and the rulers gather together
against the LORD
and against his Anointed One.

3 "Let us break their chains," they say,
"and throw off their fetters."
4 The One enthroned in heaven laughs;
the Lord scoffs at them.
One commentator says of these verses, "....this text teaches that, despite the most
extensive and strenuous preparations of the vastest international confederacies to
defeat God?s purposes and strike down His servants, God is not worried. On the
contrary, He laughs. Though nations rage and take counsel together against the
Lord, the omnipotent Sovereign holds them in derision. God derides their
impotence as though with a squirt gun they would liquidate the stars, or by a push
of the hand would roll the sun off the sky. This laugh of God springs from His
infinite superiority, the conclusive finality of His might, and the methods by which
He effects His judgments."
2. In Psalm 37:12-15 we read,
12 The wicked plot against the righteous
and gnash their teeth at them;
13 but the Lord laughs at the wicked,
for he knows their day is coming.
14 The wicked draw the sword
and bend the bow
to bring down the poor and needy,
to slay those whose ways are upright.
15 But their swords will pierce their own hearts,
and their bows will be broken.
"One commentator calls this another instance of divine sarcasm as God laughs at
His enemy's folly and patiently waits the day of retribution when righteousness
shall triumph. In his poem, "Malcolm and Marie", Dr. Oswald J. Smith makes the
imprisoned Russian youth, separated from his fiance through Soviet persecution,
exclaim,
Methinks I hear God laugh, so let them rage.
He'll hold them in derision till the day
He rises in His wrath, and in His hot

Displeasure, vexes those who vainly seek
To tear Him from His throne for judgment set.
What folly if a sparrow hurl itself
Against a locomotive in its pride,
Expecting thus to check it in its speed!
As little hope have they who mock at God."
Many of the miracles of Jesus were comedies played out on the stage of history.
When Jesus intimated that death had not dealt its final blow to Jairus's daughter,
the crowd laughed Him to scorn. A few minutes later the laugh was on them when
the maid arose and walked." The family now rejoices at the gift of life from the
grave, and Jesus again laughs with them at the evil power of death being forced to
surrender its prey. Whenever evil forces are outwitted and overcome, it is a time for
laughter. God gets plenty to laugh about as he watches his Son defeat one enemy
after another in his earthly life. We tend to think of the life of Jesus as tragedy
because of his suffering and cruel death, but the reality is, most of his life was
comedy as he defeats the enemies of God's kingdom over and over again, day after
day of his public ministry. People were laughing with joy constantly around Jesus as
he healed and cast out demons, and even raised people from the dead. It was a party
every day around Jesus.
3. In Psalm 59:1-9 we read, " 1 Deliver me from my enemies, O God;
protect me from those who rise up against me.
2 Deliver me from evildoers
and save me from bloodthirsty men.
3 See how they lie in wait for me!
Fierce men conspire against me
for no offense or sin of mine, O LORD.
4 I have done no wrong, yet they are ready to attack me.
Arise to help me; look on my plight!
5 O LORD God Almighty, the God of Israel,
rouse yourself to punish all the nations;
show no mercy to wicked traitors.
Selah

6 They return at evening,
snarling like dogs,
and prowl about the city.
7 See what they spew from their mouths—
they spew out swords from their lips,
and they say, "Who can hear us?"
8 But you, O LORD, laugh at them;
you scoff at all those nations.
9 O my Strength, I watch for you;
you, O God, are my fortress, 10 my loving God.
God will go before me
and will let me gloat over those who slander me.
The theme of these passages all revolve around the folly of those people and nations
who presume to be superior to the the righteous, and those whom God has chosen.
God laughs because they are so full of pride to think they can win over God and his
people, but God knows they don't have a chance. He knows they will go down in
defeat, and the good guys will always win in the end. This is the theme of thousands
of movies. Almost every Western is based on this theme. The evil man who controls
the whole town and makes life miserable to the good people alway ends up defeated
by the little guy who comes into town and fights for the people. The good guy who is
outnumbered always wins over the gang of evil outlaws who have all the advantages.
All your cowboy heroes battle against great odds and come out smelling like a rose.
Maybe they have a wounded arm where the bad guy gets off a shot, but the bad guy
always ends up in the grave. The same them goes for the good guy detective against
the mobsters and other wicked schemers against society. The same them covers all
the movies dealing with the prideful superior class of people who look down on the
lowly common people, but in the end they get their behind kicked and the average
Joe's and Jane's end up rejoicing in the wonder of their victory. Thousands of
movies portray the very same them that makes God laugh, and people laugh as well,
and that is why they are often called comedies. They are designed to make people
laugh.
History is this same comedy theme, for no matter how powerful evil men and rulers
become, they always end up with God laughing at their defeat. I was 8 years old
when World War II ended, and I was a shoe shine boy in downtown Sioux Falls,
S.D. and it was amazing how people laughed and shouted and danced in the streets.
People stopped their cars in the street and go out to hug and rejoice with people all
around them. It was a victory celebration, and people opened their windows in the
upper floors of buildings and joined the crowds on the streets shouting and rejoicing
in the good news. Hitler was no longer a threat to the world, and all the pride of
those people who thought they could conquor the world was now like a baloon

punctured with a thousand pins. The same story is repeated all through history as
tyrants and dictators fall from their high horse of pride and bite the dust of disgrace
and death. History is God's comedy, and it keeps him laughing because it never
ceases to amaze God that puny men think they can rid the world of his people. God
always has the last laugh as prideful men end in the grave and his people go
marching on. All of the horrible plots of history to eliminate the Jews, and later the
Christians, have ended in the same way, with the tyrants as victims of their own
folly, and God's people victorious.
10. The book of Proverbs is the book of wisdom, and what does wisdom say in
essence? It says that wickedness and folly are such stupid and unreasonable choices
that it is a cause for laughter and mockery that intelligent beings can be so ignorant
as to make those choices. Proverbs chapter one starts right off with a laugh at those
who reject the wisdom of God. Prov. 1:20-33 says,
20 Wisdom calls aloud in the street, she raises her voice in the public squares;
21 at the head of the noisy streets [c] she cries out,
in the gateways of the city she makes her speech:
22 "How long will you simple ones [d] love your simple ways?
How long will mockers delight in mockery
and fools hate knowledge?
23 If you had responded to my rebuke,
I would have poured out my heart to you
and made my thoughts known to you.
24 But since you rejected me when I called
and no one gave heed when I stretched out my hand,
25 since you ignored all my advice
and would not accept my rebuke,
26 I in turn will laugh at your disaster;
I will mock when calamity overtakes you-
27 when calamity overtakes you like a storm,
when disaster sweeps over you like a whirlwind,
when distress and trouble overwhelm you.
28 "Then they will call to me but I will not answer;
they will look for me but will not find me.
29 Since they hated knowledge
and did not choose to fear the LORD,

30 since they would not accept my advice
and spurned my rebuke,
31 they will eat the fruit of their ways
and be filled with the fruit of their schemes.
32 For the waywardness of the simple will kill them,
and the complacency of fools will destroy them;
33 but whoever listens to me will live in safety
and be at ease, without fear of harm."
11. It is the same theme again, and it says the wicked will end in defeat, and the
righteous will end in victory. It tells us that God laughs at the same things we do.
What can be more funny than the many stupid criminal stories that just keep on
coming. They are hilarious, and we cannot help but laugh even though it is pathetic.
The internet is loaded with such stories. Here are a few that I got a kick out of.
1. "When a man attempted to siphon gasoline from a motor home parked on a
Seattle street, he got much more than he bargained for. Police arrived at the scene
to find an ill man curled up next to a motor home near spilled sewage. A police
spokesman said that the man admitted to trying to steal gasoline and plugged his
hose into the motor home's sewage tank by mistake. The owner of the vehicle
declined to press charges, saying that it was the best laugh he'd ever had.
2. A woman was reporting her car as stolen, and mentioned that there was a car
phone in it. The policeman taking the report called the phone and told the guy that
answered that he had read the ad in the newspaper and wanted to buy the car. They
arranged to meet, and the thief was arrested.
3.David Posman, 33, was arrested recently in Providence, R.I, after allegedly
knocking out an armored car driver and stealing the closest four bags of money. It
turned out they contained $800 in PENNIES, weighed 30 pounds each, and slowed
him to a stagger during his getaway so that police officers easily jumped him from
behind.
4. Drug-possession defendant Christopher Johns, on trial in March in Pontiac,
Michigan, said he had been searched without a warrant. The prosecutor said the
officer didn't need a warrant because a "bulge" in Christopher's jacket could have
been a gun. Nonsense, said Christopher, who happened to be wearing the same
jacket that day in court. He handed it over so the judge could see it. The judge
discovered a packet of cocaine in the pocket and laughed so hard he required a five-minute
recess to compose himself.
5. R.C. Gaitlin, 21, walked up to two patrol officers who were showing their squad
car computer equipment to children in a Detroit neighborhood. When he asked how

the system worked, the officers asked him for a piece of identification. Gaitlin gave
them his driver's license, they entered it into the computer, and moments later they
arrested Gaitlin because information on the screen showed that Gaitlin was wanted
for a two-year-old armed robbery in St. Louis, Missouri.
6. Bank Robber returns to bank to open account. 11/25/01: A man without principle
attracted a lot of interest after he returned to a Queens bank he had robbed to open
up a savings account there, police said. "What a dope!" said one amazed police
official, who could barely contain his laughter. "This guy has to get the jackass of
the year award. I guess that's why they call them 'criminals' - they're just sometimes
really stupid." Police say Jack Schreiner, 30, strolled into a Chase Manhattan Bank
branch at 84-01 Jamaica Ave. at 10:30 last Monday and handed a teller a note
demanding money. The teller complied and surrendered $7,791 in cash. On Friday,
Schreiner returned to the bank at 11:24 a.m. - this time to open up a savings
account. After the manager and teller verified the man was the original bank
robber, the police were called and were able to catch their man." The point is, it is
funny when evil people get themselves caught and imprisoned by their stupidity. All
of history is about such stories, for evil people are forever choosing to reject wisdom
and follow the path of being anti-God, and the end result is endless comedy where
they end up disgraced, defeated, and dead. As men sow so shall they reap, and when
they sow seeds of evil, they reap what they deserve and become the comedy of the
universe.
7. Stupid Thief-A bank robber in Los Angeles told the clerk not to give him cash,
but to deposit the money to his checking account.
12. The Bible is far from being devoid of stupid people. We could spend many weeks
just looking at them and their folly. Stupid people are only referred to 4 times in the
Bible, but fools are mentioned 46 times. Proverbs 12:1 says, "Whoever loves
discipline loves knowledge, but he who hates correction is stupid." This covers an
enormous population of people, and in two places in the Bible stupid and fool are
used in the same verse. Ecclesiastes 10:3 "Even as he walks along the road, the fool
lacks sense and shows everyone how stupid he is." And 2 Timothy 2:23 says, "Don't
have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they
produce quarrels." Paul is writing, or course to Christians, and so we have Biblical
proof that Christians can be foolish and stupid. That is too vast a subject to cover at
this point, and so we need to move on.
What we see in the Bible is these same stupid criminal types always trying to outwit
God and his people. The proud builders of the tower of Babel thought they could
control the world from their high tower, but God confounded their language so they
could not understand each other. Imagine the confusion. "I told you to build the
next level out of stone you idiot, and now this clay you used will not hold the next
level?" "I'm sorry boss, but you spoke in such a strange language that I did not get
the message." On and on goes the confused chaos of different languages until they
had to give up the whole project as a fiasco. If you have ever tried to communicate

with a person with a different language, or watched someone else try, you know how
silly it can be. Sometimes one will raise his voice as if volume will make his sounds
intelligible. People try in vain to grasp what is being said with dumbfounded
expressions on their face showing they don't have a clue to what is being said. It
would be a real riot of humor to watch what happened at this tower of babble, for
that is what it was, nothing but people babbling to each other. It is hard to manage a
crew when all you can say sounds like babble, babble, babble. Another one of God's
reward winning sitcoms, to be sure. Do you think God was not laughing as he sat in
heaven watching this sitcom play out on the stage of history?
13. What about those wicked men of Sodom who were determined to have sex with
the two angels that God sent to rescue Lot and his family? They were blinded by
their lust to do evil, and so God blinded their eyes so they were trying to feel their
way around to find the door. They were so utterly devoid of common sense and
decency that God had to blind them to prevent their carrying out their unbelievably
stupid plan of raping, and likely killing two angels of God on a mission to save Lot
from these very incurable wicked people. It was a horror story really, and yet funny
at the same time as we see these stupid criminals groping for the door, for even in
their blindness they were going to try and get into Lots house and do their dirty
work. Persistence is a virtue, but when it is persistence in doing evil it is so stupid
that it is laughable. As long as their are stupid wicked people determined to get their
way in opposition to God's way, there will always be plenty for God to laugh at. The
brain dead Egyptians who tried to follow after the Israelites as they walked through
on dry ground as God parted the waters, were overwhelmed when God said my
purpose in parting the waters is done, for Israel is over, and so I will let things go
back to normal. They were so stupid to think God was going to let them benefit
from his miracle as well as the Israelites, and let them catch up to the very people he
delivered from Egypt. The walls of water came crashing down on them and horse
and rider were drowned in the sea. No wonder there was a big party and much
singing for joy after this event, for God's people were joining God in a good laugh at
how stupid wicked people can be.
14. When the Philistines captured the ark of God they placed it in a heathen temple
beside the image of Dagon, their god. It would seem that they had pulled off a great
victory against the God of Israel, but the next morning their god was fallen on its
face. They figuered it was a freak accident and so they set it up again, and the next
moring their idol was not only fallen, but its head and hands were broken off. They
now had a headless and handless stump for a god, and it dawned on them that they
had become the laughing stock of the God of Israel. They did everything possible to
get rid of the ark of God, for it was destroying, not only their god, but their people
as one disease after another plagued them. Finally they agreed they had to give it
back to Israel with gifts, and so again, God gets the final laugh on proud wicked
men.

15. In the New Testament we see this same theme in the life of Jesus. In Luke 4:29-
30 the people were joined together to push Jesus off the cliff, but he just passed
through their midst and went on his way. Wicked men were being absurd in
thinking they could get rid of Jesus, and they were forever plotting to do so, but
Jesus was never subject to their plots. When they came to take Jesus in Gethseman
they all fell down in his presence, and Jesus could have walked away again, but it
was his time.When he went to the cross it was his choice to lay down his life for our
sins. He let the wicked take him and so their thing, but it was not them succeeding in
their evil, for he was choosing to lay down his life as a positive thing for the good of
all mankind. They thought to do evil, but he said "No man takes my life away from
me; I lay it down of myself." (John 10:17,18). His enemies were delighted to see him
dying at last, and Satan must have been delirious with joy as he watched the Son of
God dying in agony. But, as always, God had the last laugh when he raised his Son
from the dead. He bashed in the doors of hell and freed all the prisoners held
captive by Satan. He won the greatest battle in history by becoming the Lord of
death as well as life. He was now able to offer the world of mankind an opportunity
to escape the power of death forever, and have eternal life with him, and God and
his people have been laughing ever since, and will do so for all eternity.
16. The justice of God is humorous, for he by his providence causes the foolish evil
person to suffer the very thing he plans to inflict on the innocent. For example,
Psalm 7:15-16,
15 He who digs a hole and scoops it out
falls into the pit he has made.
16 The trouble he causes recoils on himself;
his violence comes down on his own head.
Prov. 26:27 confirms it, "If a man digs a pit, he will fall into it;
if a man rolls a stone, it will roll back on him."
Someone wrote,
He digged a pit; he digged it deep;
He digged it for another.
It so fell out, that he fell in;
The pit he digged for a brother.
If a man threw a boomerang which returned to hit the thrower on the head,
spectators would laugh. And so it is laughable when men who devise evil suffer the
very evil they plot for the hurt of others. Judgment is sad that it has to be, and God
hates that it has to be because of the evil choices of foolish men, but it is also funny
because the bad guy gets what is coming to him, and it is just what he wants to cast

on others. He wants to be the judge and sentence people to suffer danger,
deprivation and death, but instead this is what he reaps for his folly. One of the
cruel yet funny stories in the Bible is that of Adoni-bezek who cut off the thumbs
and great toes of seventy kings he captured. When he was captured by God's people,
his thumbs and great toes were amputated. This story is in Judges 1:6-7. I have a
long study on that text that I don't want to go into here except to say it is what we
call poetic justice when evil comes back on the evil doer. I will just give a little of
what I have written there on poetic justice.
17. History has some funny examples of poetic justice. For example, on North
Carolina's Figure Eight island the authorities said they suspected the cause of the
fire that destroyed the vacation home of R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company president
Andrew J. Shindler was a lighted cigarette butt. Another is this one that has to
make you laugh at how humorous it can be when justice is done to those who seek to
do evil. The Guardian reports news of the death of a local politician in eastern
Ukraine. "The 40-year-old man was taking his dog for a walk when he fell into a
heated argument with a group of people who objected to the dog, a boxer, being off
his lead and without a muzzle. The politician took a hand grenade out of his pocket
and threw it at the young people. The dog fetched the grenade and obediently
returned it to its master, only for both of them to be blown to pieces."
18. Another contemporary example is the following: "This wonderful bit of follow
up on the news, courtesy of Durham Herald-Sun columnist Carl Daniels-Kinney:
I'm sure many of you are aware that about two weeks ago, the US Supreme Court
ruled that the state of Missouri cannot discriminate against the Ku Klux Klan when
it comes to groups that want to participate in the adopt-a-highway program. Of
course, while the name of the Klan is aesthetically disgusting, we'd all agree that this
decision is a victory for free speech and equal protection under the law, right? Well,
the DOT in Missouri has gotten their revenge, and boy is it sweet. Sure, they can't
remove the KKK's adopt-the-highway sign, but few would dispute the state's ability
to name the highway itself. The KKK is now cleaning up a stretch of the newly-christened
Rosa Parks Freeway." If that does not make you laugh you need to be
rewired. Poetic justice is funny because it shows the bad guy paying for his injustice
by getting the same in return, and now, because it is coming to one who deserve it, it
is justice and not injustice.
19. Wicked Ahab and Jezebel caused Naboth?s blood to be shed so they could
confiscate his property. In the very place where the dogs licked Naboth?s blood was
the blood of Ahab later licked, and also his son?s blood (I Kings 21:23 and II Kings
9:25,26). Haman, who built the gallows to hang Mordecai, was hanged on his own
gallows (Esther 7:10). Those who concocted the plot to land Daniel into the lions?
den were later thrown in and crushed to pieces (Daniel 6:24). God is not mocked by
wild sowing (Galatians 6:7,8). Rather God mocks last, because those who sow to the
wind reap the whirlwind (Hosea 8:7).

20. The reality of poetic justice is one of the clearest evidences of God's sense of
humor. Unfortunately it is not very funny when it happens to you, and we need to be
aware that believers are not immune to poetic justice. We often think that David
was just forgiven for his sin of adultery with Bathsheba, and life went on as usual,
but this is not so. He had to endure the awful judgment of poetic justice. He had sex
with another man's wife and God said for that you will endure another man having
sex with your wife. He stated this clearly in II Sam. 12:11-12, "This is what the Lord
says: "Out of your own household I am going to bring calamity upon you. Before
your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to one who is close to you and he
will lie with your wives in broad daylight. You did it in secret, but I will do this
thing in broad daylight before all Israel." On top of this God goes on to add that in
judgment the child will die. He was forgiven but he did not get by with it like many
imply. David was spared and allowed to live, but he bore a terrible experience of
poetic justice.
21. So getting back to David and his constant victory over Saul and other enemies as
he outwits them, and by God's grace escapes every effort to end his life, we know it
is the very comedy that makes God laugh. In the battle of good and evil God gets his
biggest kicks out of the evil being defeated, and the good being delivered from their
plots. We can assume that he gets the same pleasure as we do when he sees two
puppies romping and playing together, or sees a baby taking it first steps to the
laughter and clapping of its parents, or sees a great whale leaping out of the water
for amusement, and a thousand and one other delightful sights, but we know from
his revelation that he loves to laugh at the salvation stories of the righteous being
delivered from the wicked.
Though the mills of God grind slowly,
Yet they grind exceeding small;
Though with patience He stands waiting,
With exactness grinds He all. Longfellow
22. If you want a world view that matches that of God you need to see wicked
powers as he sees them. Isa. 40 gives us God's perspective on the world. Verse 15
says, "Surely the nations are like a drop in a bucket; they are regarded as dust on
the scales; he weighs the islands as though they were fine dust." Verse 17 says,
"Before him all the nations are as nothing; they are regarded by him as worthless
and less than nothing." Verses 22 to 24 say, "He sits enthroned above the circle of
the earth,
and its people are like grasshoppers.
He stretches out the heavens like a canopy,
and spreads them out like a tent to live in.

23 He brings princes to naught
and reduces the rulers of this world to nothing.
24 No sooner are they planted,
no sooner are they sown,
no sooner do they take root in the ground,
than he blows on them and they wither,
and a whirlwind sweeps them away like chaff.
23. Nevertheless, God's people are often pessimistic about their chances against the
forces of evil, and they often think God does not care enough to get involved, but
this chapter ends like this in verses 27 to 31,
"27 Why do you say, O Jacob,
and complain, O Israel,
"My way is hidden from the LORD;
my cause is disregarded by my God"?
28 Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The LORD is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
and his understanding no one can fathom.
29 He gives strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak.
30 Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;
31 but those who hope in the LORD
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.
The underdog is rescued and delivered again and again because God is in control of
history, and no matter how strong evil becomes, God faithful weaklings will come
out victorious in the end. God will always have the last laugh, and ultimately history
will end with the Evil One himself being cast into the Lake of Fire, and God and his
people will laugh together forever in a kingdom where laughter never ends. How do
we know this? It is because Jesus told us in Luke 6:21 where numerous translations
all agree that Jesus promises that believers will laugh in his eternal kingdom. Here
are just a few of them.
International Standard Version

How blessed are you who are hungry now, because you will be satisfied! How
blessed are you who are crying now, because you will laugh!
New American Standard Bible
"Blessed are you who hunger now, for you shall be satisfied. Blessed are you who
weep now, for you shall laugh.
GOD'S WORD® Translation
Blessed are those who are hungry. They will be satisfied. Blessed are those who are
crying. They will laugh.
King James Bible
Blessed are ye that hunger now: for ye shall be filled. Blessed are ye that weep now:
for ye shall laugh.
American King James Version
Blessed are you that hunger now: for you shall be filled. Blessed are you that weep
now: for you shall laugh.
American Standard Version
Blessed are ye that hunger now: for ye shall be filled. Blessed are ye that weep now:
for ye shall laugh.
24. The implication from this verse where Jesus promises laughter to his followers in
his kingdom is this: God has to have a sense of humor, and he enjoys humor and
laughter, for you do not promised something to those you love if it is not also
something that is a good thing to you. Laughter is good for man, and it is a gift of
God, and so it is something he enjoys as well. This is saying that God enjoys
laughter, and he wants his people to do so too, and that is the ultimate goal-a life
filled with the joy of laughter. Heaven will be a place of eternal laughter. If God did
not laugh and enjoy his children laughing, then he is not the kind of father that he
made as the ideal on earth. Any father who loves his children will enjoy much
laughter as he watches his children grow and talk funny, and do so many cute and
funny things. From God's perspective we are all little children trying to grow up
and be mature, but we make plenty of boo boos, and many of them are so silly and
stupid that they have to make our heavenly Father laugh. Everyone agrees that
laughter and a sense of humor is a very good thing, and if God does not have it, then
he has made man superior to himself in this area of life. That is a foolish conclusion,
obviously, for we are what we are because we are made in his image, and that means
we have a sense of humor because we are like him.
25. The great Henry Ward Beecher said, One of the best things a man can have up
his sleeve is a funny bone." Very few people become famous without a sense of
humor, for it is a key factor in appealing to others and developing positive
relationships. The bottom line in the study of God's laughter is that God has a great

sense of humor. It is amazing how many people deny this, and they refuse to believe
that God has a sense of humor. Just read this definition from, "The American
Heritage Dictionary says it is, "...The ability to perceive, enjoy, or express what is
comical or funny." How foolish to think God cannot perceive what is funny, or
enjoy it when he gets it. He certainly knows how to express it as we see his poetic
justice all through the Bible, and the clear statements of his laughter as the puny
efforts of evil forces to challenge his sovereignty. You basically reject the entire
revelation of God in his Word if you reject his sense of humor. You just as well
reject his love, for his humor is equally justified with his love. You cannot be
justified in accepting one part of God's Word and rejecting another part as clearly
revealed as what you accept. When God made man and all creation he said it is very
good. So the gift of the sense of humor built into man is a good thing from God.
Why would he not have this good thing himself since he is perfect with all the gifts
and virtues possible?
26. . Lets look at the three basic reasons for why we believe God has a sense of
humor.
A. HIS WORD PROMOTES IT.
A. In Pro. 17:22 we read the most famous biblical precept on the value of laughter.
Solomon there says, "A cheerful heart is a good medicine, but a downcast spirit
dries up the bones." Laughter is the lubrication of life that keeps us from drying up
and grinding to a halt. Drain your life of humor, and it is like draining your car of
oil. You will not get far before you lose power and lock up the engine. Laughter
keeps the engine of life running smooth. It allows us to keep making progress down
the road to God's goals. "A merry heart doeth good like a medicine; but a broken
spirit drieth the bones." Prov. 17:22.
Sometimes when life is on a disaster trail, and everything seems to be going wrong,
you can be suddenly touched with a sense of humor, and it is like a shot in the arm
to revive your spirit. Bonhoffer, the theologian, who died in Hitler's concentration
camp could write, "Absolute seriousness is not without a dose of humor." Abraham
Lincoln was able to survive his responsibility through the Civil War because of the
aid of his sense of humor. Sometimes his cabinet felt his humor was out of place, but
he replied, "Gentlemen, why don't you laugh? If I didn't laugh with the strain that
in on me day and night, I should go mad. And you need the medicine as much as I
do." Laughter is a life saver to many in times of unusual stress. My father lived in
pain for many years and said that his sense of humor was the only thing that kept
him from taking his own life to escape the pain. Laughter can be life saving
medicine.
A person without a sense of humor is like a wagon without
springs-jolted by every pebble in the road.
Henry Ward Beecher

One of the best things people can have up their sleeve is a funny bone.
Richard L. Weaver, II
I have seen what a laugh can do. It can transform almost unbearable tears into
something bearable, even hopeful.Bob Hope
If you go to your concordance and study glad and gladness, cheer and cheerfulness
you will see the important role they play in the good life God expects his children to
enjoy. Below are just a few examples and comments.
What beautiful promise is written for the upright in heart?
"Light is sown for the righteous, and gladness for the upright in heart." Ps. 97:11.
What should be the language of the heart that has experienced help from God?
"Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing: thou has put off my
sackcloth, and girded me with gladness." Ps. 30:11.
What should be the spirit of our service toward God?
"Serve the Lord with gladness: come before His presence with singing." Ps. 100:2.
Cheerful occurs in Proverbs 15:13, Proverbs 15:15 (the King James Version
"merry"); Zechariah 8:19; Zechariah 9:17 the King James Version; Sirach 30:25; 2
Corinthians 9:7.
Cheerfully, Acts 24:10.
Cheerfulness, Romans 12:8.
Ecclesiastes 3:4 >tells us that there is "a time to laugh."
The Jews were a balanced people and they had so much sorrow, but they also had
many feasts and festivals, and every Sabbath was a time of family fun and
enjoyment. We have a misconception of the Jewish Sabbath if we think families just
sat around resting and looking sad until it was over. This was a day of relief from
the drudgery of work so as to enjoy life. It was a day parents had time to spend with
their children in play as well as worship. This was the day on which they had their
biggest meal. Before it was a saying they believed that the family that played
together sayed together.
In Luke 2:44 you will note that the parents of Jesus assumed that he was off with
other friends when they did not find him. It was common for Jesus to be playing
with others as a young boy, and they thought nothing of it. They did not worry
about Jesus even though they did not see him, for to be off playing with others was a
part of his life. John Oxenham wrote,

He was a boy like other boys,
And played and sported with the rest.
He has his troubles and his joys,
And strove for mastery with the best.
He was a boy lik you-and you-
As full of jokes, as full of fun.
But always he was bravely true,
And did no wrong to anyone.
If this be so, then we would expect to see Jesus grow up as a healthy adult with a
good sense of humor. When we go to the Gospels what do we see? We are so brain
washed into thinking that Jesus was always serious, sober, and even sad, that we
miss all his humor. Until recent times nobody ever saw a picture of Jesus smiling or
laughing. But let's stop and do some thinking. Jesus said he came to give us life and
life more abundant. He told his disciples that he was leaving them with his joy to be
in them. One of the fruits of the Spirit is joy, and Jesus was filled with the Spirit.
When you put that altogether, it sounds like a contradiction to think that Jesus
never smiled or laughed.
Tennyson did not miss seeing the reality of it, and he said that humor is generally
most fruitful in the most solemn spirits, and, "You will even find it in the Gospel of
Christ." Much of the humor of Jesus is in short statements of irony, or of the
rediculous. When we read Mark 4:21 we see nothing funny, but if I said in modern
language, what do you think of John Smith, who built his home with all the light
fixtures under the bed? You would chuckle and say how stupid can you get! That is
what Jesus is saying. You don't go get a candle and then stick it under the bed.
This is a humorous way of saying how rediculous for a Christian to hide his
testimony when that is the very reason for his existence, to let light shine.
When Jesus denounced the Pharisees we see his sense of humor in the exaggerated
pictures. We see him picture a cup all clean on the outside, but inside filthy; we see
a blind man leading another blind man and both fall into the ditch; we see a camel
going through the eye of a needle, and of swallowing a camel and straining at a gnat.
We will look at these and others in more detail, but we need to note that Jesus had a
humerous way of expressing himself.
"Celebration is at the heart of the way of Christ. He entered the world on a high
note of jubilation: "I bring you good news of a great joy," cried the angel, "which
shall come to all the people" (Luke 2:10). He left the world bequeathing His joy to
the disciples: "These things I have spoken to you that my joy may be in you, and
that your joy may be full." (John 15:11).
"Laughter is fundamentally an act of celebrating existence. Laughter
is an expression both of enjoyment and thanksgiving. Thus laughter,
humor, and comedy are commonly associated with feasting, parties,

reunions, weddings, birthdays, spring rites-wherever people get
together and say yes to life, inspite of difficulties and its darker side.
Leslie Weatherhead in his book When The Lamp Flickers writes, "I expect he was
the life and soul of the party. I should like a manuscript to be discovered which said
that he told funier stories than anybody and had the table in a roar of happy mirth.
Indeed, through all his parables the grace of a lovely humor lightens the lessons he
tried to teach. It is incongruous to hear the fun taken out of his stories. It is
sometimes really funny to hear some solemn, ponderous parson trying to pretend
that there is no humor in Christ's words, and reading the story of the man who
choked at a fly and swallowed a camel, or of the man who put his lamp under the
bed instead of on the lampstand, or of the man who couldn't come to a feast because
he had married a wife, and so on-with a score of other illustrations one could give-as
if the words "Here beginneth the first lesson" must necessarily precede some solemn
exhortation from which all humor must be rigouously excluded."
We get a full picture of the nature of God only in Jesus and Weatherhead writes,
"Every idea about God is wrong if, when truly undestood, it conflicts essentially
with that picture of God which Jesus Christ gave the world in his words and in his
life." "Jesus, for one, was witty, unpredictable, fully alive, and a person who
delighted in, celebrated with, and was open to surprise. [I]t is safe to say that
divorcing humor from religion is potentially destructive of true religion. Even when
the separation is done with the best of motives, or in ignorance, the results are
disastrous because we rob ourselves of the lightness and freedom necessary to notice
and then to adore God. "Life is serious all the time, but living cannot be. You may
have all the solemnity you wish in your neckties, but in anything important (such as
sex, death, and religion), you must have mirth or you will have madness. " -- G.K.
Chesterton
In The Screwtape Letters, Lewis proposed that Christianity without laughter was
the devil's doing. Thus, for the mischievous devils, Screwtape and Wormwood, to do
their work, "laughter should be discouraged." So, too, must fun and joy be
eliminated because they promoted "undesirable tendencie" from the devil's point of
view, like "charity, courage, contentment, and many other evils."
God Smiles
I often wonder if God smiles
And laughs in joy, divine
With all the things that He has made
And fashioned from His mind.
Does God laugh at a joke
Which does not hurt or wound?
Does God enjoy the gentle wonder
Of a child, newborn from the womb?

Does God jump for joy when we
Create a work of art?
Does God smile and nod His head
When we sing "How great Thou Art?"
There is no doubt that God does smile
And laugh in joy, divine
When all of the creation turns
To Christ with trust, divine.
Gregory S. Neal +
April 1994
According to the Association for Applied and Therapeutic Humor
Therapeutic Humor is:
“Any intervention that promotes health and wellness by stimulating a playful
discovery, expression or appreciation of the absurdity or incongruity of life's
situations. This intervention may enhance health or be used as a complementary
treatment of illness to facilitate healing or coping, whether physical, emotional,
cognitive, social or spiritual.”
B. HIS WORD PROMISES IT
God promises laughter in eternity. Those who "weep" now will laugh in heaven
(Luke 6:21
PSALM 16:11
Sense of Humor; God's great gift
Causes spirits to uplift,
Helps to make our bodies men;
Lightens burdens; cheers a friend;
Tickles children; elders grin
At this warmth that glows within;
Surely in the Great Hereafter
Heaven must be full of laughter! Eleanor Davies
C. HIS WORD PORTRAYS IT

ZEPH 3:17 The LORD thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will
rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing.
Our laughter is a great testimony to God's goodness. As the Jews returned from
exile in Babylon, the Psalmist recorded this observation: "Our mouths were filled
with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy. Then it was said among the nations,
'The Lord has done great things for them'" (Psalm 126:2
The Jewish people knew when it was time to laugh. It was when they saw the grace
of God in their lives. When God restored them to their homeland from captivity
they were filled with laughter. Ps. 126 is a song of great joy because of God's grace
and verse 2 says, "Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of
joy." God made us to laugh when we are overwelmed by love and grace, and receive
blessings beyond what we could ever hope for. Jesus saw this every day in his
ministry where people were delivered from sin, sickness and Satan. They would be
rejoicing and laughing, and Jesus would be laughing with them, for it is pure
pleasure to see an enemy being defeated. Who can imagine that Jesus did not join
the laughter of those who were liberated by his love?
COMICALNESS OF IDOLS
And then you have the illustration that Isaiah makes concerning idolatry in Isaiah
44:9-17. The prophet paints a word picture of a guy cutting down a tree and using
part of the tree for firewood to warm himself and cook his meal and then carving up
the rest of the tree and bowing down to it! Is it not comical?
And then you have the illustration that Isaiah makes concerning idolatry in Isaiah
44:9-17. The prophet paints a word picture of a guy cutting down a tree and using
part of the tree for firewood to warm himself and cook his meal and then carving up
the rest of the tree and bowing down to it! Is it not comical?
Pope Benedict agrees with the existence of God's funny bone. "Humor is in fact an
essential element in the mirth of creation. We can see how, in many matters in our
lives, God wants to prod us into taking things a bit more lightly; to see the funny
side of it; to get down off our pedestal and not to forget our sense of fun." proclaims
the Pontiff.
DR. Hershey H. Friedman, wrote a paper on humor in the Hebrew Bible and said,
"This paper will demonstrate that the Hebrew Bible contains much humor, albeit
mainly subtle and much of it requiring a knowledge of the original language of the
Bible, Hebrew. The purpose of this article is not to exhaustively enumerate all
instances of humor in the Bible but, rather, to demonstrate that humor permeates

the Holy Scriptures. The humorous verses and situations collected in this paper are
characterized as belonging to one of several broad categories of humor: sarcasm,
irony, wordplay, humorous names, humorous imagery, and humorous situations."
ILLUSTRATIONS AND QUOTES ON GOD'S SENSE OF HUMOR
Many have asked the question-Does God laugh? Many have answered no, absolutely
not. But many more have answered yes, absolutely yes, and my study convinces me
that the yes people are right. Martin Luther was so sure that he said he did not want
to go to heaven if God could not laugh at a joke.
Charlie Chaplain said at a reception, “My very best compliment was made to me by
a little girl. One evening, after her prayers were finished, she turned t her mother
and asked: “Mamma, will I go to heaven when I die?” “Yes, dear,” said her mother,
“if you’re good and always do what mamma tells you.” “And will you go to heaven
when you die, mamma?” “Yes, of course.” “Mamma, will Charlie Chaplin go to
heaven when he dies?” “Oh, I guess so.” “The little girl in her long white nightgown
clapped her hands and jumped up and down ecstatically.” “Oh, mamma,” she said,
“won’t God laugh!”
We cannot really love anybody with whom we never laugh."
"Laughter is the shortest distance between two people."
Victor Borge
God Smiles
I often wonder if God smiles
And laughs in joy, divine
With all the things that He has made
And fashioned from His mind.
Does God laugh at a joke
Which does not hurt or wound?
Does God enjoy the gentle wonder
Of a child, newborn from the womb?
Does God jump for joy when we
Create a work of art?
Does God smile and nod His head
When we sing “How great Thou Art?”

There is no doubt that God does smile
And laugh in joy, divine
When all of the creation turns
To Christ with trust, divine.
Gregory S. Neal +
FATHER DAUD
As I visit the patients in the hospital, I have observed something among those who
suffer from mental illness: those who are delusional or on the edge of delusions (e.g.
schizophenics) almost never laugh. Actually, I have never heard one such person
laugh, ever. I’ve come to realise that it is because laughter is a reaction to the
presence of the absurd. Those who suffer from delusions are in some ways
disconnected from reality, so they cannot actually recognize the absurd — and so,
they never laugh.
Judges 9:13, "wine, which cheereth God ('elohim) and man."
"God may very well see the universe as a divine comedy. Every exploding nova
could be an explosion of laughter. Nobody knows. But when we look around us,
Nature is at play. Every wild animal -- at least when young -- spends its day playing,
apparently in innocent delight. A tiger cub and a human infant have that in
common."
In the diary of Jim Elliot, who was martyred by the Aucas, is this entry, "One flash
of His burning eye will melt all our polished marble and burnished gold to nothing.
One word from His righteous lips will speak destruction to the vast rebellion we call
the human race. One peal of His vengeful laughter will rock the libraries of our
wise and bring them crashing to a rubble heap. The wise shall be taken in their own
craftiness; mountains shall be brought low. What shall abide that day. Lo, He that
doeth the will of God abideth forever."
"God laughs. Those who are on His side can laugh with God. Praise and godly
laughter are first cousins. Children laugh with glee at the immunity from flame
enjoyed by the three children of Israel when thrown into the fiery furnace while it
devoured those who tossed them in. Children also laugh when they learn how the
lions? mouths were shut when Daniel was thrown in their den. Even the king was
glad. He must have laughed at the superiority of Daniel?s God. Jerusalem laughed
at Sennacherib?s threats to destroy the city (II Kings 19:21). Many of the songs in
the Bible are people laughing with God at those who oppose Him: for example, the
song of Moses and the Israelites exulting in God?s victory over Pharaoh (Exodus

15); the song of victory of Deborah and Barak over Sisera and the Canaanites
(Judges 5); David?s song of deliverance from his enemies (II Samuel 22); rejoicing
on the day of dedication of the walls of Jerusalem (Nehemiah 12: 43). Many Psalms
can be analyzed as an expression of laughter and praise to God for His deliverance,
defense and refuge from enemies. Are not the imprecatory Psalms the sigh of an
oppressed people for God to rise up in wrathful, but laughable, superiority over His
opponents? Are they not an invocation of the justice and power of God to laugh at
His enemies? When the Babylonian captivity ended, the mouths of the returning
exiles were filled with laughter, and their tongues with singing (Psalm 126:2). The
Gospel laughs at the last enemy, death. Christ won the victory over death, holds its
key, and makes it possible for us to exultingly ask, ?O death, where is thy sting? O
grave, where is thy victory?? (I Corinthians 15: 55) Then the cry of triumph follows,
full of glee at the defeat of death, ?But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory
through our Lord Jesus Christ?" (I Corinthians 15:57). Author unknown
Eugene O?Neill wrote a play, Lazarus Laughed, in which he pictures Lazarus, after
his resurrection from the dead, going about laughing. The dramatist makes
Lazarus say, ?There is only life! I heard the heart of Jesus laughing in my heart . . .
and I laughed in the laughter of God!? The growing crowds capture the mood of
Lazarus, chanting as they march, ?Laugh! Laugh! Laugh with Lazarus! Fear is no
more! There is no death!? [11] At the climax of the play Lazarus faces Caesar,
laughs at the Emperor?s threats and is put to death still laughing. Poor Caesar isn?t
quite so sure he has proven there is death.
Because God?s forces of righteousness will ultimately and inevitably triumph over
the terrors of evil, the Christian can laugh at death, life, principalities, powers,
things present, things to come, height, depth and any other creature, knowing none
of these can separate from the love of God and its certain victory. If God be for us,
who can be against us?? (Romans 8:31). When situations seem insurmountable,
faith laughs at impossibilities and cries It shall be done, and I can do all things
through Christ which strengtheneth me. (Philippians 4:13) and Now thanks be unto
God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ. (II Corinthians 2:14). If we
could see beyond today, our tears would turn to laughs.
John Newton wrote:
On the Rock of Ages founded,
What can shake my sure repose?
With salvation?s walls surrounded,
Thou mayst smile at all thy foes.
DELTA GOODREM LYRICS
"God Laughs"

When you come from a solid foundation
It freaks you out when the ground starts shakin'
And everything around you is breakin'
Mum was goin' crazy together to keep it
Dad's two lives he was keepin' it a secret
When we found out we couldn't believe it
We're all walking on quicksand
When we're busy makin' our plans, God laughs
When we think that we understand, God laughs
I've been a sound board tryin' to be neutral,
Born in the middle, it's hard to be useful,
It's been hell, if i had to be truthful,
OH! When people grow apart
And people can change
But it leaves a lotta mess
That someone's gotta clean up
It happened here to the family that i love
And we're so stupid if we think we can control
All the dark matter at the centre of this black hole
It's gonna pull us under if we don't let go

"If you want to make God laugh, tell him of your plans."

18454027 psalm-27-verse-3-commentary

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