Bible Studies

PART 2 OF A STUDY OF PSALM 27 VERSE 3

by GLENN PEASE
01/28/22
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THE COMEDY THAT MAKES GOD LAUGH

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's 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

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.

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 is 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.

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 promise 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.

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?

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?

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

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.

"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 ONeill 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.