Laughter

Psalm 37:13

but the Lord laughs at the wicked,
for he knows their day is coming.

It sure does seem harsh to find our Lord laughing at the fate of others. But I do think that in the context of this chapter, it isn’t quite so. This chapter provides repeated warnings against fretting over evil doers and getting too wrapped up in their goings on. To put it in perspective, here we have God, laughing.

We can laugh at things that are of no consequence. Or when we are confident of the outcome and know that something is harmless. A few years ago, my football team, the University of Virginia Cavaliers played the USC Trojans. We were just out of our league in this game. From the opening kick-off, it was clear that we didn’t have a chance of winning. On one hand, had the USC fans and football program laughed at and ridiculed us it would have been humiliating. But, on the other hand, they could afford to relax, not get so worked up over a bad call, laugh it off when one of the opposing players got a little hot.

I think that God’s perspective of the wicked is much like that. He knows what is coming to them. He knows they can be a thorn in the side of his children. But he also knows the final score, and in the big picture, they’re not making as much noise today as it really seems.