Laugh

Medical research has shown that laughter is good for us, in fact really good for us. Laughter actually makes us physically healthier. It enhances mental health. And it promotes healthy social interactions.

Why then is there so little laughing in the Bible? And why is it that, where there is laughter, it’s mostly laughing in scorn or derision—not healthy laughing?

Does God laugh? He does, a few times, but always along the lines of Psalm 2, where the nations of the earth rebel against God and His Anointed. Then: “He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision.” (verse 4)

Through the prophets, the Lord warns His people Israel of the consequences of their idolatry and disobedience. One of the consequences is that they’ll be the objects of scornful laughter, for example Ezekiel 23:32.

You’ll remember Sarah’s response when angels visited Abraham and her, with the news that Sarah would have a child in her old age. She laughed, apparently contemptuously, and she was rebuked for it. (Genesis 18:10-15)

So is the God of the Bible anti-laughter? We would almost come to that conclusion, if it weren’t for a few passages that paint a different picture. The first one comes right there in the account of Sarah having the promised son. When he is born: “Sarah said, ‘God has made laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh over me.’ ” (Genesis 21:6)

What makes us laugh? Generally something unexpected, and it may come as mockery or something joyful. Both occur in scripture. But here we see joy and delight in Sarah’s amazed laughter now—a different kind than before. And she points out one of the key things about laughter—it’s contagious. Sarah uses the same Hebrew word for her laughter now, that was used by the angels of her laughter before. The word can convey laughing in merriment, or in mocking. It seems to me that there’s a key principle here, although it’s not obvious. The principle is that God can turn mockery or skepticism into unexpected joy. Hebrews 11:11 tells us, “By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive.” In other words, she turned around. At first she mocked the idea, but then she took to heart the angels’ question, “Is anything too hard for the LORD?” (Genesis 18:14) Sarah came around, believed, and was rewarded with cause to laugh joyfully.

The same would prove true for Israel as a nation:

When the LORD restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dream. Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with shouts of joy; then they said among the nations, “The LORD has done great things for them.” (Psalm 126:1-2)

This joyful laughter also won’t take place without a turnaround. The restoration of Israel was accomplished in part by the decree of Cyrus the Persian emperor. And it happened in part when the nation of Israel once again came into existence in 1948. But the true joyful laughter awaits the turnaround. As Jesus said, “Behold, your house is forsaken. And I tell you, you will not see me until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!’ ” (Luke 13:35)

Did Jesus laugh? Not that we have recorded. But he did have something to say about it. While most of the Hebrew and Greek words for laughing can convey either a laugh of derision or of merriment, here Jesus uses a unique word, one that only means joy or satisfaction:

“Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh.” (Luke 6:21)

Jesus tells us once again that joyful laughter comes from a turnaround. I don’t think he’s telling us that we should be morose now, that we must weep our way through life and if we do we’ll be rewarded with laughter later. I think we need to investigate what we’d weep about. One possibility: We weep over how sin dominates, both the world at large and in our own lives. And we turn around, we believe the promise of the greater Son, and ultimately our tears are wiped away, replaced by unbelievable, joyful laughing.

Love. Paul