The last laugh

Lucifer cast out of heaven
by Gustave Doré

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Psalm 2:1-12

TO CHEW ON: "He who sits in the heavens shall laugh;
The Lord shall hold them in derision." Psalm 2:4

Here God appears contemptuous, laughing at the nations who unite to throw off His constraints. What other times in the Bible does God laugh in such a way? What actions and attitudes evoke His contempt? 

The worship of idols:  

•  Moses tells the Israelites that God will spurn them if/ when they forsake Him to follow other gods - Deuteronomy 32:19.

Plots against the righteous:

• God laughs at the wicked person who plots against the righteous one - Psalm 37:13.

• In another place he psalm-writer Asaph, writing as someone puzzled by the sufferings of the righteous at the hands of ungodly people, depicts God as waking up to defend the righteous - Psalm 73:20.

God-defiant nations:

• David asks God to vindicate Himself before all the God-scorning nations - Psalm 59:8. 

• Isaiah tells of Hezekiah receiving a threatening letter from the Assyrian king Sennarcherib. He spreads that letter before God and prays for help. Shortly after, Isaiah gets a message from God for Hezekiah concerning Sennacherib and addressing him that says, in part: "The virgin daughter of Zion has despised you, laughed you to scorn. The daughter of Jerusalem has shaken her head behind your back" - Isaiah 37:22.

Pride:

• Wisdom laughs at the calamity of the ones who disdain her counsel - Proverbs 1:26.

• God scorns the scornful but gives grace to the humble - Proverbs 3:34.

If there is any thread that weaves through all these instances it is how our unrealistic human arrogance evokes God's scorn, derision, contempt and laughter.

Sadly, the attitude that challenges God and His power is more rampant today than ever. Let's be aware of it and careful not to get infected, for God will always have the last laugh.

PRAYER: Dear God, I want to live in the reality that acknowledges You and Your sovereignty over people and over me. When, in the face of circumstances, others challenge You—Your existence and Your power— help me to remember that the story hasn't ended yet. Amen.

MORE: Handel's Messiah Alert

Handel dipped into Psalm 2 often when writing the Messiah.

The recitative "Unto which of the angels said He at any time (Psalm 2:7) prefaces the chorus "Let all the angels."


"Let us break their bonds asunder" (Psalm 2:3)


"He that dwelleth in heaven" (Psalm 2:4) and "Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron" (Psalm 2:9)  end with the Hallelujah Chorus.

***********

The Holy Bible, New King James Version Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. - Used with permission.