Lots of people say the Lord likes a good joke, and maybe He
does. But there’s only one place in the entire Bible where God laughs. Psalm
2:4: He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision.
But this isn’t a pleasant, affectionate, indulgent laugh,
like the chuckle you get watching children play. This is a mocking, ridiculing,
scoffing kind of laugh. The NET Bible translates Psalm 2:4 this way: The one
enthroned in heaven laughs in disgust; the Lord taunts them.
And what lies behind that mocking laughter? God’s wrath. He
is reacting to the insolence and disrespect people have toward His Son. Though this psalm was
written by King David 1000 years before Jesus was born in Bethlehem, it
predicts the rebellious attitude of people toward the lordship of Christ. Here
are the verses that come right before the statement that God laughs:
1 Why do the nations rage
and the peoples
plot in vain?
2 The kings of the earth set themselves,
and the rulers
take counsel together,
against the Lord
and against his Anointed, saying,
3 “Let us burst their bonds apart
and cast away
their cords from us.”
The nations rage.
The original Hebrew meant to plot rebellion. The people of the earth revolt “against
the rule of the Lord and his Anointed” (Christ). People certainly want
happiness, peace, and even a ticket to heaven. But they reject the idea that
these things come only through the rule of King Jesus.
The Father's response is to mock the puny insurrection of
prideful men. He states His unequivocal commitment to the reign of Christ
Jesus: As for me, I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill (Psalm 2:6). No
matter what men may say or do, the Father has installed the Son as Sovereign over the entire universe,
and "He shall reign forever and ever" (see Revelation 11:15).
God’s warning to Planet Earth comes at the end of the psalm:
10 Now therefore, O kings, be wise;
be warned, O
rulers of the earth.
11 Serve the Lord with fear,
and rejoice with
trembling.
12 Kiss the Son,
lest he be angry,
and you perish in the way,
for his wrath is
quickly kindled.
Blessed are all who take refuge in him.
It might be easy to see this psalm only as an indictment of
humanity in general. But I know it’s about me and my prideful heart. Following
Christ is always on His terms, not mine. But though we submit in obedience, in
the acknowledged weakness of our sin and need, we learn that kneeling before
King Jesus is also the path to love, hope, and “joy unspeakable and full of
glory.”
