I absolutely love to laugh and I love to make people laugh. Laughing is one of life’s blessings that I believe God created us to enjoy. Many people have asked me if God has a sense of humor. The short answer is, yes, I believe He does. Nevertheless, let’s dig a little deeper and notice what the Bible says about God’s sense of humor.
In their battles with the Philistines, the Israelites kept using the Ark of the Covenant as if it were a “good luck charm”. In God’s wisdom and providential care, He allowed the Philistines to capture it and place it in their temple before their idol, Dagon. When they entered the temple the next day they found Dagon flat on his face before the Ark of God. They lifted him up and placed him back in his spot, but the next morning they found him again fallen with his hands and head cut off. This symbolized how powerless he was before the one true God (1 Samuel 5:1-5). God, putting Dagon in such a submissive position, is comical. This is a great example of God laughing at the ridiculousness of those who worship idols and false gods.
Psalm 59:7-8 –
Behold, they belch forth with their mouth;
Swords are in their lips,
For, they say, “Who hears?”
But You, O LORD, laugh at them;
You scoff at all the nations.
God laughs at those who rebel or oppose Him. It’s like when you were a small kid and you got mad at your parents and ran away all the way to your neighbor’s house. Your parents laugh at the situation because they see the ridiculousness. Of course, there is a serious side to all of this. It’s serious to run away from God. It’s serious to rebel or oppose Him. While it might be humorous to think of someone trying to match wits with God, He takes no joy in their rebellion.
Perhaps one of the best indications that we can see how God has a sense of humor is the fact that he created man in His image (Genesis 1:27). Man can be humorous. We can perceive humor and express it in the form of jokes, satire, and irony. We express it with a simple laugh, chuckle, and a bent over, stomach cramping, tears flowing, belly laugh. Humor is the ability to perceive, enjoy or express what is comical or funny. Remember though, people perceive what is comical in different ways. Sinful people laugh at what is crude, crass, or vulgar and it should not be part of the Christian’s life (Colossians 3:8). Sinful humor is also expressed by tearing down others rather than building them up and is also in contrast to God’s will (Colossians 4:6, Ephesians 4:29). Humor is fun and should be enjoyed by the Christian but not at other’s expense.
Learn to laugh at what God see’s as wholesome, good, and righteous. Enjoy life and smile.
God laughs and I believe He expects us to laugh too.
I love you,
~ Alex