{"id":117738,"date":"2026-10-03T05:05:19","date_gmt":"2026-10-03T09:05:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bgodinspired.com\/?p=117738"},"modified":"2026-10-03T05:05:19","modified_gmt":"2026-10-03T09:05:19","slug":"does-god-have-a-sense-of-humor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bgodinspired.com\/index.php\/humor\/does-god-have-a-sense-of-humor\/","title":{"rendered":"Does God Have a Sense of Humor? Look at Who God Laughs At"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class='booster-block booster-read-block'>\n                <div class=\"twp-read-time\">\n                \t<i class=\"booster-icon twp-clock\"><\/i> <span>Read Time:<\/span>11 Minute, 25 Second                <\/div>\n\n            <\/div><p>You promise yourself you will never move back to your hometown. Two years later you are unpacking boxes there. You say you are finished with a certain kind of work, and it becomes your job. You shake your head, look up, and say what people say all over the world: &#8220;God has a sense of humor.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n<p>We say it as a joke. But many people also ask it as a real question: <strong>does God have a sense of humor<\/strong>? And under that question there is often a quieter one. If God laughs, is God laughing at me?<\/p>\n\n<p>The Bible has an answer. It is more exact than you might expect, and it is better news than most people guess.<\/p>\n\n<h2>Does God Have a Sense of Humor? What the Bible Says in Plain Words<\/h2>\n\n<p>First, the honest part. No verse says, &#8220;God has a sense of humor.&#8221; Those words are not in the Bible.<\/p>\n\n<p>But the Bible does say, in plain words, that God laughs. Three psalms say it outright. Here is the first one:<\/p>\n\n<blockquote>&#8220;He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision.&#8221; (Psalm 2:4, KJV)<\/blockquote>\n\n<p>Here is the second: &#8220;The Lord shall laugh at him: for he seeth that his day is coming&#8221; (Psalm 37:13). And the third: &#8220;But thou, O LORD, shalt laugh at them&#8221; (Psalm 59:8).<\/p>\n\n<p>So yes. God laughs. The real question is the next one. Who is &#8220;them&#8221;?<\/p>\n\n<div class=\"convertkit-form wp-block-convertkit-form\" style=\"\"><script async data-uid=\"6491fb8269\" src=\"https:\/\/bgodinspired.kit.com\/6491fb8269\/index.js\" data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\" data-no-defer=\"1\" data-no-optimize=\"1\" nowprocket><\/script><\/div>\n\n\n<h2>Look at Who Is in the Room Each Time God Laughs<\/h2>\n\n<p>Read the lines just before each laugh. That is where the answer is.<\/p>\n\n<p><strong>In Psalm 2, it is kings.<\/strong> &#8220;The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together&#8221; (Psalm 2:2). The most powerful people alive hold a meeting. Their plan is to throw off God. &#8220;Let us break their bands asunder,&#8221; they say (Psalm 2:3). Picture ants voting to move a mountain. That is the moment God laughs.<\/p>\n\n<p><strong>In Psalm 37, it is a bully.<\/strong> The verse just before the laugh says, &#8220;The wicked plotteth against the just, and gnasheth upon him with his teeth&#8221; (Psalm 37:12). Someone with power is grinding their teeth at someone who did nothing wrong.<\/p>\n\n<p><strong>In Psalm 59, it is armed men.<\/strong> The old heading on this psalm ties it to the night King Saul sent men to watch David&#8217;s house and kill him. David writes, &#8220;they lie in wait for my soul: the mighty are gathered against me&#8221; (Psalm 59:3).<\/p>\n\n<p>Do you see the pattern? In all three psalms, the laugh points up. Kings. Plotters. Men with swords. People who have power and act as if no one is above them.<\/p>\n\n<p>In none of these verses is God laughing at someone small. Not at someone who doubts. Not at someone who is hurting. Not at someone who got it wrong.<\/p>\n\n<p>And to be fair to the text, this is not a soft chuckle. The word beside it is &#8220;derision.&#8221; It is the laugh of someone who can see the true size of things.<\/p>\n\n<p>Think about what makes anything funny. Very often it is a gap. A small child puts on a grown-up&#8217;s shoes and starts giving orders. We laugh, because of the gap between how big the child acts and how big the child is. God sees that gap in every proud ruler, perfectly.<\/p>\n\n<h2>With God&#8217;s Own People, the Humor Becomes a Question<\/h2>\n\n<p>Now watch what happens when the person in the story is not a tyrant. Just someone tired, or stubborn, or sure of themselves.<\/p>\n\n<p><strong>Sarah.<\/strong> She is ninety. She hears God promise her a baby, and she laughs to herself behind the tent door. God does not laugh back at her. God asks a question: &#8220;Is any thing too hard for the LORD?&#8221; (Genesis 18:14). We tell the rest of that story in <a href=\"https:\/\/bgodinspired.com\/index.php\/humor\/what-does-the-bible-say-about-laughter\/\">what the Bible says about laughter<\/a>, and where her laugh ended up is worth the read.<\/p>\n\n<p><strong>Jonah.<\/strong> He is a prophet, and he is angry that God forgave a city he hated. So he sits outside the city to sulk. God grows a leafy plant over his head for shade, and Jonah is &#8220;exceeding glad&#8221; (Jonah 4:6). The next morning a worm eats the plant. Jonah says he wants to die.<\/p>\n\n<p>And God asks, &#8220;Doest thou well to be angry for the gourd?&#8221; (Jonah 4:9).<\/p>\n\n<p>A grown prophet is heartbroken over a plant and feels nothing for a city full of people. Then comes the last line of the whole book. God asks whether Nineveh should not be spared, with its &#8220;more than sixscore thousand persons,&#8221; which is more than 120,000 people, &#8220;and also much cattle?&#8221; (Jonah 4:11).<\/p>\n\n<p>The book ends right there. On a question. With cows in it. It is hard to read that ending without smiling. It is as if God says: if you cannot care about the people, Jonah, how about the animals?<\/p>\n\n<p><strong>Balaam.<\/strong> He is a man kings pay to see hidden things. He rides out on his donkey. Three times the donkey sees an angel in the road, holding a sword. Three times the famous seer sees nothing, and he hits her. Then the donkey speaks: &#8220;What have I done unto thee, that thou hast smitten me these three times?&#8221; (Numbers 22:28).<\/p>\n\n<p>Balaam argues right back, as if talking donkeys were normal. He even says he wishes he had a sword in his hand. The one holding the sword is standing in front of him the whole time. The man paid to see is the last one in the story to see anything.<\/p>\n\n<p>There is more of this in the Bible than most people notice. We collected some of it in <a href=\"https:\/\/bgodinspired.com\/index.php\/humor\/funny-bible-verses-real-wit-in-scripture\/\">the real wit hiding in Scripture<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n<p>Notice the difference, though. With kings, there is derision. With Sarah, Jonah and Balaam, there is a question. The humor works like a mirror. It lets a person see their own puffed-up self and live through it.<\/p>\n\n<h2>The Hebrew Word for God&#8217;s Laugh Also Means &#8220;Play&#8221;<\/h2>\n\n<p>Here is the part I did not expect to find.<\/p>\n\n<p>The Hebrew word for &#8220;laugh&#8221; in Psalm 2:4 is <em>sachaq<\/em>. Strong&#8217;s Hebrew dictionary defines it as &#8220;to laugh,&#8221; and then adds, &#8220;by implication, to play.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n<p>The same word shows up in a very different place:<\/p>\n\n<blockquote>&#8220;There go the ships: there is that leviathan, whom thou hast made to play therein.&#8221; (Psalm 104:26, KJV)<\/blockquote>\n\n<p>That word &#8220;play&#8221; is <em>sachaq<\/em>. According to this psalm, God made a giant sea creature, and the reason given is play.<\/p>\n\n<p>It shows up again in Proverbs 8. That chapter is a poem. Wisdom speaks as if she were a person, and she describes being there when God made the world: &#8220;Then I was by him, as one brought up with him: and I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him&#8221; (Proverbs 8:30).<\/p>\n\n<p>&#8220;Rejoicing&#8221; there is the same word again. Laughing. Playing. And the very next line says where that joy landed: &#8220;and my delights were with the sons of men&#8221; (Proverbs 8:31).<\/p>\n\n<p>It is poetry, so we should not push it too far. But the picture it paints is clear. Before there was one proud king to laugh at, there was already laughter in the room. The scornful laugh is not the first laugh in the Bible&#8217;s story. Play came first.<\/p>\n\n<p>That fits something researchers have noticed about our own laughter. People laugh <a href=\"https:\/\/bgodinspired.com\/index.php\/humor\/why-do-humans-laugh\/\">mostly because of who they are with<\/a>, not because of a joke.<\/p>\n\n<h2>So Is God Laughing at You?<\/h2>\n\n<p>Go back to the quiet question under the big one. Put the pieces side by side.<\/p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>When God laughs in scorn, it is at power that forgot its size.<\/li>\n<li>When God&#8217;s own people get proud or lose hope, God asks a question.<\/li>\n<li>Before any of that, there was play, and delight &#8220;with the sons of men.&#8221; That means people. That means you.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<p>Many of us have this backwards. We fear that God is laughing at us, and we treat the things that tower over us as deadly serious. The psalms turn it around. The bully, the plotter, the power that acts like nothing is above it: those are what God finds laughable. You are on the other list. The delight list.<\/p>\n\n<p>And when your own big plan falls over in a way that is almost funny? Hear the question God asked Jonah. &#8220;Doest thou well to be angry for the gourd?&#8221;<\/p>\n\n<p>Not everything is a gourd. Real grief is not a gourd, and nothing in these verses shows God laughing at grief. But the late bus, the burnt dinner, the plan that had to go exactly my way? A lot of what I am angry about this week is a gourd. A God who can show me that with a question, instead of a lecture, is a God with a sense of humor. And it is the kind kind.<\/p>\n\n<p><strong>A good place to start:<\/strong> <em>The Beginner&#8217;s Guide to Feeling God&#8217;s Presence Every Day<\/em>. A short video guide and companion PDF for noticing God in the ordinary parts of your day, including the parts that make you laugh. <a href=\"https:\/\/bgodinspired.com\/index.php\/free-video-course-feeling-gods-presence\/?utm_source=wordpress&amp;utm_medium=article-inline&amp;utm_content=hero\">Get the free guide<\/a>. Free.<\/p>\n\n<h2>Three Small Things to Try Today<\/h2>\n\n<ol>\n<li><strong>Tell God one funny thing.<\/strong> The next time you pray, before you ask for anything, tell God about something that made you laugh today. It takes thirty seconds. It may feel odd. Do it anyway.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Watch something play for two minutes.<\/strong> A child. A puppy. Goats. Birds on a wire. Then say Psalm 104:26 in your own words: &#8220;You made that to play.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li><strong>Read Psalm 2:1-4 out loud with your own &#8220;king&#8221; in mind.<\/strong> Think of the thing that has been acting biggest in your life this week. Not a person to hate. The pressure itself. Read the four verses out loud and let verse 4 put it back to its real size.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n<h2>A Prayer<\/h2>\n\n<p>God, I have pictured You stern for a long time. I thought if You were laughing, it must be at me. Thank You that Your laugh is aimed at the proud things that scare me, and Your delight is aimed at people like me. When I get puffed up or angry over a gourd, ask me Your question, and help me smile at myself. Teach me to play again. Amen.<\/p>\n\n<h2>A Question for You<\/h2>\n\n<p>Here is what I would love to hear: do you think it is okay to joke with God when you pray, or does that cross a line? Tell us what you think in the comments.<\/p>\n\n<div class=\"convertkit-form wp-block-convertkit-form\" style=\"\"><script async data-uid=\"6491fb8269\" src=\"https:\/\/bgodinspired.kit.com\/6491fb8269\/index.js\" data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\" data-no-defer=\"1\" data-no-optimize=\"1\" nowprocket><\/script><\/div>\n\n\n<h2>Share This<\/h2>\n\n<p><em>&#8220;Three psalms say God laughs. Every time, it is at kings and bullies. Never at the weak. I had that backwards for years.&#8221;<\/em><\/p>\n\n<p><em>&#8220;The Hebrew word for God&#8217;s laugh in Psalm 2:4 also means &#8216;play.&#8217; It is the same word used for the sea creature God &#8216;made to play&#8217; in Psalm 104:26. I did not see that coming.&#8221;<\/em><\/p>\n\n<p><em>&#8220;The book of Jonah ends with God asking a sulking prophet a question about cows. Tell me again that God has no sense of humor.&#8221;<\/em><\/p>\n\n<h2>Questions People Ask About God and Humor<\/h2>\n\n<h3>Does God have a sense of humor?<\/h3>\n\n<p>The Bible never uses the phrase &#8220;sense of humor&#8221; about God, but it does say God laughs. Psalm 2:4, Psalm 37:13 and Psalm 59:8 all describe God laughing, each time at proud or violent people who act as if no one is above them. The Bible also shows God using irony and gentle questions with people like Jonah, Sarah and Balaam. Taken together, the Bible pictures a God who laughs at pride, enjoys play, and delights in people.<\/p>\n\n<h3>Where in the Bible does it say God laughs?<\/h3>\n\n<p>Three psalms say God laughs. Psalm 2:4 says, &#8220;He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision.&#8221; Psalm 37:13 says, &#8220;The Lord shall laugh at him: for he seeth that his day is coming.&#8221; Psalm 59:8 says, &#8220;But thou, O LORD, shalt laugh at them.&#8221; In each psalm God is laughing at powerful people who plot against God or against the innocent.<\/p>\n\n<h3>Is God laughing at me when things go wrong?<\/h3>\n\n<p>The three psalms that describe God laughing (Psalm 2:4, Psalm 37:13 and Psalm 59:8) all aim that laugh at kings, plotters and violent men, not at people who are weak, doubting or hurting. When Sarah laughed at God&#8217;s promise in Genesis 18, God did not laugh back at her. God asked her a question: &#8220;Is any thing too hard for the LORD?&#8221; Nothing in these passages shows God laughing at a person&#8217;s pain.<\/p>\n\n<h3>What does the Hebrew word for &#8220;laugh&#8221; in Psalm 2:4 mean?<\/h3>\n\n<p>The Hebrew word for &#8220;laugh&#8221; in Psalm 2:4 is sachaq (Strong&#8217;s H7832). Strong&#8217;s dictionary defines it as &#8220;to laugh (in pleasure or detraction); by implication, to play.&#8221; The same word is translated &#8220;play&#8221; in Psalm 104:26, where God made leviathan &#8220;to play&#8221; in the sea, and &#8220;rejoicing&#8221; in Proverbs 8:30, where Wisdom rejoices before God at creation. So one Hebrew word covers scornful laughter, joyful laughter and play.<\/p>\n\n<h3>Is it okay to laugh or joke when I pray?<\/h3>\n\n<p>The Bible records people laughing in front of God without being punished for it. Abraham laughed in Genesis 17:17 and Sarah laughed in Genesis 18:12, and God still kept the promise to both of them. The Bible does warn against cruel and crude joking, but it never forbids honest laughter in prayer. Telling God what made you laugh today is one simple way to bring your whole self into prayer.<\/p>        <div class=\"booster-block booster-reactions-block\">\n            <div class=\"twp-reactions-icons\">\n                \n                <div class=\"twp-reacts-wrap\">\n                    <a react-data=\"be-react-1\" post-id=\"117738\" class=\"be-face-icons un-reacted\" href=\"javascript:void(0)\">\n                        <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/bgodinspired.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/booster-extension\/\/assets\/icon\/happy.svg\" alt=\"Happy\" title=\"\">\n                    <\/a>\n                    <div class=\"twp-reaction-title\">\n                        Happy                    <\/div>\n                    <div class=\"twp-count-percent\">\n                                                    <span style=\"display: none;\" class=\"twp-react-count\">0<\/span>\n                        \n                                                <span 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Three psalms say God laughs, and never at the weak. The same Hebrew word also means play. Here is who God really laughs at.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":117737,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_wp_convertkit_post_meta":{"form":"-1","landing_page":"0","tag":"0","restrict_content":"0"},"footnotes":""},"categories":[639],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-117738","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-humor"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bgodinspired.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117738","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bgodinspired.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bgodinspired.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bgodinspired.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bgodinspired.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=117738"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/bgodinspired.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117738\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":117739,"href":"https:\/\/bgodinspired.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117738\/revisions\/117739"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bgodinspired.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/117737"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bgodinspired.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=117738"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bgodinspired.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=117738"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bgodinspired.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=117738"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}