The Lord shall laugh at him: for he seeth that his day is coming.
The Lord laughs in scorn and contempt at the wicked plotting against the righteous, in confident certainty that their power and boasting will not last, for He sees their appointed day of downfall and judgment coming. The psalm sets their brief present prosperity against their final overthrow and the future inheritance of the righteous. The wicked will be cut off and perish as enemies of the Lord, consumed like fat of lambs into smoke, so that rebellion and sin end in death, the extinction of life. Their destruction is by being burned up on this very earth where they did their deeds, raised from the dead at the close of the thousand years to gather about the city of God and be destroyed by fire, after which the earth is melted and purified. As soon as they are consumed the saints possess the earth, a literal kingdom on this earth renewed under renewed heavens as a secure and peaceful home forever for those who receive Christ and have God's law in their hearts. Because their drawn sword will enter their own heart and their weapons be broken while the Lord upholds His saints, the oppressed should not despond or faint but be patient, endure, and trust God even in affliction.
Words and Setting
The Lord's laugh is scorn, derision and contempt, the confident certainty of One who watches empty boasting and knows it cannot last. When men shed blood and then escape punishment through faulty human justice, only to be celebrated in triumph, that boasting is met with divine scorn because the reckoning is already seen as sure, and for that reason the oppressed can remain calm and settled rather than desponding or fainting. The laugh declares that the power of the oppressor will be broken, that drawn violence will turn back upon those who use it, the sword entering their own heart and bent bows being shattered, while the saints are preserved forever. So too proud and defiant mockers who ridicule those seeking to restore the ancient foundations are regarded with contempt, for their ridicule cannot prevent their own destruction.
What He sees coming is the appointed day of the wicked, described as downfall, judgment, punishment, reckoning, ruin and end. He laughs because He sees that day approaching while the wicked still enjoy temporary present prosperity, a prosperity that will give way to their being overthrown and cut off. That punishment is death, the extinction of life by which rebellion and sin are ended and justice fully carried out, and the righteous will witness the recompense. Against that approaching end stands the future inheritance of the righteous who trust in God and have His law in their hearts, who will be delivered and inherit the earth forever in the joys of the earth made new, an inheritance future rather than merely the reward of faithful living in this life.
The immediate setting of that laughter is the wicked plotting against the just, threatening him, gnashing upon him with the teeth, and attacking the righteous. Those attacks will fail, for the weapons lifted against the righteous turn against their users and are broken, while the Lord upholds the righteous and their inheritance endures forever. The promise therefore calls the oppressed to patience unto the coming of the Lord, to endurance in the nearness of Jubilee and the time of promise, when the strong man armed must loose his prisoners homeward because One stronger is coming to spoil his goods.
The psalm belongs among the songs that teach trust and confidence in God, with assurance that wickedness will ultimately be overthrown and good will triumph. It is associated with the sorrows and afflictions of captives, with encouragement and assurance of divine help, and with final deliverance from persecutors. In that confidence it also reflects something of Christ's experience.
Judgment and Inheritance
The psalm sets the present prosperity of the wicked against their final overthrow and the future inheritance of the righteous, with the meek inheriting the earth while the wicked are cut off. It presents vividly together the reward to be given to the wicked and the rewards of the righteous, contrasting the future life of God's children with the destruction of those who finally reject salvation and refuse the remedy that saves from death. The laughter belongs to that contrast, marking certainty that the apparent power of the wicked will not last because their appointed day of downfall and judgment is approaching.
The wicked will be cut off and cease to exist, so that their place will no longer be found and they will have no place in God's universe. Their coming day is their end after the final judgment, when those who obey not the gospel shall not be, but shall perish as the enemies of the Lord and be consumed as the fat of lambs into smoke until they consume away. Their punishment is death, the extinction of life, so that rebellion and sin end and justice is fully carried out.
That destruction is by being burned up on this earth where they did their deeds, not in a separate place apart from the earth called hell, and the psalm repeats over and over that the punishment takes place here before the eternal reward and kingdom of the righteous comes. The coming day is that day of judgment when the wicked are consumed on the earth, and the psalm implies in this connection that the wicked will be resurrected for it. At the close of the thousand years the wicked dead are raised, gather around the city of God, and are destroyed by fire, after which the earth is melted and purified as the everlasting home of God's people.
The inheritance is future rather than the reward of living faithfully in this life, for as soon as the wicked are consumed the saints possess the earth. It is the joys of the earth made new, the renewed earth as the saints' inheritance where the meek dwell forever.
That inheritance is a literal kingdom on earth, this earth renewed under renewed heavens and regenerated and recreated as a spiritual home for a spiritual people who receive Christ as Saviour and King. It will cover the territory of the four great empires as a literal yet earthly and spiritual kingdom, held out as promise to Christians when the wicked are cut off and their power to oppose the righteous ends. There the righteous, who trust in God and have His law in their hearts, will be delivered and inherit the land forever, and only the righteous by choice will dwell there securely in peace forever to eternity, while a kingdom alloyed by idolatry, selfishness and sin must pass away.
Comfort for the Oppressed
The Lord sees the appointed day of the wicked who plot against and threaten the just, and knows their end is coming, so those facing affliction can trust God even when they cannot see the wisdom of what happens. His laughter expresses confident certainty that their power will not last and they will not prevail, for their violence will turn back upon them and their weapons will be broken. Their drawn sword will enter their own heart and their bent bows will be broken, while the Lord upholds the righteous, preserves His saints forever, and delivers them, whose inheritance will last forever. Oppressed saints therefore should not despond or faint because of the oppressor, but be patient unto the coming of the Lord and endure because the wicked will be brought down.
The present experience of persecution will give way to a change for God's people, for the Lord knows the appointed day when the wicked's power to oppose the righteous will end. The Jubilee and time of promise is drawing near when the strong man armed must loose his prisoners homeward, because One stronger than he is coming to spoil his goods. The Lord loves judgment and forsakes not His saints but preserves them forever, even as He laughs in derision at the wicked who plots against the just and gnashes upon him with his teeth because He sees the day of reckoning coming.
Believers can therefore remain calm and settled when wicked men shed blood and escape punishment through faulty human justice and are then celebrated in triumph, cheapening human life, because God looks on their boasting with scorn as He sees their coming day of reckoning. God regards the proud and defiant with contempt because He sees their appointed day of judgment coming. Their ridicule of those seeking to restore the ancient foundations will not prevent their own coming destruction.
The Lord laughs in scorn and contempt at the wicked plotting against the righteous, in confident certainty that their power and boasting will not last, for He sees their appointed day of downfall and judgment coming. The psalm sets their brief present prosperity against their final overthrow and the future inheritance of the righteous. The wicked will be cut off and perish as enemies of the Lord, consumed like fat of lambs into smoke, so that rebellion and sin end in death, the extinction of life. Their destruction is by being burned up on this very earth where they did their deeds, raised from the dead at the close of the thousand years to gather about the city of God and be destroyed by fire, after which the earth is melted and purified. As soon as they are consumed the saints possess the earth, a literal kingdom on this earth renewed under renewed heavens as a secure and peaceful home forever for those who receive Christ and have God's law in their hearts. Because their drawn sword will enter their own heart and their weapons be broken while the Lord upholds His saints, the oppressed should not despond or faint but be patient, endure, and trust God even in affliction.
Words and Setting
The Lord's laugh is scorn, derision and contempt, the confident certainty of One who watches empty boasting and knows it cannot last. When men shed blood and then escape punishment through faulty human justice, only to be celebrated in triumph, that boasting is met with divine scorn because the reckoning is already seen as sure, and for that reason the oppressed can remain calm and settled rather than desponding or fainting. The laugh declares that the power of the oppressor will be broken, that drawn violence will turn back upon those who use it, the sword entering their own heart and bent bows being shattered, while the saints are preserved forever. So too proud and defiant mockers who ridicule those seeking to restore the ancient foundations are regarded with contempt, for their ridicule cannot prevent their own destruction.
What He sees coming is the appointed day of the wicked, described as downfall, judgment, punishment, reckoning, ruin and end. He laughs because He sees that day approaching while the wicked still enjoy temporary present prosperity, a prosperity that will give way to their being overthrown and cut off. That punishment is death, the extinction of life by which rebellion and sin are ended and justice fully carried out, and the righteous will witness the recompense. Against that approaching end stands the future inheritance of the righteous who trust in God and have His law in their hearts, who will be delivered and inherit the earth forever in the joys of the earth made new, an inheritance future rather than merely the reward of faithful living in this life.
The immediate setting of that laughter is the wicked plotting against the just, threatening him, gnashing upon him with the teeth, and attacking the righteous. Those attacks will fail, for the weapons lifted against the righteous turn against their users and are broken, while the Lord upholds the righteous and their inheritance endures forever. The promise therefore calls the oppressed to patience unto the coming of the Lord, to endurance in the nearness of Jubilee and the time of promise, when the strong man armed must loose his prisoners homeward because One stronger is coming to spoil his goods.
The psalm belongs among the songs that teach trust and confidence in God, with assurance that wickedness will ultimately be overthrown and good will triumph. It is associated with the sorrows and afflictions of captives, with encouragement and assurance of divine help, and with final deliverance from persecutors. In that confidence it also reflects something of Christ's experience.
Judgment and Inheritance
The psalm sets the present prosperity of the wicked against their final overthrow and the future inheritance of the righteous, with the meek inheriting the earth while the wicked are cut off. It presents vividly together the reward to be given to the wicked and the rewards of the righteous, contrasting the future life of God's children with the destruction of those who finally reject salvation and refuse the remedy that saves from death. The laughter belongs to that contrast, marking certainty that the apparent power of the wicked will not last because their appointed day of downfall and judgment is approaching.
The wicked will be cut off and cease to exist, so that their place will no longer be found and they will have no place in God's universe. Their coming day is their end after the final judgment, when those who obey not the gospel shall not be, but shall perish as the enemies of the Lord and be consumed as the fat of lambs into smoke until they consume away. Their punishment is death, the extinction of life, so that rebellion and sin end and justice is fully carried out.
That destruction is by being burned up on this earth where they did their deeds, not in a separate place apart from the earth called hell, and the psalm repeats over and over that the punishment takes place here before the eternal reward and kingdom of the righteous comes. The coming day is that day of judgment when the wicked are consumed on the earth, and the psalm implies in this connection that the wicked will be resurrected for it. At the close of the thousand years the wicked dead are raised, gather around the city of God, and are destroyed by fire, after which the earth is melted and purified as the everlasting home of God's people.
The inheritance is future rather than the reward of living faithfully in this life, for as soon as the wicked are consumed the saints possess the earth. It is the joys of the earth made new, the renewed earth as the saints' inheritance where the meek dwell forever.
That inheritance is a literal kingdom on earth, this earth renewed under renewed heavens and regenerated and recreated as a spiritual home for a spiritual people who receive Christ as Saviour and King. It will cover the territory of the four great empires as a literal yet earthly and spiritual kingdom, held out as promise to Christians when the wicked are cut off and their power to oppose the righteous ends. There the righteous, who trust in God and have His law in their hearts, will be delivered and inherit the land forever, and only the righteous by choice will dwell there securely in peace forever to eternity, while a kingdom alloyed by idolatry, selfishness and sin must pass away.
Comfort for the Oppressed
The Lord sees the appointed day of the wicked who plot against and threaten the just, and knows their end is coming, so those facing affliction can trust God even when they cannot see the wisdom of what happens. His laughter expresses confident certainty that their power will not last and they will not prevail, for their violence will turn back upon them and their weapons will be broken. Their drawn sword will enter their own heart and their bent bows will be broken, while the Lord upholds the righteous, preserves His saints forever, and delivers them, whose inheritance will last forever. Oppressed saints therefore should not despond or faint because of the oppressor, but be patient unto the coming of the Lord and endure because the wicked will be brought down.
The present experience of persecution will give way to a change for God's people, for the Lord knows the appointed day when the wicked's power to oppose the righteous will end. The Jubilee and time of promise is drawing near when the strong man armed must loose his prisoners homeward, because One stronger than he is coming to spoil his goods. The Lord loves judgment and forsakes not His saints but preserves them forever, even as He laughs in derision at the wicked who plots against the just and gnashes upon him with his teeth because He sees the day of reckoning coming.
Believers can therefore remain calm and settled when wicked men shed blood and escape punishment through faulty human justice and are then celebrated in triumph, cheapening human life, because God looks on their boasting with scorn as He sees their coming day of reckoning. God regards the proud and defiant with contempt because He sees their appointed day of judgment coming. Their ridicule of those seeking to restore the ancient foundations will not prevent their own coming destruction.