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Psalm 37:13
The Lord will laugh at him, for he sees that his day is coming.
11But the humble shall inherit the land, and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.
12The wicked plots against the just, and gnashes at him with his teeth.
13The Lord will laugh at him, for he sees that his day is coming.
14The wicked have drawn out the sword, and have bent their bow, to cast down the poor and needy, to kill those who are upright on the path.
15Their sword shall enter into their own heart. Their bows shall be broken.
Notice
The Lord’s laughter at a violent plotter can unsettle a reader, even as his sight of the coming judgment challenges the plotter’s apparent power.
Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.
What do the surrounding threats against the poor help you understand about the Lord’s laughter?
Write on thisWhere do you find it hard to trust that the Lord sees a wrongdoer’s coming judgment?
Write on thisConnect
Where else Scripture says this
12 passages readers most often link with this verse, and the thread each one shares with it.
This verse's connections, by chapterThe Bible's strongest chapter linksHover or tap a book to trace it
Psalm 2:4He who sits in the heavens will laugh. The Lord will have them in derision.Both psalms portray the Lord laughing in derision at those whose opposition cannot escape his rule.
Proverbs 1:26I also will laugh at your disaster. I will mock when calamity overtakes you,Both passages use laughter and mockery in connection with approaching disaster, giving judgment a stark and unsettling voice.
1 Samuel 26:10David said, “As the LORD lives, the LORD will strike him; or his day shall come to die, or he shall go down into battle and perish.David speaks of Saul’s approaching day of death, while Psalm 37 says the Lord sees the wicked person’s day coming.
Daniel 5:26“This is the interpretation of the thing: MENE: God has counted your kingdom, and brought it to an end.Both passages describe an end known to God: a kingdom’s counted duration in Daniel and the wicked person’s coming day in Psalm 37.
Ezekiel 21:25“‘You, deadly wounded wicked one, the prince of Israel, whose day has come, in the time of the iniquity of the end,Both describe a day of judgment for the wicked, approaching in Psalm 37 and already arrived for Ezekiel’s prince.
Ezekiel 21:29while they see for you false visions, while they divine lies to you, to lay you on the necks of the wicked who are deadly wounded, whose day has come in the …The wicked have a day coming in Psalm 37; Ezekiel describes the wicked whose day has come.
Job 18:20Those who come after will be astonished at his day, as those who went before were frightened.Both speak of a person’s day; Psalm 37 describes the Lord’s foresight, while Job describes people’s alarm.
Jeremiah 50:27Kill all her bulls. Let them go down to the slaughter. Woe to them! For their day has come, the time of their visitation.Both passages speak of an appointed day of judgment, with Jeremiah naming its arrival through an explicit announcement of slaughter.
Psalm 59:8But you, LORD, laugh at them. You scoff at all the nations.The Lord laughs in both psalms, directing his scorn toward the wicked plotter in Psalm 37 and the nations in Psalm 59.
Psalm 37:18The LORD knows the days of the perfect. Their inheritance shall be forever.The Lord sees the wicked person’s coming day and knows the days of the perfect, whose inheritance endures forever.
Jeremiah 46:21Also her hired men in the middle of her are like calves of the stall, for they also are turned back. They have fled away together. They didn’t stand, for the …Both passages describe a coming day of downfall; Jeremiah depicts hired soldiers fleeing when their day of calamity arrives.
Jeremiah 47:4because of the day that comes to destroy all the Philistines, to cut off from Tyre and Sidon every helper who remains; for the LORD will destroy the …Both passages connect a coming day with judgment under the Lord’s authority; Jeremiah names the destruction of the Philistines.
Where this verse fits
Injustice and anger. fear for the future.
One step
Something small to carry out of this verse
Encouragement
The threat against the poor is real in this psalm. Yet the Lord sees the aggressor’s coming judgment; the one who plots harm does not control the end.
Now put it in your words.
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Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).