In Proverbs chapter number one, we've come to verse number 26, and I've titled this message, The God Who Laughs. Because in verse number 26, it says, I also, that's the Lord, will laugh at your calamity. I will mock when your fear cometh. That's a pretty strong verse. You know what people in America want? They want a tame God. They want to domesticate the Lion of Judah, is what they want to do. And this is the God who says, I also will laugh at your calamity, I will mock when your fear cometh. And Christians today, they do want a God that is polite and pious, even predictable. They just want a God that's palatable. Not necessarily looking to be conformed to His image, Romans 8, 29. So this is a verse that is hard for many Christians. It's hard for me when I read it. The Bible says, I will laugh at your calamity, I will mock when your fear cometh. With that said, flip forward to Ecclesiastes chapter number 7. Ecclesiastes chapter number 7. I'd like to draw your attention to verse number six in Ecclesiastes chapter number seven. It's okay for God to laugh and for God to mock. Let's contrast that with this truth. Ecclesiastes 7 verse 6, For as the crackling of thorns under a pot, so is the laughter of the fool. This also is vanity. The fool's laughter is empty. It's temporary. The fool's laughter is destructive. That's not God's laughter. God's laughter is purposeful. It's prophetic. It's redemptive. It's not a petty thing. And when God mocks, He targets systems. He targets pride. He mocks at oppression. God never laughs or mocks at the oppressed, at the vulnerable. And this matters because in Proverbs chapter number one, when it says, I also will mock at your calamity, I will laugh at your calamity, I will mock when your fear cometh, this matters because if we have only a one-dimensional God, then we have a God who can't laugh. And if he can't laugh, he can't fully relate to our humanity. That'd be a small God. Let me ask you this, if God won't mock evil, how serious is He taking it? A God without righteous indignation and a God without righteous mockery is a God who's made peace with injustice. Go to Genesis 17. Let's look at that. Genesis 17, verse number 19. Genesis 17, verse number 19. Watch what the Bible said. And God said, "...Sarah thy wife," talking to Abraham, "...shall bear thee a son indeed, thou shalt call his name Isaac." God tells Abraham to name his son Isaac and the name Isaac means to laugh. That's pretty cool. Look at Genesis 18. Look at verse number 12. Sarah's going to laugh at this promise. She says in verse number 12, "...therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, After I am waxed old, shall I have pleasure, my Lord, being old also?" There's no way I'm going to have a child. Sarah laughs at that, laughs at that promise. Verse 13, "...and the Lord said unto Abraham, Wherefore did Sarah laugh, saying, Shall I of a surety bear a child, which am old?" Is anything too hard for the Lord? At the time appointed, I will return unto thee according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son." God is confronting and confirming His promise, and then out of fear watch Sarah's response. Then Sarah denied, saying, I laugh not, for she was afraid. And he said, Nay, but thou didst laugh. No, she gets called out on it. No, you did laugh. You did laugh. Now watch what happens in Genesis 21. Genesis 17, God tells Abraham to name his son Isaac, which means laughter. Genesis 18, Sarah laughs at that promise. Genesis 21, verse number 3, The Bible says, And Abraham called the name of his son that was born unto him, whom Sarah bare to him, Isaac. So Abraham obeys God, and he names his son Isaac, just like the Lord commanded him to. He obeys. And he has a boy named Laughter. He has a boy with a name that means he laughs. Now look at verse 6. And Sarah said, God hath made me to laugh, so that all that hear will laugh with me." God's joke is already taking place before Sarah even gets the punchline of the joke. God names the boy Laughter before Sarah laughs at the promise that she's going to have a boy named Laughter, Isaac. By the time we get to verse 6 in Genesis 21, Sarah finally gets the punchline. God took Sarah's future doubt and made it the boy's permanent name. Sarah, her first laugh was a laughter of disbelief. Come on, really? Her second laughter was a laughter of joy. Wow. Because every time she calls her son Isaac, hey Isaac, you know what she's reminded of? God gets the last laugh. I mean, the whole thing's beautiful. That's the God who laughs. I love that story. I love that story. I think it's great. Go to 1 Kings chapter 18. We'll look at another instance of God's laughter. 1 Kings 18. We'll see the prophet Elijah in 1 Kings 18. Look at verse number 27. And you know the story, you got all the false gods and you know the prophets of Baal. Elijah the prophet comes on the scene and in verse number 27, it came to pass at noon that Elijah mocked them, all those prophets of Baal and those false gods, and he said, cry aloud for he is a god, either he is talking or he is pursuing or he is in a journey or a poor adventure, he sleepeth and must be awakened. Elijah mocks these false prophets with holy sarcasm and he says, what's your God on vacation? People say, well, he shouldn't have done that. Well, look at verse 37. He should have done that. Look at verse 37. He says, "...Hear me, O LORD, hear me, that this people may know that Thou art the LORD God, and Thou hast turned their heart back again." Then the fire of the LORD fell, and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces, and they said, The LORD, He is the God! The LORD, He is the God! God validated that prophet's righteous mockery by sending fire from heaven and destroying those prophets of Baal. What do we learn from that? We learn from that that measured mockery has its place when it's confronting idolatry. Okay? The prophet had a measured dose of it, and God doesn't correct him, it was just measured and put in the proper context. This is not a verse to be used to mock your brother or your sister. Okay? This is a prophet using it Idolatry. So, when I see people get real excited about the Easter Bunny. Yeah, right. Jumping up and down, getting all excited. I am going to use measure mockery. Why? Because when people get so excited about they just can't do without that. And when the jolly old man in the red suit wants to come down the chimney that doesn't exist, but people think he exists and they want to get real, real excited. I like to think of myself as Elijah in 1 Kings 18. Why would we get more excited about Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny or the Valentine guy that flies around the sky, then we would Jesus. All the idols, Pilgrim, we're an equal opportunity offender of all the idols. We'll just leave it at that. What I'm saying is there's a place for measured mockery and we see that with that prophet. Now we know when we get to John 11 we're going to see our Savior weep. Jesus wept. That's a beautiful verse. But go to Matthew 23 because the same Jesus that wept, watch Him mock in Matthew 23. Matthew 23, it's just holy wit in Matthew 23. He paints a word picture. It's absurdity that he's dealing with. But he paints a word picture so absurd to expose the absurdity. Look at verse 13 in Matthew 23. All these woes. But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men, for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in. He's like, you guys are blocking the kingdom. Verse 14. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, for ye devour widows' houses. Look at verse 15, another one, for you compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, you make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves. He says you're converting people to corruption. Look at verse number 16, he calls them blind guides. Look at verse 17, he calls them fools and blind. Verse 18, and whosoever shall swear by the altar, It is nothing, but whosoever sweareth by the gift that is upon it, he is guilty, ye fools and blind. For whether is greater the gift, or the altar that sanctifieth the gift?" He goes on and he slams these guys, and he says in verse 22, "...and he that shall swear by heaven sweareth by the throne of God, and by him that sitteth thereon." It's pretty heavy, verses 16 through 22. Jesus, He just slams all of their blind oaths. He's just like, guys, this is ridiculous. Verse 23 through 24, look at this, "...ye pay tithe, and mint, and anise, and cumeth, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law." He says, you guys are really good at majoring in the minors. He's making fun of them right in front of their face. Verse number 25 and 26, He says, "...for ye may clean the outside of the cup, and of the platter, but within ye are full of extortion and excesses." You look beautiful. The outside looks beautiful. But He says, inside, you guys are as dirty as can be. Right in front of Him. Doesn't seem too nice to me. Jesus never sinned, though. He has to get past the niceties. If you have somebody over for dinner, you're probably not going to hit them with a bunch of woes, right? you're going to exchange pleasantries, glad to have you, let's have a seat, you want iced tea, you want sweet tea or unsweetened, you're going to be very nice. But that isn't this context. Jesus is dealing with leaders who are corrupting people. And so he makes fun of the silly things that they're doing, and he exposes it as the absurdity that it is. Verses 27 and 28, whited sepulchres, you know, same thing, outside. Beautiful tombs, guys, but inside, you're just dead bones. And then 29 through 30, he says, because you build tombs of the prophets and garnish the sepulchres of righteousness, and say, if we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets. He says, look, you guys are building tombs, you're prophet killers. And he unleashes these woes. You know what God will do? If you're broken, He will weep with you. And you know what we should do? If someone is broken, we need to weep with them. But you know what God will do at oppression and pride? He's going to laugh at that, and He's going to mock that, because it's wrong. Matthew 15. Those Pharisees were full of pride, and Jesus lets them have it with the woes. Matthew 15. This is great. Verse number 1 in Matthew 15, Then came to Jesus scribes and Pharisees, which were of Jerusalem, saying, Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? For they wash not their hands when they eat bread. The Pharisees are criticizing the disciples for not washing their hands. So Jesus, he flips the narrative. Look at verse 3, but he answered and said unto them, why do you also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition? He says, look, you guys have invented traditions and you're in violation of the law. He flips the script. Go down to verse number 12. Then came his disciples and said unto him, Knowest thou that the Pharisees were offended after they heard this saying?" The Pharisees get nervous because of the way Jesus spoke, or the disciples get nervous by the way Jesus spoke to the Pharisees. And so the disciples come to Jesus like, man, Jesus, Man, you offended these guys. Look at Jesus' answer in verse number 13. But He answered and said, Every plant which My heavenly Father hath not planted shall be rooted up. Huh? It's a theological way of saying, leave them alone. But verse 14 is great. Watch what He says. let them alone, they be blind leaders of the blind, and if the blind lead the ditch, both shall fall into the ditch." Jesus doesn't get worked up, and He doesn't get emotionally charged when the disciples are concerned and nervous that Jesus just offended the Pharisees. So Jesus' answer to it was a rather sarcastic answer. And He says to the disciples, Hey guys, it's kind of like this. You got a blind man. And He says, Hey, follow me. I'm the expert. And then you got some guys out of the crowd that are blind as well. And they hold hands with this blind guy who says he knows where he's going and then they start walking along and then both of them fall into a ditch you see how silly that is just leave them alone they don't know what they're talking about so what does he tell he tells these pharisees right in front of them okay You think we shouldn't wash our hands." And when the disciples are concerned that Jesus has wrongly offended them, He says, you leave those guys alone. It's essentially the blind following the blind. They're both going to fall into a ditch. I hope you don't follow them. Just leave the whole situation alone. So, Jesus… You and I probably would have tried to find a more diplomatic way of handling the Pharisees. And dads, you might have been a little upset at your children if they handled the situation like Jesus. And wives, you may have been a little upset at your husbands for being a little harsh on them. I mean, come on, you don't want to offend those Pharisees. And don't we get in situations like that? But that's not always the case. We're not going out to try to offend people. But if you're going to spew absurdity, it's okay to say, this is just the blind following the blind. Let's try to move on to Luke 13. I like this one. Jesus is going to call somebody a name, and it's rather hilarious. In Luke 13, look at verse 31. You've got to remember, in the context here, Herod's a problem, And by the way, he's the symbol of power and royalty. Herod's the one who had John the Baptist's head chopped off. And Herod's the big bad wolf of Galilee. Watch what Jesus says in Luke 13, verse 31. Yeah, that's right. Therefore, when he was gone out, Jesus said... No, I'm in John. I knew that wasn't right. I'm like, what's going on here? Blind leading the blind, Lily. What's going on? Take you right into a ditch. Luke 13, I think I got it right. Yeah, okay. Verse 31 of Luke 13, "...the same day there came certain of the Pharisees, saying unto him, Get thee out, and depart hence, for Herod will kill thee." Now we said, he's the big wig. He's the scary wolf in Galilee. Watch what Jesus' response is. He said to them, go ye and tell that fox. He starts off by calling Herod a name. You go tell that fox, behold, I cast out devils and do cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I shall be perfected. I want you guys to go tell that fox, you know, that little small time predator, you know, the fox, the pest. You go tell Herod that little pest, that predator that we got to get out of the vineyard. You know, you tell him that fox, the one who's not big and bad enough to actually be a wolf, he's just a little pest, he's a little pesty fox. You boys running a message service, you go tell him I said he's a fox. And you tell him When you see him, since you're so intent on wanting to run your little message service here, you tell him that he's just a little fox, he ain't powerful enough to kill me. That's what I want you to go tell Herod. You tell him that Jesus said he's a little fox. Well, that's kind of mean. Well, yeah. That's the point. And here's what's beautifully ironic about this. After Jesus mocks Herod and calls him a fox, this is what's beautiful about this chapter. Look at verse 34. Jesus is going to describe himself as a mother hen gathering chicks. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killeth the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee! How often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not. You know why he said that? Because a hen will protect her chicks against a fox every day all day. It's a beautiful picture of righteous mockery that Jesus describes Herod. Come on, you little fox, what you gonna do? Now, you gotta remember, in Matthew we talked about these Pharisees. I mean, they claim to be the guides of the blind in Romans 2, and they claim to see everything. what got the Pharisees was, they're so focused on seeing every minor, minute little detail, I mean they can see somebody not washing their hands a mile away, but what's right in front of them, the Son of God, they miss it. The tiniest of details the Pharisees wouldn't miss, but they miss the biggest one right there, Jesus Christ. And the reason Jesus has to mock and laugh at that is because those guys were supposed to be the religious leaders. It's silliness. But here in Luke 13 concerning Herod, I mean, Jesus just states this stuff like, I wish you all would get it. All right, a couple more spots before we get back to Proverbs 1.26. Look at Psalm 2. We're going to look at three of these in Psalms. Psalms 2. Psalm 2, verse number 1. Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, And the rulers take counsel together against the LORD and against His anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder and cast away their cords from us. He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh." God's not pacing around nervously. And He's not rushing and jumping in to respond. He's sitting unbothered and calmly in the heavenly throne room laughing at this foolishness. Verse 2, really? The kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against His anointing? Really? You guys are going to set up a meeting and you're going to try to overthrow me. Right. That's what the Lord's, that's why the Lord's laughing. It's ridiculous. working out in the woods, you know, and we're doing some clearing out in the woods, and, you know, we got our boots on, we're working out there, and it's like the ant saying, I'm gonna take over your boot. No, you're not. You're gonna step on that ant. It's a joke. Verse number three. let us break their bands asunder and cast away their cords from us." Really, you guys think my law is chains of bondage and cast away their cords from us? I mean, you guys really think that my authority is like cords? And they see obedience as slavery? Man, yeah, you get away from God, you'll really be free. Anybody here fish? You think a fish would ever say, you know, I just can't wait to get out of this water and finally get to freedom on land. That's how ridiculous it is to think a fish would never think, man, I can't wait to get out of this water and get on land. But sinful man will think, man, I can't wait to get away from God, man, all these cords and bands. I'm going to finally be free. No, you're not. You're going to die. It's ridiculous. So, all God can do when He hears that type of foolishness is sit in the throne room and just have a good laugh. This is a joke, fellas. God has to laugh. Because nobody would want… Nobody running from freedom to bondage is sane. If you think this word is shackles to you, let me help you understand. It's safety. It's designed to keep you safe. I want to get away from the Word of God. Yeah, that's real intelligent. So God's sitting up in heaven, and when He hears things like that, or the report goes up to Him about something like that, all He can do is just sit and laugh. I mean, how many times have I got to tell these people? Look at Psalms 37. Psalms 37, verse number 12. Psalm 37, verse 12, "...the wicked plotteth against the just, and gnasheth upon him with his teeth. The Lord shall laugh at him, for he seeth that his day is coming." It doesn't make any sense for someone to make a five-year plan when you've got five days left. And so when people do that, all God can do is laugh. He knows their calendar. And He's already marked our expiration date, so when the wicked plotteth against the just, and gnasheth upon him with his teeth, that's why the Lord shall laugh at him, for he seeth that his day is coming." Look, the principle is this. Evil tyrants and oppressors always have a timeline. Remember we're talking about in Esther? What's Haman doing? He's building those gallows, man. He's got to get those things done. His timeline isn't God's timeline. He did not see that he was going to be hung on the gallows that he built. What does Goliath do for forty days? He trash talks those Israelites. What does Jezebel do? Jezebel, she paints herself all up, she's looking out that window and man, she thinks she's hot stuff. She don't hear the dogs barking. She has no idea that she's going to become dog food. Yeah. Why? God can only laugh at this stuff. Haman had no idea. Goliath had no idea. Jezebel had no idea. And God's sitting up there laughing. I just really wish they wouldn't be tyrants and they wouldn't be evil and they wouldn't be wicked. But since they are, I'm going to have to laugh at their oppression and their pride and their wickedness. It's like how many times can God put something in front of somebody before he just has to sit in the throne and like, I don't know why they're doing that. I mean, verse number 12, and gnasheth upon him with his teeth. God's like, man, yeah, you guys are really scary. You know, it's like the little six-year-old, you know, he's got his MMA gloves, and he's ready, and he's facing the world champion, and he's gnashing his teeth, and I'm going to really get you, and the champ is just kind of laughing, playing around with him, because he knows it's ridiculous. You can gnash all your teeth against God, all you want against God and His law. It's a joke to him. I would suggest not doing that. One more, Psalm 59. And then we'll return to Proverbs 1 and finish up. Psalms 59, look at verse number 8. David's surrounded by Saul's men, and Saul's men want to kill David. Look at Psalms 58. Watch what David writes on the Holy Spirit's inspiration. But thou, O LORD, shalt laugh at them. Thou shalt have all the heathen in derision. You ever feel like David and Saul's enemies are encompassed about you? He gives two really clear truths. He says, but thou, O LORD, thou shalt laugh at them. And then he moves past this immediate threat, which he's suffering from. There's this immediate threat of all Saul's men around him and wanting to kill him. And he says, Lord, you're just going to laugh at that. But then he moves past that immediate threat, and then he says, he says, thou shalt have all the heathen in derision. He expands it to all the nations, all the heathen, past his immediate situation. In other words, David's saying this, Lord, I know you're so powerful. Not only will you just laugh at the problem I have, there isn't any problem that's too big for you. We look at a problem and we think it's too big. God looks at a problem and He's laughing because He's like, what are you guys so worried about? He's not laughing at you. He's laughing at the fact that He's like, look, I've got you safe. And He's chuckling, thinking, they just don't see this. Like, how can they not see this? Like, I got it. I'm God. I'm going to keep you safe. I said I'll preserve your life. God laughs at every heathen that opposes Him, and every nation and group of people that would oppose Him. Why? Because they're thinking they're more powerful than God and can overthrow Him, and the only thing about He can do is just laugh at that. That's silly. If you have enemies surrounding you, God laughs at them, not you and not your situation. David said, but thou, O Lord, should laugh at them. Anybody dealing with a personal Goliath in their life? God's not laughing at you. He's just laughing at the fact that, don't you realize I take all of the Goliaths out? I'll take care of them. I'll take care of them. Don't fret yourself. Your individual oppressor, the Goliath in your life, your individual oppressor, God laughs at that oppression. God laughs at the tyrant. God laughs at those that are doing wicked. He'll keep you safe. He'll keep you safe. He's not laughing at you. He's laughing at them who think that they have control over the situation, and they don't. Before we return to Proverbs 1, you can turn there. Before we read it, I guess, let me just say a couple of things regarding these Psalms. In Psalm 2, God laughs at political and collective rebellion, nations, rulers, and kings against Him. In Psalm 37, it's different. God laughs at individual wickedness. In other words, there's personal oppressors and there are evil and wicked individuals So God laughs at those evil individuals and he wants us to stop fearing people. Psalm 59, God laughs at the idea, just the idea of an immediate threat becoming a universal threat. He'll take care of it. What does that tell us? Stop fearing circumstances. He laughs at oppressive systems, oppressive people, and everything in between. And if God's laughing, I don't think we should be crying. I don't think we should. Because the punchline is, we're still here. We're still worshiping. And God always gets the last laugh. That's the punchline. The last laugh always belongs to the Lord. Okay. I'm going to wrap up. We're going to wrap up, but I did say Proverbs 1 is the last verse. We need to look at that in light of James 1. So go to James chapter number 1, and we'll get our understanding of Proverbs 1 at the same time. James 1. Man, you're wide awake right now, Paisley. I know, it's holy laughter. It's better than some of the holy laughter we see in some of the charismatic circles. Being slain in the spirit. Look at James 1, verse 14. Young people especially, look at this. James 1, verse 14. But every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust and enticed. What will sin do to you? What will it do? It's going to draw you away. That's what's the purpose of sin. It's going to entice you. James 1.14. Now, if you give in to that lust, and you yield to that temptation, You know what's going to happen? Verse number 15. You're going to be knee-deep in sin. Watch. Then when lust hath conceived, and bringeth forth sin, and sin when it is finished, bringeth forth death. It will be there to entice you, and if you yield to it, you're going to be in the mire of sin. Look at verse 13. Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God, for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man. What you can't say is that that temptation came from God. But make no mistake, temptation will come. And if you yield to it, if you yield to it, you're going to be sinking in sin. Don't anybody fool themselves and think you could ever point to God and say, well, God tempted me, because He won't ever do that, and His character won't ever change. But here's what will happen at the same time that you are enticed with sin. Sin is going to say, come this way. And at the same time that that is happening, the Holy Spirit is going to be saying, no! Come this way, please. Both are going to happen at the same time. The temptation can't come from God. It's coming from the devil, or your flesh, or the world. And at the same time that happens, the Holy Spirit will be saying, follow Me. Don't give in to the enticement of sin. The Holy Spirit says, I'm warning you, Aidan. Don't go down that road. The Holy Spirit's gonna say, Malani, quit it! Don't do it! That's what the Holy Spirit's gonna say. In the midst of that temptation, that enticement's going to be there and try to allure you. And at the same time, the Holy Spirit is going to be there and is going to allure you. So the flesh says, I want to go after the sin. And the Holy Spirit says, you knucklehead, Lily, don't go after the sin. Don't do it. Don't do it. But you're stubborn and you do it. And then afterwards, afterwards you have the gall to then turn to the Holy Spirit who told you don't do that. and say, oh God, I'm in a calamity, will you please get me out of here? And you know what the Lord's gonna do? He's gonna laugh at that. Be not deceived, God is not mocked. And when you are told by the Holy Spirit not to sin, and you get into the sin, and then afterwards you beg God to bail you out, you're mocking God. And he said in Galatians, I will not be mocked. And you and I have to figure out, because the enticement's going to come and the temptation is going to come. Are we going to listen to the Holy Spirit? Or are we going to listen to the devil? I'll tell you, if you give in to the devil, you're going to be knee-deep in sin. And if you beg God to get you out of the calamity that you put yourself into, guess what he's not going to do? He's not going to bail you out. He is not going to deliver you from the consequence of your sin. He'll continue to love you. He'll walk through that consequence with you to try to give you as much comfort as He can. He will try to teach you how to do better the next time. He will be merciful to you and welcome you back into His loving arms when you are ready to live for Him. He will do that, but He will not bail you out of the consequence that you decided to do because you would not listen to His counsel. Because if He did that, He'd be violating Galatians 6, which says, Be not deceived, God is not mocked. Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. I'm in calamity, God. I'm ready to pray now, God." Well, good. Well, good. It's a bit too late for the consequence you're about to receive, but I'm glad you're deciding to pray to me now. But don't ask me to bail you out of the consequences. You made your bed, you sleep in it. And that's just a fact, Jack. So you young people better think real long and hard about how important your friend is that wants to entice you to go down a road you shouldn't go. You better think real long and hard about it. Proverbs 1 and then we'll finish there. Because all Proverbs 1 26 is the tragedy of rejected wisdom, that's all it is. Wisdom is there and it's trying to save people and they don't want it. Verse 20, Wisdom crieth without, she uttereth her voice in the streets. Remember we talked about that? It's made available to all. It's on every corner like a street preacher. Verse 22, How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? They're not victims, they chose it. Turn ye at my reproof. Behold, I will pour out my Spirit unto you. The Lord says, I've got every wisdom and has everything to offer you, and you've refused it. Verse 24, Behold, I have called, and you have refused. I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded. But ye have said it in all my counsel, and would none of my reproof. You just ignore me, you reject me, it's all unwanted. And after all of that happens, don't dare say the laughter is cruel. The laughter comes after all of that. So God says, I also will laugh at your calamity. I will mock when your fear cometh. And it's not, ha, ha, you're suffering. It's more like, what do you guys expect? I've exhausted every option that I have with you. And now you want to mock me by asking me to bail you out of something I told you not to do? Sometimes God's only response to stupidity and absurdity is for Him to just sit in the throne room and just laugh at that. Like, I can't, gosh, I can't believe. You ever do that with your kids? You've told them over and over and over. And you're sitting in the chair at the table and you're like, I can't believe we're here. And you're laughing like, I can't. Not at the suffering, at the fact that I've told you 3,000 times. Don't let that happen to you in your Christian walk. Don't. Just trust God.