Proverbs 14:13, Hollow Laughter Transformed!

August 12, Proverbs 14:13

Luke 6:20-26; 16:19-26 “Delight thyself in the Lord; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart” (Ps. 37:4).

Hollow Laughter Transformed!

Even in laughter the heart is sorrowful, and the end of that mirth is heaviness. What a sad, but all too true, observation. Charles Bridges said of this, “Many a sigh is heaved amid the loud laughter of folly.” Any involved in those diabolical “laughing revivals” please take note. Solomon considered such laughter, and said It is mad. He knew that much mirth was really counterfeit (Eccl. 2:2, 1011). The highest end of the Gospel is not how to make us happy, but how to make us holy, how to make bad men good.

1. The Mimicry: The end of that mirth is heaviness. The word that is ignored in modern versions, but it is a suffix on the word end, i.e., the end of it or that. It clearly is intended to suggest that there is another kind of mirth. There is a genuine, godly mirth. Our verse, however, refers to hypocritical or carnal mirth. There are those who put on a merry front in public. The happy talker, the singer of happy songs, the habitual joker, the professional comedian or clown, many of these carry deep sorrows within, but kept them carefully veiled from public view. They mimic joy, and the louder the laughter, the hollower the laugh. They go home after the show or the night out, and open their doors to great sadness and deep shadows within, that they never can forget or escape. Under their mirth there is trouble or tragedy hidden. It is all a forced mirth. Their misery may have its source in family cares, or may come from their own accusing conscience.

2. The Mockery: The end of that mirth is heaviness. Heaviness is a rare word and found elsewhere only in Pr. 10:1, 17:21, Ps. 119:28. It means to suffer grief. Some try to drown their sorrows in drink or drugs, but the can’t escape them. Pleasure is momentary, but the sting of conscience can never be drawn out by counterfeit smiles. In their secret world, they can only reflect on their pains with bitterness. Their laughter is but a diversion from the sad realities of their existence. Was there not a touch of bitterness in Sarah’s laughter (Gen. 18:12)? A Fool’s laughter ends in misery, both here and hereafter. They are merry for a day, but damned for an eternity. Is not that a mimicry that becomes a mockery which ends is misery? Then there’s death, the ultimate mockery, where all mirth ceases.

3. The Melody: O reader, if this is your condition, will you not face this mimicry now and exchange that mockery for the melody of Heaven? Come to Christ as your Lord and Saviour and exchange your hollow mirth for the songs of the redeemed that end, not in misery, but in everlasting joy (Is. 35:10; Ps. 126; Lu. 15:23-24). Cast yourself on Jesus now, who said, These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full (Jn. 15:11). You will soon agree that that joy is the only true joy because it is joy in the Lord. You will find that the sweetest melodies are the melodies of the soul set free from mimicry, and there will be no misery in the end of that mirth!

Thought: “Here, joy begins to enter into us; there, we enter into joy” (Th. Watson).

Prayer: Lord, let my inheritance be among thy rejoicing people.