The Meaning of Psalms 37:13 Explained

Psalms 37:13

KJV: The Lord shall laugh at him: for he seeth that his day is coming.

YLT: The Lord doth laugh at him, For He hath seen that his day cometh.

Darby: The Lord laugheth at him; for he seeth that his day is coming.

ASV: The Lord will laugh at him; For he seeth that his day is coming.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

The Lord  shall laugh  at him: for he seeth  that his day  is coming. 

What does Psalms 37:13 Mean?

Context Summary

Psalms 37:1-17 - A Sure Cure For Fretting
This is an acrostic psalm, grappling with the problem of the inequality of human life and the apparent failure of God to reward His servants and punish His enemies as they deserve. Life and immortality, where we know that the balance will be readjusted, had not then been brought to light, and therefore the solution was far harder before the advent of our Lord than for us.
But though the psalmist's solution is therefore not complete, his teaching of the blessedness of absolute trust in God's providence is very delightful. Fret not thyself; that is, do not give way to passionate resentment or bitter disappointment. Live in God; find your delight in contemplating His nature and His works; roll on Him the decision of your life-choices; trust in Him to supply all your need and work in your behalf. Be silent and rest!
How dramatically this picture of the happy, restful child of God is contrasted with the wicked and his certain doom-like barren pastures scorched by heat, or thin smoke-columns vanishing in the air! "Wait and trust! [source]

Chapter Summary: Psalms 37

1  David persuades to patience and confidence in God,
12  by the different estate of the godly and the wicked

What do the individual words in Psalms 37:13 mean?

The Lord laughs at him for He sees that is coming his day
אֲדֹנָ֥י יִשְׂחַק־ ל֑וֹ כִּֽי־ רָ֝אָ֗ה כִּֽי־ יָבֹ֥א יוֹמֽוֹ

אֲדֹנָ֥י  The  Lord 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: אֲדֹנָי  
Sense: my lord, lord.
יִשְׂחַק־  laughs 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: שָׂחַק  
Sense: to laugh, play, mock.
ל֑וֹ  at  him 
Parse: Preposition, third person masculine singular
רָ֝אָ֗ה  He  sees 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person masculine singular
Root: רָאָה 
Sense: to see, look at, inspect, perceive, consider.
כִּֽי־  that 
Parse: Conjunction
Root: כִּי 
Sense: that, for, because, when, as though, as, because that, but, then, certainly, except, surely, since.
יָבֹ֥א  is  coming 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: בֹּוא 
Sense: to go in, enter, come, go, come in.
יוֹמֽוֹ  his  day 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct, third person masculine singular
Root: יׄום 
Sense: day, time, year.