The Comedy of Wickedness Text: Proverbs 10:23
Introduction: Two Kinds of Laughter
The book of Proverbs is a book of sharp contrasts. It does not muddle in the gray areas that our modern sensibilities find so comfortable. It presents two paths, two women, two destinations, and two kinds of people: the wise and the foolish. And here in this verse, we are shown that these two kinds of people have two very different senses of humor. They find different things entertaining. They laugh at different jokes.
We live in an age that has made an idol of amusement. Entertainment is one of the high gods of our secular pantheon. But we rarely stop to ask what it is that we find entertaining. What is the substance of our laughter? Laughter is not a neutral activity. It reveals the soul. What you find funny is a diagnostic tool that exposes the state of your heart. When a man laughs, he is expressing a deep-seated agreement with the premise of the joke. He is saying, "Yes, that is fitting. That is right."
This proverb sets before us a stark and clarifying contrast. The fool finds the machinations of wickedness to be a kind of sport, a grand jest. The man of understanding, on the other hand, finds his delight and deep satisfaction in wisdom. This is not a small disagreement over taste, like preferring one comedian over another. This is a fundamental clash of worldviews. It is a collision between two incompatible religions, each with its own liturgy of laughter. One man's punchline is another man's tragedy. One man's sport is another man's abomination. And in this difference, we find the very essence of the conflict between the kingdom of God and the kingdom of darkness.
The Text
Doing wickedness is like laughing to a fool,
And so is wisdom to a man of discernment.
(Proverbs 10:23 LSB)
The Fool's Amusement Park (v. 23a)
The first clause lays bare the fool's grotesque sense of humor.
"Doing wickedness is like laughing to a fool..." (Proverbs 10:23a)
The Hebrew word for "laughing" or "sport" here carries the idea of amusement, jest, or a game. For the fool, sin is not a grave transgression against a holy God. It is not a violation of the created order that brings ruin and death. For the fool, wickedness is a spectator sport. It is a comedy. He sits in the stands of his own rebellion and chuckles at the chaos he creates.
Who is this fool? The book of Proverbs is clear. The fool is not simply someone with a low IQ. He is a moral category, not an intellectual one. The fool is the one who "has said in his heart, 'There is no God'" (Psalm 14:1). Because he has rejected the ultimate reference point for reality, God Himself, his entire world is unhinged. He has no foundation for meaning, no basis for morality, no standard for truth. Consequently, everything becomes a joke. When you remove the author, the story becomes absurd.
So when the fool engages in wickedness, whether it is slander, sexual immorality, deceit, or oppression, he sees it as a form of entertainment. He laughs at the gullibility of the person he just lied to. He smirks at the wreckage of a reputation he destroyed with gossip. He finds the defiance of God's law to be a clever and amusing prank. Think of the nihilistic villains in our modern movies who "just want to watch the world burn." That is the heart of the fool. He finds the deconstruction of God's good order to be funny. He mocks the very idea of a moral standard, treating it as a silly restriction for the simple-minded.
This is why our culture is saturated with cynical and debased comedy. So much of what passes for humor is simply mockery of what is good, true, and beautiful. Comedians get lauded for "bravely" mocking chastity, ridiculing faith, and sneering at traditional values. This is the laughter of fools. It is the cackle of those who are sawing off the branch they are sitting on, and finding the sound of the saw to be delightful music.
The Joy of the Wise (v. 23b)
The second clause presents the glorious antithesis. The contrast is perfectly balanced and utterly profound.
"...And so is wisdom to a man of discernment." (Proverbs 10:23b LSB)
Just as the fool finds his sport in wickedness, the man of understanding finds his deep joy and satisfaction in wisdom. The word for "discernment" or "understanding" refers to someone who sees the world rightly. He sees the grain of the universe because he knows the one who made it. He has submitted to the foundational fact of reality: "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom" (Proverbs 9:10).
For this man, wisdom is not a grim duty. It is not a set of burdensome rules that suck all the fun out of life. That is the lie the fool tells himself to justify his rebellion. No, for the man of discernment, wisdom is a delight. It is a glorious symphony. He finds profound pleasure in seeing God's order reflected in his own life and in the world around him.
What does this look like? It means he finds joy in a sound argument. He delights in a marriage that faithfully images Christ and the Church. He finds satisfaction in a job done with excellence and integrity. He experiences deep gladness in seeing justice done, in speaking the truth in love, and in living at peace with his neighbors. He laughs with the kind of laughter that bubbles up from a heart that is rightly aligned with its Creator. It is the laughter of health, not the laughter of sickness.
This is the joy that the world cannot understand. The fool looks at the righteous man and sees only restriction. He cannot comprehend why someone would delight in moral boundaries. It is because the fool thinks freedom is the absence of all restraint, which is the freedom of a train to fly off the rails and crash in a ditch. The wise man understands that true freedom, and therefore true joy, is found by living within the glorious design of the manufacturer. The train finds its freedom and its very purpose on the tracks. And so the man of understanding finds his delight, his "sport," in the wisdom of God that laid the tracks of reality.
Conclusion: Whose Joke Will You Join?
This proverb forces a choice upon us. It reveals that there is no neutral ground in the realm of joy and amusement. You will either laugh with the fools at the unraveling of God's world, or you will delight with the wise in the beauty of God's wisdom. Your sense of humor is a theological statement.
The fool's laughter is temporary. It is the crackling of thorns under a pot, a loud noise that quickly burns out into nothing (Ecclesiastes 7:6). The end of that mirth is heaviness. The final punchline of the fool's joke is eternal judgment, and on that day, no one will be laughing. God, who sits in the heavens, will laugh at their calamity (Psalm 2:4, Proverbs 1:26). He gets the last laugh.
But the joy of the wise is a foretaste of an eternal feast. It is the beginning of a gladness that will only be consummated in the presence of God, where there is "fullness of joy" and "pleasures forevermore" (Psalm 16:11). This joy is found supremely in the person of Jesus Christ, who is the very wisdom of God (1 Corinthians 1:24). He is the ultimate man of discernment, who for the joy set before Him, endured the cross, despising the shame. He took the fool's wickedest joke, the crucifixion, and turned it into the centerpiece of eternal wisdom and the fountain of everlasting joy.
Therefore, we must examine our hearts. What makes you laugh? What do you find entertaining? Do you secretly or openly chuckle at sin? Do you find yourself amused by the world's mockery of righteousness? If so, you are standing in the fool's cheering section. Repent, and ask God to give you a new heart, one that delights in His law.
But if by God's grace you find your deepest satisfaction in His truth, in His ways, and in His Son, then rejoice. You have been given the mind of Christ. You have been invited to share in the deep and lasting joy of God Himself. You are learning to laugh at the right jokes, and that is a sign of true wisdom.