Dancing, Singing and Laughing; An expression of God's Pleasure

Q: Does God laugh, dance [and] sing in Heaven?

A: That is an interesting question. As far as I can tell, the Bible does not say much about God's activities in Heaven, much less if He is laughing, dancing or singing. However, He does seem to enjoy when His people do these things in praise of Him. The Bible tells us of a time when women, young men and old men will dance while praising of the Lord. "Then young women will dance and be glad, young men and old as well (Jeremiah 31:13)." The Bible tells us that there is a time to dance. "There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens ...  a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance (Ecclesiastes 3:1,4)." King David danced before the Lord. "Wearing a linen ephod, David was dancing before the Lord with all his might (2 Samuel 6:14)." After God led the Jews through the Red Sea ahead of Pharaoh's army, Miriam led the women in celebration. "Then Miriam the prophet, Aaron’s sister, took a timbrel in her hand, and all the women followed her, with timbrels and dancing (Exodus 15:20)." The Psalmist writes of how God's people assemble together to praise Him. "Let them praise his name with dancing and make music to him with timbrel and harp (Psalm 149:3)."

When it comes to laughing, the context varies. In one instance, God appears to humorously and gently deal with catching Sarah, Abraham's wife, in a lie after God tells Abraham she will have a child despite her advanced age and physical inability to have one. In Genesis 18:13-15, the Bible reads, "Then the Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Will I really have a child, now that I am old?’Is anything too hard for the Lord? I will return to you at the appointed time next year, and Sarah will have a son.” Sarah was afraid, so she lied and said, “I did not laugh.” But he said, “Yes, you did laugh.” Like a gentle father, the Lord catches Sarah in a lie, but rather than condemn her, He gently and almost humorously tells her He knows she laughed. In a totally different context, God's laughter is in the context of ridicule. "The wicked plot against the righteous and gnash their teeth at them; but the Lord laughs at the wicked, for he knows their day is coming (Psalm 37:12-13)." His laughter is done to ridicule the futile attempts of the wicked to plot against the righteous because He knows their plans will be for naught in the end. 

The Bible is full of man praising God through song. There is singing to Him for all that He has done for us. "Sing to him, sing praise to him; tell of all his wonderful acts (1 Chronicles 16:9)." Even God's creation is said to sing. "Sing for joy, you heavens, for the LORD has done this; shout aloud, you earth beneath. Burst into song, you mountains, you forests and all your trees, for the LORD has redeemed Jacob, he displays his glory in Israel (Isaiah 44:23)." The way in which Christians communicate their love for each other is referred to as singing. It talks of us "speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord (Ephesians 5:19)." Again, while the Scripture does not necessarily say God laughs, dances and sings, He certainly has no problem with the joy and praise we have for Him being expressed in these ways. 

In conclusion, we can see that God provokes songs, laughter and dancing in His children as an expression of worshiping Him because we are pleased to be His children. In a similar way, while God may not be directly said to exhibit these attributes, He does express the emotion of pleasure which could easily lead to them. To be pleased is to be satisfied. God was pleased to become a man in Christ Jesus. "For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him (Colossians 1:19)." Out of His love for us, He became one of us in order to bring us to Himself. It would stand to reason that when a person comes to faith in Jesus Christ, God is so pleased that perhaps He would sing, dance and/or laugh as an expression of His joy. After all, if "there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents (Luke 15:10),” I would not be surprised if God rejoiced right along with His angels and that rejoicing took the form of laughter, singing and dancing. May God continue to give you reasons to glorify Him through laughter, songs and dance.