Ps. 59.9-10 (in the wake of laughter)

O my Strength / I will watch for you;
for you, / O God / are my bulwark
My God / will come / to meet me / with his loyal-love;
God / will cause me / to look in triumph / over my foes. 

From the laughter now comes expectation. We might recall Psalm 2 in this regard. As we noted there the laughter of God was one that silenced the enemy. However, the destruction of the enemy was left to the king, in whose hand God would place a rod of iron. The point is that the laughter was the beginning; its fulfillment in destruction was set in the future. Here, something similar is seen (although without the explicit empowering of the king). The laughter begins and now comes the ‘watch’. Following in the wake of the laughter trails God, “my Strength”. As if emerging from the voice of laughter, God (now, “my bulwark”) will “come to meet me”. And, with him will be his covenantal power: his loyal-love. Notice how personal this whole event appears: “O my Strength…You, O God, are my bulwark…My God will come to meet me; God will cause me to look…”. This will not only save the king (and his people) but it will also be in answer to the king’s plea in verse 5, appealing to God’s own honor and reputation within the world. His enactment of his ‘covenant-love’ will show that he is true to his covenant partner, and this will redound to his own glory/reputation within the world. This, of course, is crucial: God’s deliverance will be both his and his people’s simultaneous vindication in the eyes of the world. In his being entirely “for the king/Israel” he is also entirely “for Himself”. In this moment, all of these strands will come together: God’s ‘seeing’ and ‘acting’ (the haitus between the two) will be unified; the king (and the people) will be delivered; God will be seen to be the God of Hosts and the God of Israel. Crucial, though: all of this begins with God’s laughter. Although the end (deliverance) can be seen as a non-competitive, simultaneous justification of God and the king/Israel to the world, it begins (as with creation itself) with God’s voice (his election, his Word).