We had two birthdays to celebrate last Sunday.

Ps 130 and Ps 131 are among my favourite psalms. They look so inconsequential: C. H. Spurgeon said of Ps 131 that it is ‘one of the shortest psalms to read, but one of the longest to learn.’ Yet, as Michael Wilcock summarises it, ‘To be careful not to rate others low and ourselves high; to recognise our limitations; to have grasped, like a child weaned from the breast, that even without what we thought we needed, we are still loved and cared for, to have a confidence in God which will be as sure tomorrow as it is today – these are lessons worth learning.’ (Michael Wilcock commentary on the Psalms Volume 2, P 240)

Our modern society places little value on humility, but the Bible is adamant that humility is the pathway to honour (see Prov 29:23). Pride (being ‘haughty’, as Ps 130 puts it) is the sin that puts ourselves in God’s place and leads us away from Him (see Luke 18:9-14). Humility is not having a low opinion of oneself or being inferior; it is recognising our position in relation to God (we are His servants; He is our Lord.) It means trusting God even when we do not understand His ways (see 2 Cor 12:8-10). That trust is outworked through the dual means of waiting and hoping. We often don’t like doing either: we live in a society that wants instant gratification and despair is so much easier to embrace than hope. But the journey from tempestuous frustration and holy defiance and despair to a place of focussed attention on who God is to a place of contented submission and confidence in God’s timing and purposes is a journey worth taking. As we learn to wait and hope in God, we find a place of quiet contentment. (1 Tim 6:6)

In exploring the theme of holy defiance, we looked at what that means in practical terms. Defiance (bold disobedience or resistance) is often seen as negative, and to defy God is a dangerous thing. However, we do need to have a holy defiance that resists the enemy’s claims and lies. We need to have:

1. a willingness to fight a spiritual battle (Eph 6:10-20, 2 Cor 10:3-6)
2. a casting aside of things which used to control us (Rom 6:11-14)
3. a righteous anger (getting angry enough to win against your enemy) (see 1 Sam 17:45-47)
4. a bravery towards the enemy (see 1 Sam 17:45-47, Dan 3:16-18)
5. a resistance to being conquered (Rom 6:1-23)

So often we follow the line of least resistance, perhaps believing in the Borg’s dictum ‘Resistance is futile.’ Nothing could be further from the truth, however.

Paul tells us, ‘No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.’ (Rom 8:37) As J. B. Phillips puts it, we are ‘knocked down but never knocked out’ (2 Cor 4, J. B. Phillips) We need to absorb the truths of these verses and see that ‘the Lord is righteous; he has cut me free from the cords of the wicked.’ (Ps 129:4)

Rend Collective explore this theme in their song ‘More Than Conquerors’:

‘We will not bow to sin or to shame.

We are defiant in Your name.

You are the fire that cannot be tamed.

You are the power in our veins:

Our Lord, our God, our Conqueror.

No surrender, no retreat:

We are free and we’re redeemed.

We will declare over despair,

“You are the hope.”’ (‘More Than Conquerors’, Rend Collective)

In our Bible study we looked at Ps 129-131, and these three psalms again give us a by-now familiar picture of trouble, hope in God and deliverance. Ps 129 has much to say about oppression, and certainly we need to face up to the fact that trouble, oppression and persecution will form part of life – there is simply no escape! (see John 16:33, 2 Tim 3:12, 1 Pet 4:12, 2 Cor 11:24-27). Yet this psalm strikes a note of holy defiance: even though there is oppression, God’s hand in deliverance is seen (Ps 129:2-4). Defiance is often perceived in a negative way as rebellion, but our submission to God will go hand in hand with our resistance to the devil’s wiles and to men’s rules if they conflict with God’s (see James 4:7-8, 1 Pet 5: 8-9, Acts 4:18-20, Acts 5:27-29).

We are not called to be defiant towards God, and Ps 130 and Ps 131 give us a picture of our right response to troubles: to wait for and hope in God. Having the same confidence as a night watchman that morning will come because that is the way God has designed the world, we learn to trust in God through adversities, just as a child that is being weaned ultimately learns contentment in its mother’s arms, despite its reluctance to embrace this new method of feeding! (Ps 131:2) Ps 130 reminds us of many facets of God’s character which we need always to remember: His faithfulness, forgiveness, mercy and unfailing love. When we are anchored in God’s character, we have confidence in His redemption, provision and protection, no matter what the enemy plans for us. (Rom 8:28)

A sense of humour and the ability to laugh (even at yourself) are essential ingredients to getting through life sane and with a sense of joy. Our prospective bridegroom (a.k.a. Super Mario) clearly has this in abundance!

John, in his gospel, shows us Jesus as fully man and fully God. He shows us Jesus weary and thirsty, weeping after a friend dies (John 11:35), troubled in spirit (John 13:21) and so on: very definitely a man, whose death is described in some detail (John 19:16-37). Yet John is also adamant that Jesus is God: the Word who was there at the beginning and who made the world (John 1:1-3), the ‘I Am’ before whom men fall in awe (John 8:58, John 18:6).

In John 4:1-42, we see a very human Jesus. He is tired, hungry and thirsty.

Yet He does not let tiredness, hunger or thirst divert Him from doing the Father’s will. I am so different. When I’m tired or hungry or thirsty, I become irritable, like a ‘bear with a sore head’, unwilling to engage in conversation, unwilling to do anything except look to these needs being met. My conversation with the woman would have gone something like this

Me: Can I have a drink, please?

Woman: How can you ask me for a drink?

Me: Duh! Because I’m a thirsty and you’ve got a bucket! [End of conversation. No evangelism, even if I ended up with a drink.]

Or:

Woman: Are you greater than our father Jacob?

Me (as Jesus): Yes, I’m the Son of God! [End of conversation. No engagement.]

I’m so glad Jesus shows us how to engage in conversation with people and also how He demonstrates His commitment to doing God’s will above His physical needs. What a challenge this is for us all. Evangelism can’t be reserved for those times when we are all ready for it! As we listen to God’s Spirit, He will lead us to people who may not seem likely candidates for evangelism… who will interrupt our preconceived ideas and plans… who will be there at times when we feel weak and inadequate. As Paul later wrote, ‘“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. ¹⁰ That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.’ (2 Cor 12:9-10) Tiredness, hunger and thirst are no barrier to reaching out to others. If living water is within us, let it flow out to others!