Scripture: Eph. 2:4-10
Listen Link: https://www.lcepc.org/blogger
I chose that text in Ephesians as a way of framing the story of Samson. God is the hero in the Samson story. Samson was not. He was not even a very good man. But God used him anyway, because there was work to be done in Israel to save his people from the Philistines. God doesn’t have to use a good man to accomplish his purposes, although, he’d rather. We will always do better when we get behind him and volunteer to do his good will, the works he has prepared in advance for us to do.
So today, we’re going back into our Chronological Bible readings and talk about Samson out of the book called, Judges. I hope you’ve been keeping up with the readings and following along with the morning prayers and devotions too that I send out via email. I’d even love to meet with any of you, or a small group of you, for face to face conversation about this Bible. This is the word of God! that is supposed to transform us as we spend time with it and digest the spiritual food to be found there.
Samson had his strengths. He was a sort of a super hero, and that makes it hard for us to relate to him. Samson had strength in his body. But what he really needed was strength of character. So, let’s talk about his weaknesses. We all have those. In Samson’s case we can pick out three that can be pretty typical of the human condition. Maybe we can learn from his example and do better. Samson showed: No respect for authority, No control of his temper and No regard for consequences.
Are you one of those people who really struggles to know just what God’s will is for your life? Perhaps you’ve read the book, “the Purpose Driven Life.” You believe in God’s authority and you’ve been assured that you were definitely created for a reason, but what specifically? Wouldn’t it be nice if God would just come down and sit across from you during your quiet time one morning and say, “This is your mission, should you decide to accept it.” And then he would give you the specific details that apply to your life. Then, direction would just be so clear! You tell yourself, “If God would do that, I would respect his authority. I wouldn’t ask any questions! I would just go and do it, because I would know that I’m doing what the Lord wants me to do.”
Often, we’re told that 99% of God’s will for us is already written down in black and white, and red letters too, in his Word, the Bible. Have you ever noticed though you don’t often hear anyone tell you exactly what chapter and verse to look in to find specific directions for your life? And sometimes we go about it the wrong way.
There’s the story of the guy who tries this method of finding God’s will for him. He prays for guidance. He closes his eyes, lets his Bible fall open, points his finger to a text on the page, opens his eyes, and reads, “Judas went out and hanged himself.” He thinks, “There must be more to what God is saying to me,” so he goes through the same procedure. This time his finger fell on these words, “Go thou and do likewise." Oh no. And he thought, the third time is a charm! It wasn't. his finger landed on: "What thou doest, do quickly!"
We want to believe that if we just read God’s word, His will would be clear! You do have a regular quiet time and you do read God’s word to let it transform your mind, right? Because if you don’t at least do that, your chances of getting a clear idea of God’s specific purpose for your life are pretty slim. But perceiving God’s will takes time and persistence. There is no instant gratification. But seek and you shall find is still as true as ever. If you really respect God’s authority, then you will read the book he authored! Read prayerfully, systematically, attentively and read expectantly. God’s word has power to transform our lives! Respect his authority.
Samson didn’t. He knew God’s will for his life very specifically! And he didn’t even have to seek it to find it. You could say he had everything you and I wish that we had for our Christian walk. Even before he was conceived, God’s plan was made clear for his life. God told his mom and dad all about it! You might even say that he was born with the equivalent of a spiritual silver spoon in his mouth. There was no way he could miss God’s will for his life. He knew exactly what he was supposed to do and how he was supposed to live. But, like so many born rich in money, Samson didn’t really care about his spiritual riches. He didn’t tend to it. He wasted it and just assumed he was entitled to anything he wanted. Basically, he acted like he was spoiled.
We read about God’s will for his life in Judges 13:2-5. There is where Samson’s parents learned what Samson’s calling and purpose was to be. By reading it, we also get to see God’s will laid out for him in black and white. We know how he is supposed to behave. He and his parents have everything in these three verses that we would long to have for ourselves. Clear instructions. Easy to follow. Certainty of knowing God’s will!
We learn that Samson is to be a Nazirite all of his life. A Nazirite is defined for us in Numbers 6. We learn there that, it is any man or woman who wishes to take a special vow of separation to the Lord, for a particular time. God instructed Moses that a person who wishes to take a Nazirite vow must demonstrate a separation from normal life to holy life, by abstaining from wine or other strong drink, or anything that has to do with grapes including vinegar. He must not cut his hair. And he must stay away from anything dead, including family members. Those were the rules that Samson was to live by.
All these special rules would be outward signs to let everybody know that the person had taken the Nazarite vow to be wholly dedicated to the Lord for the duration of the vow. It represents a way that someone other than a Levite could temporarily take on the holy status of a Levite, sort of an Old Testament version of lay ministry. The angel instructed Samson’s parents that his entire life was to be dedicated to the Lord under the Nazirite rule.
God’s instructions pointed to the fact that this was going to be a very special man, purposely designed by God, with a special calling and dedication to His service. There’s something else of note about Samson. Who else in scripture has had their births and purposes announced beforehand? Do you remember Isaac? How about John the Baptist? How about Jesus Himself? Like them, Samson, was a called person. God definitely had works prepared in advance for Samson to do.
But Samson had no respect for the authority behind the call of God on his life. He kept the vows, but that’s about all he did right! One reason he was like this is because he also had no control of his temper, and so almost everything he did against the Philistines was motivated by his own personal offense and sense of vengeance. He frequently took matters into his own hands and gave himself the excuse that it was their fault because they had mistreated him. The things he did ended up serving God’s purposes anyway, but not because Samson wanted to cooperate with God’s will. Samson’s out of control temper became something that God used in spite of Samson! God is sovereign, and his will shall be done.
The lesson we can learn here it is that it is better for us to cooperate with God’s will and deliberately do what he asks of us, respectful of his authority, as his faithful servants. We should not be easily angered, because the
As we continue reading his story, and I hope that all of you have, we read of his incredible feats of strength and daring. He was a judge of Israel, and he led the people for 20 years. He killed a thousand Philistine soldiers with the jawbone of a donkey! He managed to catch three hundred foxes, hold them long enough to tie them together, in pairs, tail to tail, with lit torches so that he could burn down the enemy’s crops. He ripped a lion in half and managed to rip the gates out of a city wall and carry them out into a field. Why, he was a regular super man who wasn’t afraid of anybody or anything. And that was another big part of Samson’s problem! He had no fear of anything so he had no regard for consequences!
We can see the beginning of this character flaw in chapter 14, when he decides to get married. He wanted a Philistine woman, one of the enemy! This grieved his parents greatly. But he didn’t care about that. He was not a very well-mannered son. He didn’t respect his parents or even the Lord! We’ve already noted that. I feel sorry for Samson’s parents. We don’t really know how hard it was to try to discipline Samson. He was a strong boy with a strong will. He could probably muscle his way into getting practically anything he wanted. Here, his parents appear to us as just a formality. He seems to ask permission. But in reality, he was going to have that woman and it didn’t matter what anybody thought.
He was strong willed and arrogant. Proverbs tells us that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Here, we have a man who has no fear. He never fails. In his own eyes, he always prevails. Thus, he never becomes wise, or respectful of God, or sensitive to the needs of the people around him. We see here a man who lives a very selfish, self-centered life who uses his gifts only for himself and his own pleasure and not to deliver the nation of Israel out of oppression. Any deliverance from the Philistines sort of happens as a by product of Samson’s arrogance and bad temper.
I suppose that you might be tempted to think that he failed at his wedding celebration. There, his companions, through conniving, were able to find out the answer to his riddle, “Out of the eater, something to eat; out of the strong, something sweet.” He, of course, was referring to some honey that he had scooped out of a bee’s nest that had been established in the carcass of the lion that he had torn up. It was a dead thing he was not supposed to touch. He broke one of his vows there.
No one could have guessed that, but his companions worked on his bride and she in turn worked on Samson, who gave her the answer, which she promptly shared. In turn, he was supposed to give each of them a new set of clothes. But this was not a failure. Not the way Samson looked at it. He didn’t personally pay for his foolishness. He just went to another town, killed thirty Philistines, took their clothes and paid the debt. Win-win for Samson! Nice guy, eh?
Instead of recognizing how fortunate he was to know his mission in life, we constantly see Samson pushing the envelope. “How far can I go to almost break my vows and still be blessed by the Lord?” He had no regard for consequences. We can see this best in the final chapter of Samson’s life. He wasn’t interested in being a mighty warrior for the lord. He just wanted to push the edges of the envelope as far as he could.
Well, Satan knew how to get to Samson. He had a weakness for a good-looking woman. Enter Delilah. Now, we’re told that Samson loved Delilah, but evidently, Delilah loved money, so, the trap is set for Samson. He should have been suspicious of her as soon as Delilah batted her eyes and asked the question, “So tell me big boy, what’s the secret of your strength?” Remember that Samson is not wise, he has no fear of anything, especially not this woman. Instead of fleeing temptation, he decided to play with it. He knew that bow strings would be no match for him. But he played along. She ties him up, the Philistines attack, Samson triumphs, as he knew he would, and has fun making fools of everybody but himself.
He plays the game again, only the next time with new ropes. Samson is having fun making fools of his enemies. Why not throw caution to the wind?
“Why not, my hair? After all, I’m not telling her to cut it, just play with it a bit.” He’s getting closer and closer to the center now of defying God’s command for his life. “Will God let me get away with it again? He didn’t say anything about the lion.” Notice that at any of these times that Delilah nagged him for the secret, Samson could have left. He should have walked away. Instead, he was having fun being invincible. This was not what God had called him to do, to squander his gifts in the lap of a beautiful woman while his people were suffering under the oppression of the Philistines! But, Samson wasn’t suffering! Samson wasn’t afraid. So, Samson continued to play and grow only in folly.
Now Delilah began to really turn up the heat. It says that Samson was tired to death of her nagging, but now we get down to a choice. Instead of walking away, he chose to tell all. Maybe he assumed that God couldn’t leave him. After all, wasn’t he blessed and chosen, ordained for a purpose? Maybe he believed that God wouldn’t really leave him no matter what he did. After all, it was true that he had never had his hair cut. But how could his hair really have anything to do with all those big muscles? Maybe it wasn’t true that God would leave him. He never had before. Maybe he could even beat God. There is an indication in this that, contrary to our text in Ephesians, Samson would have boasted about his own great strength, as if it was his very own and not a gift of grace from God. So, Samson took the challenge. Delilah cut his hair and God’s strength left him.
What’s really sad about Samson is that, when he woke up, he didn’t even realize that God was not with him anymore. He had probably not noticed God’s presence for a long time, if ever, so he felt nothing different. He probably believed that he was a power unto himself. It was him, not God in him, that tied the foxes together. It was him, not God in him that killed a thousand men with a jawbone. Who needs God when you can do so much and be a god unto yourself? But, God had left, along with the mighty strength and big Samson had a mighty fall that day.
He went to prison as a blind man. But he was blind already. He never saw it coming. It’s such a tragedy that he teased her with the secret of his strength and he ignored the fact that she sought to betray him every time! Talk about blind love! So, it was sort of appropriate that he was literally blinded when they caught him. In prison, Samson finally had time to think. This probably wasn’t God’s original plan for Samson’s life, but this is what Samson had made of it. Now, in his humility and failure, finally, he is growing in wisdom.
Meanwhile his enemy is taunting him and blaspheming the real God of the universe. Because of Samson’s pride and game playing and foolishness, what god ends up being praised? Not the Holy one of Israel. No! The Philistines, who have finally captured and enslaved Samson, believe that their false god, Dagon, was the powerful one.
This should cause us to stop and think about some of the possible consequences of our own actions that are observed by those around us. Does God get the glory for what we do, or do we, or does something else? Matthew 5:14-16 says that we are the light of the world and we should let our light so shine that God will get the glory! But, is he glorified by what we do? Let us boast only of our weaknesses, so the Lord is glorified!
Now, finally, this special man prays to God. Don’t we all, when we’ve hit rock bottom? And to be fair, Samson did pray one other time. It was back in chapter 15 when he had finished killing those thousand men with the donkey’s jawbone. “He cried out, “You’ve given your servant this great victory. Must I now die of thirst and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?” I guess that all that killing was hard work, but all he’s focused on is himself and getting his needs met.
Now, finally, he prays a prayer that demonstrates that he is finally learning a little about who God is and who he is with respect to God. Suffering and failure have taught their lessons well. Samson is finally listening. So, he prays, “O sovereign Lord, remember me.” Note that isn’t a question. It is a statement of fact. Our Lord never forgets His own. Samson goes on. “O God, please strengthen me just once more and let me with one blow get revenge on the Philistines for my two eyes.” Well, the prayer ends sounding still be a bit self-centered, but it’s a lot better than, “Hey! Give me something to drink!”
At least he is finally acknowledging from whom his strength has come and who is in charge. What a shame that he only comes to really know this at the end of his life. What a waste. How much giftedness was squandered on foolishness and selfish living instead of leading the people to a great victory for God. That’s how life usually goes for people who have No respect for authority, no control of temper and no regard for consequences.
However, what about us? Let’s respect God’s authority and entertain a brief review of his will for our lives. Follow with along w9ith me as I read these verses from God’ word.
“God has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly, and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” Micah 6:8
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind” and “love your neighbor as yourself.” Luke 10:27
This is what the Lord almighty says: “Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another. Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the alien or the poor. In your hearts do not think evil of each other.” Zechariah 7:9-10
“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.” Philippians 2:3-4
“Live in peace with each other. Warn those who are idle, encourage the timid, help the weak, be patient with everyone. Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always try to be kind to each other and to everyone else. Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” 1 Thessalonians 5:14-18
“Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” Matthew 28:19-20
You knew all that didn’t you? You probably didn’t learn anything new in those verses. But do you live by that will of God, and to what extent do we make ourselves loving sacrifices to the cause of Christ?
We are such a blessed people. We have been given so much. You are more blessed than you realize. We are strong. We are healthy and wealthy by worldwide standards. But, how many of us excuse ourselves from serving the Lord by saying that we don’t know what to do? We’re waiting for God to give us an actual job to do. When we think about what God’s will is for our lives, maybe we’re thinking of it too much in terms of what job, where to live, what our particular mission should be. God is more interested in your attitude toward what you have already been told to do and how readily you will obey that. God may bless you by naming a job for you to do, but what about the rest? Isn’t that part of God’s will just as important? I hope you are not squandering God’s grace as Samson did.
Let’s be sure that bad temper never gets control of us to lead us into misdeeds. Let us be mindful of the consequences of our behavior and seek to be fully cooperative with God’s authoritative will. And finally let us boast only in what God has done for us, much more than what we do for him.
As we prepare to receive the Lord’s Supper, let us receive it as the gift of grace it is. There is strength here. This remembrance of God’s vow to rescue us and cleanse us from sin is what makes us holy and fit to serve him. There is life here. This gift of God’s grace is what makes it possible for us to do anything for God, because, until we are people born again by faith in what Christ has done for us on the cross, nothing we claim to have done for God counts for anything! But the works of faith, done in the power of the Spirit, can bear much fruit for the Kingdom, to God’s glory and our joy! But come. Don’t let past failures or sins keep you from coming back to God for more forgiveness and grace to repent and live by faith. Amen.
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I chose that text in Ephesians as a way of framing the story of Samson. God is the hero in the Samson story. Samson was not. He was not even a very good man. But God used him anyway, because there was work to be done in Israel to save his people from the Philistines. God doesn’t have to use a good man to accomplish his purposes, although, he’d rather. We will always do better when we get behind him and volunteer to do his good will, the works he has prepared in advance for us to do.
So today, we’re going back into our Chronological Bible readings and talk about Samson out of the book called, Judges. I hope you’ve been keeping up with the readings and following along with the morning prayers and devotions too that I send out via email. I’d even love to meet with any of you, or a small group of you, for face to face conversation about this Bible. This is the word of God! that is supposed to transform us as we spend time with it and digest the spiritual food to be found there.
Samson had his strengths. He was a sort of a super hero, and that makes it hard for us to relate to him. Samson had strength in his body. But what he really needed was strength of character. So, let’s talk about his weaknesses. We all have those. In Samson’s case we can pick out three that can be pretty typical of the human condition. Maybe we can learn from his example and do better. Samson showed: No respect for authority, No control of his temper and No regard for consequences.
Are you one of those people who really struggles to know just what God’s will is for your life? Perhaps you’ve read the book, “the Purpose Driven Life.” You believe in God’s authority and you’ve been assured that you were definitely created for a reason, but what specifically? Wouldn’t it be nice if God would just come down and sit across from you during your quiet time one morning and say, “This is your mission, should you decide to accept it.” And then he would give you the specific details that apply to your life. Then, direction would just be so clear! You tell yourself, “If God would do that, I would respect his authority. I wouldn’t ask any questions! I would just go and do it, because I would know that I’m doing what the Lord wants me to do.”
Often, we’re told that 99% of God’s will for us is already written down in black and white, and red letters too, in his Word, the Bible. Have you ever noticed though you don’t often hear anyone tell you exactly what chapter and verse to look in to find specific directions for your life? And sometimes we go about it the wrong way.
There’s the story of the guy who tries this method of finding God’s will for him. He prays for guidance. He closes his eyes, lets his Bible fall open, points his finger to a text on the page, opens his eyes, and reads, “Judas went out and hanged himself.” He thinks, “There must be more to what God is saying to me,” so he goes through the same procedure. This time his finger fell on these words, “Go thou and do likewise." Oh no. And he thought, the third time is a charm! It wasn't. his finger landed on: "What thou doest, do quickly!"
We want to believe that if we just read God’s word, His will would be clear! You do have a regular quiet time and you do read God’s word to let it transform your mind, right? Because if you don’t at least do that, your chances of getting a clear idea of God’s specific purpose for your life are pretty slim. But perceiving God’s will takes time and persistence. There is no instant gratification. But seek and you shall find is still as true as ever. If you really respect God’s authority, then you will read the book he authored! Read prayerfully, systematically, attentively and read expectantly. God’s word has power to transform our lives! Respect his authority.
Samson didn’t. He knew God’s will for his life very specifically! And he didn’t even have to seek it to find it. You could say he had everything you and I wish that we had for our Christian walk. Even before he was conceived, God’s plan was made clear for his life. God told his mom and dad all about it! You might even say that he was born with the equivalent of a spiritual silver spoon in his mouth. There was no way he could miss God’s will for his life. He knew exactly what he was supposed to do and how he was supposed to live. But, like so many born rich in money, Samson didn’t really care about his spiritual riches. He didn’t tend to it. He wasted it and just assumed he was entitled to anything he wanted. Basically, he acted like he was spoiled.
We read about God’s will for his life in Judges 13:2-5. There is where Samson’s parents learned what Samson’s calling and purpose was to be. By reading it, we also get to see God’s will laid out for him in black and white. We know how he is supposed to behave. He and his parents have everything in these three verses that we would long to have for ourselves. Clear instructions. Easy to follow. Certainty of knowing God’s will!
We learn that Samson is to be a Nazirite all of his life. A Nazirite is defined for us in Numbers 6. We learn there that, it is any man or woman who wishes to take a special vow of separation to the Lord, for a particular time. God instructed Moses that a person who wishes to take a Nazirite vow must demonstrate a separation from normal life to holy life, by abstaining from wine or other strong drink, or anything that has to do with grapes including vinegar. He must not cut his hair. And he must stay away from anything dead, including family members. Those were the rules that Samson was to live by.
All these special rules would be outward signs to let everybody know that the person had taken the Nazarite vow to be wholly dedicated to the Lord for the duration of the vow. It represents a way that someone other than a Levite could temporarily take on the holy status of a Levite, sort of an Old Testament version of lay ministry. The angel instructed Samson’s parents that his entire life was to be dedicated to the Lord under the Nazirite rule.
God’s instructions pointed to the fact that this was going to be a very special man, purposely designed by God, with a special calling and dedication to His service. There’s something else of note about Samson. Who else in scripture has had their births and purposes announced beforehand? Do you remember Isaac? How about John the Baptist? How about Jesus Himself? Like them, Samson, was a called person. God definitely had works prepared in advance for Samson to do.
But Samson had no respect for the authority behind the call of God on his life. He kept the vows, but that’s about all he did right! One reason he was like this is because he also had no control of his temper, and so almost everything he did against the Philistines was motivated by his own personal offense and sense of vengeance. He frequently took matters into his own hands and gave himself the excuse that it was their fault because they had mistreated him. The things he did ended up serving God’s purposes anyway, but not because Samson wanted to cooperate with God’s will. Samson’s out of control temper became something that God used in spite of Samson! God is sovereign, and his will shall be done.
The lesson we can learn here it is that it is better for us to cooperate with God’s will and deliberately do what he asks of us, respectful of his authority, as his faithful servants. We should not be easily angered, because the
As we continue reading his story, and I hope that all of you have, we read of his incredible feats of strength and daring. He was a judge of Israel, and he led the people for 20 years. He killed a thousand Philistine soldiers with the jawbone of a donkey! He managed to catch three hundred foxes, hold them long enough to tie them together, in pairs, tail to tail, with lit torches so that he could burn down the enemy’s crops. He ripped a lion in half and managed to rip the gates out of a city wall and carry them out into a field. Why, he was a regular super man who wasn’t afraid of anybody or anything. And that was another big part of Samson’s problem! He had no fear of anything so he had no regard for consequences!
We can see the beginning of this character flaw in chapter 14, when he decides to get married. He wanted a Philistine woman, one of the enemy! This grieved his parents greatly. But he didn’t care about that. He was not a very well-mannered son. He didn’t respect his parents or even the Lord! We’ve already noted that. I feel sorry for Samson’s parents. We don’t really know how hard it was to try to discipline Samson. He was a strong boy with a strong will. He could probably muscle his way into getting practically anything he wanted. Here, his parents appear to us as just a formality. He seems to ask permission. But in reality, he was going to have that woman and it didn’t matter what anybody thought.
He was strong willed and arrogant. Proverbs tells us that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Here, we have a man who has no fear. He never fails. In his own eyes, he always prevails. Thus, he never becomes wise, or respectful of God, or sensitive to the needs of the people around him. We see here a man who lives a very selfish, self-centered life who uses his gifts only for himself and his own pleasure and not to deliver the nation of Israel out of oppression. Any deliverance from the Philistines sort of happens as a by product of Samson’s arrogance and bad temper.
I suppose that you might be tempted to think that he failed at his wedding celebration. There, his companions, through conniving, were able to find out the answer to his riddle, “Out of the eater, something to eat; out of the strong, something sweet.” He, of course, was referring to some honey that he had scooped out of a bee’s nest that had been established in the carcass of the lion that he had torn up. It was a dead thing he was not supposed to touch. He broke one of his vows there.
No one could have guessed that, but his companions worked on his bride and she in turn worked on Samson, who gave her the answer, which she promptly shared. In turn, he was supposed to give each of them a new set of clothes. But this was not a failure. Not the way Samson looked at it. He didn’t personally pay for his foolishness. He just went to another town, killed thirty Philistines, took their clothes and paid the debt. Win-win for Samson! Nice guy, eh?
Instead of recognizing how fortunate he was to know his mission in life, we constantly see Samson pushing the envelope. “How far can I go to almost break my vows and still be blessed by the Lord?” He had no regard for consequences. We can see this best in the final chapter of Samson’s life. He wasn’t interested in being a mighty warrior for the lord. He just wanted to push the edges of the envelope as far as he could.
Well, Satan knew how to get to Samson. He had a weakness for a good-looking woman. Enter Delilah. Now, we’re told that Samson loved Delilah, but evidently, Delilah loved money, so, the trap is set for Samson. He should have been suspicious of her as soon as Delilah batted her eyes and asked the question, “So tell me big boy, what’s the secret of your strength?” Remember that Samson is not wise, he has no fear of anything, especially not this woman. Instead of fleeing temptation, he decided to play with it. He knew that bow strings would be no match for him. But he played along. She ties him up, the Philistines attack, Samson triumphs, as he knew he would, and has fun making fools of everybody but himself.
He plays the game again, only the next time with new ropes. Samson is having fun making fools of his enemies. Why not throw caution to the wind?
“Why not, my hair? After all, I’m not telling her to cut it, just play with it a bit.” He’s getting closer and closer to the center now of defying God’s command for his life. “Will God let me get away with it again? He didn’t say anything about the lion.” Notice that at any of these times that Delilah nagged him for the secret, Samson could have left. He should have walked away. Instead, he was having fun being invincible. This was not what God had called him to do, to squander his gifts in the lap of a beautiful woman while his people were suffering under the oppression of the Philistines! But, Samson wasn’t suffering! Samson wasn’t afraid. So, Samson continued to play and grow only in folly.
Now Delilah began to really turn up the heat. It says that Samson was tired to death of her nagging, but now we get down to a choice. Instead of walking away, he chose to tell all. Maybe he assumed that God couldn’t leave him. After all, wasn’t he blessed and chosen, ordained for a purpose? Maybe he believed that God wouldn’t really leave him no matter what he did. After all, it was true that he had never had his hair cut. But how could his hair really have anything to do with all those big muscles? Maybe it wasn’t true that God would leave him. He never had before. Maybe he could even beat God. There is an indication in this that, contrary to our text in Ephesians, Samson would have boasted about his own great strength, as if it was his very own and not a gift of grace from God. So, Samson took the challenge. Delilah cut his hair and God’s strength left him.
What’s really sad about Samson is that, when he woke up, he didn’t even realize that God was not with him anymore. He had probably not noticed God’s presence for a long time, if ever, so he felt nothing different. He probably believed that he was a power unto himself. It was him, not God in him, that tied the foxes together. It was him, not God in him that killed a thousand men with a jawbone. Who needs God when you can do so much and be a god unto yourself? But, God had left, along with the mighty strength and big Samson had a mighty fall that day.
He went to prison as a blind man. But he was blind already. He never saw it coming. It’s such a tragedy that he teased her with the secret of his strength and he ignored the fact that she sought to betray him every time! Talk about blind love! So, it was sort of appropriate that he was literally blinded when they caught him. In prison, Samson finally had time to think. This probably wasn’t God’s original plan for Samson’s life, but this is what Samson had made of it. Now, in his humility and failure, finally, he is growing in wisdom.
Meanwhile his enemy is taunting him and blaspheming the real God of the universe. Because of Samson’s pride and game playing and foolishness, what god ends up being praised? Not the Holy one of Israel. No! The Philistines, who have finally captured and enslaved Samson, believe that their false god, Dagon, was the powerful one.
This should cause us to stop and think about some of the possible consequences of our own actions that are observed by those around us. Does God get the glory for what we do, or do we, or does something else? Matthew 5:14-16 says that we are the light of the world and we should let our light so shine that God will get the glory! But, is he glorified by what we do? Let us boast only of our weaknesses, so the Lord is glorified!
Now, finally, this special man prays to God. Don’t we all, when we’ve hit rock bottom? And to be fair, Samson did pray one other time. It was back in chapter 15 when he had finished killing those thousand men with the donkey’s jawbone. “He cried out, “You’ve given your servant this great victory. Must I now die of thirst and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?” I guess that all that killing was hard work, but all he’s focused on is himself and getting his needs met.
Now, finally, he prays a prayer that demonstrates that he is finally learning a little about who God is and who he is with respect to God. Suffering and failure have taught their lessons well. Samson is finally listening. So, he prays, “O sovereign Lord, remember me.” Note that isn’t a question. It is a statement of fact. Our Lord never forgets His own. Samson goes on. “O God, please strengthen me just once more and let me with one blow get revenge on the Philistines for my two eyes.” Well, the prayer ends sounding still be a bit self-centered, but it’s a lot better than, “Hey! Give me something to drink!”
At least he is finally acknowledging from whom his strength has come and who is in charge. What a shame that he only comes to really know this at the end of his life. What a waste. How much giftedness was squandered on foolishness and selfish living instead of leading the people to a great victory for God. That’s how life usually goes for people who have No respect for authority, no control of temper and no regard for consequences.
However, what about us? Let’s respect God’s authority and entertain a brief review of his will for our lives. Follow with along w9ith me as I read these verses from God’ word.
“God has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly, and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” Micah 6:8
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind” and “love your neighbor as yourself.” Luke 10:27
This is what the Lord almighty says: “Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another. Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the alien or the poor. In your hearts do not think evil of each other.” Zechariah 7:9-10
“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.” Philippians 2:3-4
“Live in peace with each other. Warn those who are idle, encourage the timid, help the weak, be patient with everyone. Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always try to be kind to each other and to everyone else. Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” 1 Thessalonians 5:14-18
“Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” Matthew 28:19-20
You knew all that didn’t you? You probably didn’t learn anything new in those verses. But do you live by that will of God, and to what extent do we make ourselves loving sacrifices to the cause of Christ?
We are such a blessed people. We have been given so much. You are more blessed than you realize. We are strong. We are healthy and wealthy by worldwide standards. But, how many of us excuse ourselves from serving the Lord by saying that we don’t know what to do? We’re waiting for God to give us an actual job to do. When we think about what God’s will is for our lives, maybe we’re thinking of it too much in terms of what job, where to live, what our particular mission should be. God is more interested in your attitude toward what you have already been told to do and how readily you will obey that. God may bless you by naming a job for you to do, but what about the rest? Isn’t that part of God’s will just as important? I hope you are not squandering God’s grace as Samson did.
Let’s be sure that bad temper never gets control of us to lead us into misdeeds. Let us be mindful of the consequences of our behavior and seek to be fully cooperative with God’s authoritative will. And finally let us boast only in what God has done for us, much more than what we do for him.
As we prepare to receive the Lord’s Supper, let us receive it as the gift of grace it is. There is strength here. This remembrance of God’s vow to rescue us and cleanse us from sin is what makes us holy and fit to serve him. There is life here. This gift of God’s grace is what makes it possible for us to do anything for God, because, until we are people born again by faith in what Christ has done for us on the cross, nothing we claim to have done for God counts for anything! But the works of faith, done in the power of the Spirit, can bear much fruit for the Kingdom, to God’s glory and our joy! But come. Don’t let past failures or sins keep you from coming back to God for more forgiveness and grace to repent and live by faith. Amen.
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