Judges 16

There is a lot in this chapter. Obviously, the story of Samson and Delilah is here. This is one of the saddest stories in the Bible. Samson is walking where he does not belong. He finds out the plight of Delilah, nevertheless, he is such a slave to sin that he allows himself to stay in this place of sin. What a sad testimony! In the end, Samson is brutally tortured. He is first tormented by the woman who betrays him. He is then taken by the Philistines and his eyes are gauged out. Finally, he is made a spectacle in front of his enemies. He then dies with the Philistines. Despite all this, we find his name mentioned in Hebrews 11, the hall of faith, "And what more shall I say? For the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and Barak and Samson and Jephthah; also David, and Samuel and the prophets," (Hebrews 11:32).


Rather than dwell on the obvious faults of Samson, let us focus on the good. Samson was born to be separated to the Lord. He obeyed this commandment partially. He never cut his hair in his entire life. He kept it long because he knew that his strength was not his to brag about. Consequently, we never find Samson bragging about his strength. We do find him bragging about his wits in chapter 15. We find him being a very resourceful individual as he found honey from a lion (who knows how he thought that one up), yanked a gate from a city, and tied together the tails of 300 foxes. Nevertheless, we never find him bragging about his strength because he knew it came from the Lord. This is something to remember. Do not brag about what the Lord gives you. What has h given you? Some of you are blessed with amazing skills in music. Some in sports. Others in dancing, drama, and art. Others are gifted in intelligence. Remember, whatever we have the Lord gave us, therefore, do not brag but give glory to God.

Another positive about Samson was that he knew he was judge of Israel. I honestly believe that we never find him with an Israeli woman because he never wanted to compromise the purity of his own people. Unfortunately, he was willing to live the life of sin himself. I have heard numerous stories of church leadership that preached against all these evil things, yet in secret was a slave to those same sins. Gang, pray for your church leadership. Pray for me. Pray for Tommy, Noel, and Mr. O'Keefe. Pray for your parents. We are all human, and all capable of sin when we are not following the Lord. When I here these stories it always grieves me. No doubt these men and women knew what was right. They would have never taught his or encouraged it, but they were a slave to it. Praise the Lord that God is gracious and forgiving! That, though their sins have found them out, God's grace has conquered those sins.

Finally,
through Samson's life we learn the power of repentance. He trusted that the Lord could give him the strength at any time. He knew God could empower him again. Here he was, made a clown for all to see, though he himself could see none. Imagine the time he had to think over his life! He prays for the Lord, he shoves the pillars, and down goes all the Philistines. Judges tells us that 3000 Philistines were on the roof of this thing. Many more were below it! Samson had faith in his God at the end of his life. Whatever you have to regret today, praise God God is faithful even when we are not. Praise Jesus for grace. It continually pours down on us and that is why we are going up to Him!