GOD is ‘OUR STRENGTH’ in the midst of ‘OUR TROUBLE’!
March 17 Bible
Reading: Judges Chapters 16-18
GOD is ‘OUR STRENGTH’ in the midst of ‘OUR TROUBLE’!
Then
Samson called to the Lord, saying, "O Lord God, remember me, I pray!
Strengthen me, I pray, just this once, O God that I may with one blow take
vengeance on the Philistines for my two eyes!" And Samson took hold of the
two middle pillars which supported the temple, and he braced himself against
them, one on his right and the other on his left. Then Samson said, "Let
me die with the Philistines!" And he pushed with all his might and the
temple fell on the lords and all the people who were in it. So the dead that he
killed at his death were more than he had killed in his life. (Judges
16:28-30)
When we read
through the story of Samson, we see that God had bestowed Samson with extraordinary
strength and courage to destroy the Philistines who had occupied the land of
Israel. During his various times of confrontation with the enemy, we read that “the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon
him” (14:6, 19; 15:14) that resulted in his extraordinary feats of courage.
However, his love for women was the weak link in his life, and two out the
three women he loved betrayed his trust. Psalms 118:8 explains an important lesson that we can learn from
Samson’s life: "It is better to
trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man (or, woman)"!
Samson’s
life story is a re-enactment of how the women in his life could entice him to
spill out his secrets. His Philistine wife after being threatened with a fiery
death (14:15) wept before Samson for
seven days until he explained the riddle to her and lost his bet with the
Philistines (14:17-18). Samson should
have learned from that lesson, and should not have trusted anyone
thereafter. However, this scene is re-enacted with Delilah and "when she pestered him daily with her
words and pressed him, so that his soul was vexed to death that he told her all
his heart" (16:16-17). Samson revealed the secret of his strength to
the woman he loved and trusted, but she betrayed him for large sums of money
(16:5; 18b). She lulled him to sleep, and got a barber to shave of the seven
locks of his head. Samson lost not only his extraordinary strength, but also
lost the anointing of the Spirit of God upon his life (16:20b). What a tragedy!
To add to
his losses, Samson then lost his eyesight and his freedom as well, as the
Philistines gouged out his eyes and threw him into their prison and shackled
him with bronze fetters as he spent his remaining days grinding in prison
(16:21). However, God had not left him and his hair started growing back during
his time in the prison (16:22). To add insult to injury, the blind Samson
became the object of public ridicule as he was called upon to perform for the
Philistines in their temple of their god Dagon (16:23-25). How
much lower can a person go down in humiliation?
It is here that Samson puts his faith back in
Jehovah God, as he prays a short prayer for strength during his time of
trouble. Samson’s extraordinary faith in God at this crucial hour made such a
difference that the writer of Hebrews includes his name in the ‘honor roll of faith’ along with other
great men of faith like Gideon, Barak, Jephthah, David, Samuel and the prophets
(Hebrews 11:32). Samson killed about 3000 Philistines by bring down the roof of
the temple with his bare hands and the extraordinary strength that he regained
through his short prayer (16:27-30). Samson
had now killed more Philistines at his death than during his entire lifetime
and the twenty years that he had judged over Israel! (16:30b)
Samson’s
story further teaches us that it is never
too late for God to work in our life! If God can strengthen and use runaway
prophets like Elijah or Jonah for His work, He can strengthen us as well when
we call upon His name. If we are in trouble in any area of our lives today,
take courage and call upon God for strength like Samson. As Samson’s story indicates
to us, our God is just a prayer away from
us and He will hasten to strengthen us in the midst of our trouble when we call
upon Him in faith!
