With such nagging she prodded him day after day until he was sick to death of it. (Judges 16:16)
Samson's story is a tragic comedy. Here is a so-called man of God, one set apart at his birth by his parents for the service of God who nonetheless blithely sleeps with prostitutes and takes a Philistine mistress. Samson, it could also be said, was not the sharpest tool in the shed. Time after time Delilah transparently seeks the secret of his strength and every time Samson toys with her. He is in arrogant man used to getting his own way. You read his story and want to shout at him, 'Don't be so dumb!'
Sin is like that. It is the nature of sin that it deceives us into thinking we can get away with it. Men (and women) get caught in habits and patterns of sin that make the abnormal, 'normal'. It was normal for Samson to sleep around and normal to get his own way. But the trouble with getting your own way is that you reap your won 'rewards'. The rewards of Samson's arrogant sinfulness was capture, torture and humiliation. That is tragic enough.
At the end of hos story, Samson reveals the true nature of his heart and God also his. Samson has been dishonoured and humiliated. He is a trophy of war and an object of derision. True to his nature, and when he senses an opportunity, he cries out to God for the opporunity for revenge (v.28). He cries out to God for his own honor, not God's. Even at the end it is all about Samson. Even though Samson was set apart by his parents for God's service, Samson chose too often in his life to live for his own glory, not God's. At best, Samson has a divided heart. But Samson cries out and God responds, granting Samson one last burst of divine energy. Samson is delivered from his dishonor, but more importantly, Israel is delivered from its enemy. Israel is unfaithful and even its Judges waver. But God is always faithful. God has a faithful and trustworthy heart.
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