11/1/12. Judges 16:23-31. STRENGTHEN ME JUST ONCE MORE!-my devotional

Judges 16:18-31                                                                      Kevin Jesmer NIU UBF

Key Verse: 16:28a                                                                   11/01/12

“Then Samson prayed to the Lord, ‘Sovereign Lord, remember me. Please, God, strengthen me just once more,…”

     Dear Lord heavenly Father, thank you for placing hope and expectation in each new day. I pray for the healthcare workers’ group Bible study to be very fruitful. I pray that Jen K. may lead it very well and that her friend may come. I pray that you may bless Rob and James and Jason, Greg and Steve to all grow as disciples of Jesus Christ. May all of my kids grow as disciples of Jesus. Help all of the people on the East Coast to overcome. Lord, grant me one word of God through this daily bread. I thank you and I pray in Jesus’ name. Amen!

Part 1: Bring Samson Out To Entertain Us! (18-25a)

Verse 18-21, “¹⁸ When Delilah saw that he had told her everything, she sent word to the rulers of the Philistines, “Come back once more; he has told me everything.” So the rulers of the Philistines returned with the silver in their hands. ¹⁹ After putting him to sleep on her lap, she called for someone to shave off the seven braids of his hair, and so began to subdue him. And his strength left him. ²⁰ Then she called, “Samson, the Philistines are upon you!” He awoke from his sleep and thought, “I’ll go out as before and shake myself free.” But he did not know that the Lord had left him. ²¹ Then the Philistines seized him, gouged out his eyes and took him down to Gaza. Binding him with bronze shackles, they set him to grinding grain in the prison.”

We can see here the fruit of Samson’s spiritually reckless life. Delilah cut his hair, making him break his Nazarite vow, and the Lord left him. His strength was gone, and the Philistines easily subdued him. He was completely overcome by opposition forces. He was helpless to overcome and be set free. He was also blinded. and enslaved and forced to do the bidding of his captors. That is exactly what happens when we are reckless towards sin and the devil. We become slaves to sin. We are helpless, forced to follow the sinful desires of our hearts. We end up even doing our captor’s bidding even if we do not want to. That is why I need to be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. I must grow in my faith, engaging my faith each day and never courting sin in my heart, mind and life. This is a tall order. But with the help of Jesus I can stand by faith in the face of hurricanes of temptation. Praise the Lord.

Samson was subjected to public humiliation. Verses 22-25a, “ ²² But the hair on his head began to grow again after it had been shaved. ²³ Now the rulers of the Philistines assembled to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon their god and to celebrate, saying, “Our god has delivered Samson, our enemy, into our hands.” ²⁴ When the people saw him, they praised their god, saying, “Our god has delivered our enemy into our hands, the one who laid waste our land and multiplied our slain.” ²⁵ While they were in high spirits, they shouted, “Bring out Samson to entertain us….”  They gouged out his eyes and he became a pitiful spectacle. They treated him like a bear in a side-show. The Philistines were jubilant because the one man in Israel who was not afraid of them, the man who had made donkeys of them all, was their helpless prisoner.

These people thought that they were very smart and that they had won the battle, but little did they know that they were being set up for a crushing blow. At their Dagon temple thousands of the top Philistine people were on the roof, looking down into the court yard. They were laughing and taunting and jeering. They should not be doing this. They should not have done this to a man of God and they should not be taunting the nation, whose God is the Almighty God of all the earth. Soon their destruction would be upon them. In this nation there are many who mock God and ridicule Christians. This is not a good idea. To be certain their disrespect is affecting other areas of their lives. They need to get it together or they will be the cause of much suffering in their lives. May a healthy fear of God percolate throughout our land.

As servants of God we need to give our hearts to Jesus for safe keeping, so that we may not lose strength and become pitiful spectacles in the eyes of the word.  This is so true. We can let go of our spiritual struggle and our lives could become the pitiful spectacles. God wants us to reveal his glory. He wants us to shine like the starts. (Dan 12:3) ^“ Those who are wisewill shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever.” God does not want his people to be the reason for public ridicule. If, we are truly persecuted, fine. But it should not be because we have let our spiritual guard down and become a victim. I pray the people of God may shine like the brightness of the stars, by God’s grace and through holding onto faith. I pray that I may not be a spectacle for the world to jeer and taunt, but I may be a Christian who can shine like the brightness of the stars.

Part 2: Let Me Die With The Philistines (25b-31)

Verses 25b-31, “…So they called Samson out of the prison, and he performed for them. When they stood him among the pillars, ²⁶ Samson said to the servant who held his hand, “Put me where I can feel the pillars that support the temple, so that I may lean against them.” ²⁷ Now the temple was crowded with men and women; all the rulers of the Philistines were there, and on the roof were about three thousand men and women watching Samson perform. ²⁸ Then Samson prayed to the Lord, “Sovereign Lord, remember me. Please, God, strengthen me just once more, and let me with one blow get revenge on the Philistines for my two eyes.” ²⁹ Then Samson reached toward the two central pillars on which the temple stood. Bracing himself against them, his right hand on the one and his left hand on the other, ³⁰ Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines!” Then he pushed with all his might, and down came the temple on the rulers and all the people in it. Thus he killed many more when he died than while he lived. ³¹ Then his brothers and his father’s whole family went down to get him. They brought him back and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the tomb of Manoah his father. He had led Israel twenty years.”

Samson was blind and helpless–but as his hair began to grow, his strength gradually came back. One day, the Philistines all assembled to offer a sacrifice to Dagon their god. Samson was brought in to entertain them. He prayed with all his heart for strength and God heard his prayer. He used his last strength to push down the main support pillars of the temple of Dagon. The roof fell and the rulers and all the people in the temple died with him. He killed more of God’s enemies in his death than he had killed in his lifetime. God used him to lift the defeated spirits of his oppressed people and give them hope.

I learn here that even when I think I am at the end of my rope…even when I feel defeated and about to lay down for good…even when I think that all hope is gone and there is no more fight left in me, I can still cry to the Lord in prayer for strength and inspiration to do something for his glory. God will answer and strengthen me. God will help me to dig deep and make that final push towards victory.

Where does our strength come from? It comes from the Lord. I thank God who strengthened me one more time to overcome the obstacles in my family. God has strengthened me to overcome anger and depression and make a new start in my spiritual life. God is strengthening me one more time to live as shepherd of God’s flock. He is healing my heart and jump starting my spiritual life. I do not know what form that this healing will take in the long run, but it will be happening according to God’s plan. I want to grow in my expertise as a nurse and take various certifications. This is very hard. “Lord, strengthen me just one more time.” I want to build great relationships with my wife and my kids, “Lord, strengthen me just one more time.” I want to be a good shepherd of God’s flock. “Lord, strengthen me just one more time.” I want to be a strategist for world mission and participate in world mission. “Lord, strengthen me just one more time.” I want to prepare deep daily breads and write daily devotionals and messages. “Lord, strengthen me just one more time.” I am not without the strength to try again because my God is alive and he likes to hear the prayer, “Strengthen me just one more time.” We all can come to God with this prayer.

I also learn here that there are times when we can glorify God more through our deaths than our lives. We all want to live to 100 years old, write many books, start a hospital, plant several churches, get a PhD and then die in our sleep, peacefully with all of our family members around us, after we have given our last, deep thoughtful words. This would be nice but it may not glorify God. Jesus glorified his Father in heaven through his suffering and death at 33 years old. Samson glorified God through his suffering and death at a young age. What about the Nate Saint and his friends who died at the end of the spears of natives in Ecuador in the 1950’s. They all glorified God and inspired a new mission movement. God’s plans are usually not our plans. We need to accept God’s plans.

Prayer: Lord, you always hear desperate prayers. Help me to serve you with all my heart in life and in death.

One Word: God  hears our prayers and grants us strength.