Today’s Scripture Reading

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.”JUDGES 16:28

Today’s Devotional Reading

Superman’s Flaws: A Cautionary Tale Starring Samson

The strongest man of his generation never lived up to his proise.

Samson, the strongest man of his generation, was tragically unable to control his lust. When he saw an attractive woman, he wanted her. He first fell for a young woman he saw in a Philistine village just across the valley from his home. His parents tried to dissuade him, since her religion and culture were unacceptable, but he would not listen. Desire was his only rule. The marriage ended in a matter of days and resulted in dozens of deaths.

The famous Delilah was at least the third woman who dallied with Samson, according to Judges. She, like his first love, was a Philistine living near his home. Where thousands of men had failed to overcome Samson, a wheedling woman succeeded. Thanks to her, he was captured, blinded and set to work pushing a grinding machine. His final triumph was ironically fitting: Blind and bound, brought out like a freak for a hooting crowd’s amusement, he destroyed himself while wreaking vengeance on the crowd. At his death, as throughout his life, it was hard to say who suffered most from Samson’s hot temper: the Philistines or Samson.

Needed: A Leader

When you think of what God meant Samson to be, his life appears particularly tragic. Israel desperately needed a strong, confident leader, for the Philistines were moving in as masters, and many Israelites were willing to let them. God intended Samson for great things. Of all the judges, only Samson was announced by an angel before he was born (13:3). He was assigned to that special class of people known as Nazirites (described in Numbers 6), whose lives were specially devoted to God. Nazirites never drank wine, went near a dead body or cut their hair.

Samson never lived up to his promise. Rule 3 was probably the only part of the Nazirite vow he kept—it required little self-discipline to let his hair grow.

Despite all of Samson’s weaknesses, God used him. He is mentioned in the Bible “Hall of Fame” (see Hebrews 11:32) as a hero of faith along with Gideon, Barak and Jephthah, all from Judges. Barely conscious of what it meant to live for God, and given to fits of lust and temper, Samson still had great physical strength, which came supernaturally from God. With it, he pushed back the Philistines—more by accident than by intention—and kept Israel intact.

Samson seems like a train whose engineer has fallen out of the cab, an oversized accident smashing into everything it meets. But for God, there are no accidents. He used the tragedy of Samson’s life for good.

Life Questions

* Which might best be said of you: “Oh, what he/she might have been!” or “He/she made the best of his/her abilities”?

* In what areas of your life are you living up to your potential?

* In what areas are you falling short?

Today’s devotional reading is pulled from: NIV Student Bible