The book of Judges is one of my favorite books; there are so many awesome accounts of the past – battles, great acts of faith, lessons from God. One of the most memorable characters from Judges is Samson. Let’s look at just a few verses from his life and learn from them.

Samson was a real man who once lived. He was endowed with great strength from God if only he would do one thing: not cut his hair. We read this in Judges 13:5. God says,

"For, lo, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and no razor shall come on his head: for the child shall be a Nazarite unto God from the womb: and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines."

Samson runs into trouble later in life when he begins to have relations with a Philistine woman, Delilah. Delilah was bribed by the Philistines to find out the secret to Samson’s power. This is explained in Judges 16:5,

"And the lords of the Philistines came up unto her, and said unto her, Entice him, and see wherein his great strength lieth, and by what means we may prevail against him, that we may bind him to afflict him; and we will give thee every one of us eleven hundred pieces of silver."

So Delilah begins to try and find out how Samson is so strong. Reading a few verses later we see that Samson gives in to her,

"And it came to pass, when she pressed him daily with her words, and urged him, so that his soul was vexed unto death. That he told her all his heart, and said unto her, There hath not come a razor upon mine head; for I have been a Nazarite unto God from my mother's womb: if I be shaven, then my strength will go from me, and I shall become weak, and be like any other man." [Judges 16:16-17]

After this, Delilah calls the Philistines and puts Samson to bed. Notice what Delilah does to Samson,

"and she made him sleep upon her knees" [Judges 16:19]

Giving into sin always gives us false comfort. Delilah here can represent sin. She is tempting and tempting Samson, and Samson resists a few times. But after a while, Samson can take it no longer – the temptation from Delilah vexes him to the point of death. And we see that after Samson gives in to the temptation, Delilah makes Samson to sleep upon her knees. After we give into sin, there is comfort, there is relief. But it is false comfort, false relief, because we know that when Samson wakes up his strength is gone: The LORD was gone from him.

"And he awoke out of his sleep, and said, I will go out as at other times before, and shake myself. And he wist not that the LORD was departed from him." [Judges 16:20]

CONCLUSION

When we give in to temptation, there is false comfort and it results in the loss of spiritual strength. When we give into sin, we lose spiritual strength. Don’t give into temptation; call upon Jesus Christ, “For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to rescue them that are tempted.” [Heb 2:18]

Another important thing to notice is that after Samson fails and loses strength (and sight!), God doesn’t leave him for good. Samson’s strength begins to come back:

"Howbeit the hair of his head began to grow again after he was shaven." [Judges 16:22]

If you have fallen, The LORD has not left you! Your hair is growing back as it were. You will regain strength. “For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again.”