“I will do as before and shake myself free” – Judges 16:20

Is it not pathetic how we have turned the name of our Lord Jesus into a magic wand to crack at will?

Throughout the Bible, many people have presumed on God with dire consequences. Yet, we keep on making the same mistakes every day. For those blessed with the glamorous gifts of the Spirit, the temptation is to assume personal ownership of the power to use without responsibility. Samson was such a man in the Old Testament who carelessly used his tremendous strength and suffered for it.

His morals, especially concerning the opposite sex, did not match up to the high level of his physical strength. He got himself into trouble many times, but in each of those times, he used his brute power to get out of trouble. As long as he kept the terms of his Nazirite vows (Judges 13:7; Numbers 6:1-21), God sovereignly worked through his sexual escapades to deliver Israel. But that is the folly of humans. We assume on God without considering the purpose for His patience with us.  

Sampson played a dangerous game with Delilah that placed him in the hands of the Philistines (Judges 16:4-21). What happened in this terrible episode is better expressed by King Solomon in Proverbs 21:19. No husband should underestimate a nagging wife. The strongman Samson could not withstand the power of a nagging Delilah, so he gave himself away to her. A razor on his hair would negate his strength and make him like everybody else – he told Delilah (17).

With the cat out of the bag, Delilah went for gold. She got Samson into a deep sleep in her lap and shaved his hair. He woke up to face the Philistines as usual, but his strength had left him.  

“But he did not realize the Lord had left Him” (20c). 

What a tragedy!

How presumptuous the powerful man had become! His pride had carried him beyond the limits of grace. He died as a captive in the arena of the Philistines with his eyes plucked out (21-30).   

Many gifted Christians live the same way today. They think it does not matter how they live; God must respond to their beck and call. The holiness of God does not matter as much as the power (1 Sam. 4:3-5). We, like Israel, have turned God’s grace into a license to live anyhow. But as Paul asked, “Should we keep on sinning that God can show us more and more of His wonderful grace? Of course, not” (Rm. 6:1-2)! 

We have a responsibility, brethren, to maintain the sanctity of the covenant blood of Jesus in our relationship with Him (1 Cor. 11:25). We should never forget this! Neither should we presume on God’s grace. Instead, each one of us must watch our “life and doctrine closely and persevere in them” (1 Tim. 4:16). It is for God’s glory (1 Cor. 10:31). This way, we may harvest the blessings that come with “seeking His kingdom and His righteousness” (Matt. 6:33) and avoid the pitfalls of hell in our lives.