When I Hide from the Sun the World becomes a Cold Place

Synopsis     Judges 16:15-23     7/13/2018  

Delilah manipulated Samson into divulging the reason for his extraordinary strength. Eventually, he revealed it to her.

“If I am shaved,” he said, “my strength will leave me.” He understood that his Nazirite vow to God made him special. The power came from the relationship with God.

Delilah did not care about God nor did she care about Samson. She used the information. She shaved Samson as he slept. The Philistine co-conspirators sent soldiers. Realizing Samson was powerless, the soldiers boldly seized him. They blinded him by gouging his eyes. They bound him.

The Philistines then called for a great sacrifice to their god. So, they celebrated to Dagon – a god who was no god.

The Source of Samson’s Power

The source of Samson’s power was the relationship. It wasn’t magic. The extraordinary strength came from the extraordinary relationship – Samson was a Nazirite.  A broken vow. A broken relationship. An apparent curse.

But when Samson lost His hair, it was the mature fruit of a relationship that had been relegated as less than important. He didn’t hate God. He just wanted Delilah’s affection more.

When I Hide from the Sun the World Becomes a Cold Place

I trade away my power when I look away from my God. It’s not a punishment. Although, it sometimes feels like a punishment. In fact, it sometimes feels downright vindictive.

Maybe that’s what Samson felt. In his blind and feeble march to the Philistine prison, perhaps he lamented seeking the satisfactions of enemy women, thinking that God was extracting vengeance.

But there was no mention of God’s wrath in the record. Like for me, what happened to Samson was the natural consequence of his own decision.

When I hide from the sun, the world becomes a cold place.

“They turned their backs to me, not their faces; though I taught them persistently, they would not listen or accept correction” Jer 32:33