EXPECT A WINDAILY WORD

DAILY WORD

11/25/22

18. Samson was now very thirsty, and he cried out to the LORD, “You have accomplished this great victory by the strength of your servant. Must I now die of thirst and fall into the hands of these pagans?”

19. So God caused water to gush out of a hollow in the ground at Lehi, and Samson was revived as he drank. Then he named that place “The Spring of the One Who Cried Out,” and it is still in Lehi to this day.

20. Samson judged Israel for twenty years during the period when the Philistines dominated the land.

Judges 15: 18–20 NLT

Today’s Passage concludes the 15th Chapter of Judges and this particular episode of The Story of Sampson, and in line with the rest of the Story so far, it ends dramatically! In review, Sampson has just slaughtered his third set of Philistine men, and each time he engaged them, it got exponentially worse for them.

The first time was after the Philistines had threatened Sampson’s new wife at their wedding party to force her to solve Sampson’s riddle. He had bet the men that they couldn’t come up with the answer before the party’s conclusion, and if they lost, they each owed him 30 garments. If Sampson lost, he owed them each one. You can see where their motivation stemmed; that would have broken them all.

Sampson knew they had violated his privacy and honor when they solved the riddle, and the response was harsh. He went out and murdered 30 of the Philistine partygoer’s fellow citizens, stripped them naked, and threw their bloody garments at the feet of the violators. “Here’s your payment!” I can hear him spitting at them before he departs to quiet his raging fury.

When he returned, Sampson found that after he left, the bride’s father thought he’d gone for good and gave his wife to the best man. Sampson again took his vengeance. He knew the Philistines instigated all this violence. They disregarded God’s Authority, and their actions displayed their contempt for Sampson, His judge.

This time when he took his revenge against them, Sampson caught 300 foxes by hand, tied them in pairs by their tails, and placed a torch between them. Then he set them all loose in the Philistine’s crops destroying much of their income and food reserves.

When the Philistines came to capture Sampson after the arson, his own countrymen led him into their midst bound. They did not want to suffer for Sampson’s personal vendetta, so they gave him to their enemies to spare the Philistine’s wrath from falling upon them.

But when Sampson arrived, the Spirit of the Lord came upon him, and he burst through his restraints like wet rice paper and slaughtered at least 1000 more Philistines using only the jawbone of a recently deceased donkey.

Sampson did this all by hand in a region not known for its temperate climate. In other words, it was hot, and Sampson was thirsty after killing so many men. Now, imagine with me for a moment, if you will, what it would be like to engage in this kind of strenuous physical activity for an extended period in uncomfortable conditions.

Now, I don’t know how long it would take to kill 1000 men with the jawbone of an ass; I’ve never had the opportunity to try. But I would imagine that even if Sampson only took one second to take out one man at a time, it would take over 15 minutes.

But it’s a bit unlikely to believe Sampson only took a second a man if I’m being honest. Just positioning himself to step over the fallen bodies to engage the next man would have taken time, so let’s give him 5 seconds per man. That’s still over an hour and 20 minutes of swinging your arm over 1000 times hard enough to crush a man’s skull!

Alright, all that was just to illustrate that Sampson would have worked hard for his vengeance and given the climate and his effort on God’s behalf, he ended up being quite thirsty. In fact, when he finished, Sampson prayed to God because he was faint and thought he would die of thirst.

Considering the region, his exertion, and the number of individuals he dispatched, it is no wonder Sampson was thirsty. And that brings us to Today’s Lesson. As we look at what Sampson did and how he responded afterward, there are a few things I’d like to point out about them.

First of all, despite his defiance and self-centeredness, Sampson still recognized that God gave him the Power to do what he did. In his first statement, in Verse 18, Sampson acknowledged that God had given him the victory, so Sampson knew he was not the Source of his Strength.

Sampson has witnessed God’s Power intimately, with His Authority flowing through his digits. He should have known God would provide for him without the indictment he seemed to levy on Him. So, given the situation he was engaged in, Sampson’s prayer proved that he lacked Faith.

The whole, “I got this victory by Your Power, now will you let me die out here?” ,thing was not necessary. It displays both Sampson’s fundamental issue of Faith and mirrors our own reactions to God’s Providence and Favor in our lives.

Sometimes when God Calls us to a task, it will take supreme effort on our part to pull it off. Doing God’s Work may require literal blood, sweat, and tears to accomplish, but if He’s Called you, then He’s Qualified you for it; the effort is inconsequential.

But that does not mean it will not be difficult. It may even feel like you are on the verge of death once you’ve finished it. But let me ask you this; do you think after you’ve accomplished God’s good work, He will leave you to languish afterward? If you do, you don’t know God!

What did He do when Sampson prayed for a drink? God allowed a spring of fresh, cool, drinkable water to bubble forth from a rock near where the battle took place. God performed a miracle twice in the very same situation for the same man. And the same way He took care of Sampson, He’ll do for all of us that He’s Called!

He’s literally promised Never to Leave or Forsake us! That means NEVER! Especially not after just pulling off His Will in an uphill struggle through extreme circumstances. So, all of your worry and stress over what’s next is useless. God’s got you! The effort is just a way to measure the Glory of the crown you get to cast down at His Feet once we meet Him Face to face!

It will all be worth it in the end, so even if it hurts, even if your feel like you’ve done all you can, keep pushing. Because in the end, if we persevere, we win! That’s another Promise that cannot be broken! Stay Faithful and do the Work. When it’s all said and done, we win!

Have a Fantastic Friday and Remember, “Be Not Weary In Well Doing: For In Due Season, We Shall Reap, If We Faint Not.”

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