A WARRIOR’S WEAKNESS
Harmony M.B.C. January 14, 2007 (Morning)
Robert P. Myers
Judges 16:4-21
The story of Samson is a well known one for those who attend Sunday School. Our kids learn
about Samson and his strength in lesson that we teach and we talk about Samson throughout our
lives when we discuss bible history. It is noteworthy that it is the mighty strength of Samson
that is most remembered with the deception and scheming of Delilah running a close second.
But along with the story of Samson and his strength and Delilah and here trickery there is a
valuable lesson for the people of God related to the damage and disappointment associated with
temptation and snares.
Our bible text tells us in v.4 that Samson loved a woman whose name was Delilah, probably a
Philistine woman. The Hebrew name for her in the bible means “languishing” which suggests
that holy writ does not tell us her given name but ascribes a name for her which fits her role in
the life of Samson; she caused Samson to languish, or waste away, in the land and prison of the
Philistines. Samson’s love for this woman is the first warning in the Word of the impending bad
beginning of an episode in his life. As we are able to tell from Chapter 14 though, (Samson
lusts after a Philistine woman of Timnath and asks his dad to get her for his wife) it seems that
Samson is on a road of bad choices. Bad choices in the lives of believers are recipes for grief.
We can truly say that all bad episodes in our lives have been caused by unwise choices we have
made which took us outside the will of God.
We want to see the account of Samson and Delilah for what it can spiritually be. That is a
lesson to us on the effects and outcome of temptation in the life of a believer. We want to use
Samson as a type of believer, Delilah and her deception as a type of temptation, and the account
of what befell Samson as a type of the effects and outcome of temptation in our lives. May God
help us to see this for a lesson to ourselves.
I. Read vv.6-7: Attempting to Spar or Toy With Temptation Puts The Believer In
Jeopardy
• We are confronted with temptations which present themselves in unique ways peculiar to our
selves every day
- An excellent type of effective temptation for a believer is Delilah deceiving and leading
Samson on toward trouble
• The Greek word for temptation in the New Testament has the idea of adversity (trials)
• Delilah seems to have an amazing hold of Samson (love) Temptations have an awesome and
insidious power
• Temptations never look sinister (dangerous) on the surface
• We sometimes imagine that we may toy with temptation and thwart it
•
A BIBLICAL PRINCIPLE FOR DEALING WITH TEMPTATION: Proverbs 23:1-2
When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, consider diligently what is before thee: And put a knife to
thy throat, if thou be a man given to appetite.
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We don’t see in the account of Samson what might have been the right response to Delilah’s
continued attempts to break him down. Examples of Proper Response to Temptation:
•
•
•
Joseph leaves his outer cloak and runs - Genesis 39
Heb 11:24-25 By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of
Pharaoh's daughter; Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy
the pleasures of sin for a season;
Jesus tells Satan to get away from Him in Matthew 4
Scripture warns us to flee temptation (I Tim. 6:11; 2 Tim. 2:22)
II.
•
•
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v.10: Temptation Will Appeal to Your Weaknesses In a Deceptive Way
Temptations appeal to the carnal side of us
Temptation’s voice will say “I pray thee”
Temptation’s voice will try to shame you into yielding “thou hast mocked me...told me
lies...”
III. vv. 15-16: Temptation Kept Nearby Will Challenge Your Sincerity and Overpower
You With Pressure
• Sometimes in our lives we are careless enough to keep temptations tools nearby as though
they were simply harmless things
• If the tools are there, the enemy will pick them up and use them against you
• We should mark the things that tempt us and make sure that when we have the conviction
and fortitude to do so, we should expel them out of our lives
• Read Matthew 16:21-23- (how to handle it and how to view it)
•
“Get thee behind...” : we cannot see what is not in front of our eyes
• “...thou art an offense to me...” : whether we sense it or not at the time of temptation, it is an
act of enmity that we see in a presented temptation,
• “Thou savorest not...” : we must remind ourselves that there is no spiritual content in the
realm of temptation
IV. v. 17: Making Temptation A Confidant Will Bring The Believer to Downfall
• The most dangerous thing we can do regarding temptation is to confide in it...that is make it
our friend and open ourselves to it
• This is the point of yielding and falling
V. vv. 19-20: The Believer Will Discover All Spiritual Strength Gone When The Shield Is
Dropped
• The ultimate objective of the powers that try to tempt believers is to take their strength
• The life-fight against temptation for us is about spiritual strength or carnal weakness
• Nothing else has more impact in our lives related to yielding to temptation than the loss of
our spiritual strength:
- It means loss of ability to fight for God: Psalms 22:15 - “...My strength is dried up like a
potsherd;....”
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- Psalms 31:10 - “...my strength faileth me because of mine iniquity...”
- It means loss of ability to communicate with God as we need to: Psalms 22:2 O my God,
I cry in the daytime, but thou hearest not; and in the night season, and am not silent.
It means loss of ability to influence the world for good
It may mean loss of testimony when it is most important
Notice “I will go out as at other times befor, and shake myself...”: We may try to do
spiritual things but if we have yielded to temptation, we will only be going through the
motions
We may at first be unaware that the Lord support has departed from us.
VI. v. 21: The Enemy Behind the Temptation Will Have No Pity
VII. v. 22: Believers Can Recover From This Dreadful State
1. It is often the pitiable and degraded condition that we are in that provides the setting for us to
begin to recover (i.e. it is possible that Samson would never have otherwise come to the
realizations about his way of doing things without being in the prison of the Philistines)
2. We are in spiritual blindness in the prison designed by temptations process, but this can
cause us to be forced to stare our own carnal self straight in the face
3. It is valuable for us to realize that even in the state that Samson had brought himself to, God
still intended to use him as an instrument to free the Israelites from the Philistines (The principles
of Romans 8:28 is still at work here)
4. Unknown to Samson, God had devised a way to get him out of the slave house of his
temptation:
1Cor 10:13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is
faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the
temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.
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