The times of the Judges when "every man did that which was right in his own eyes" offered special opportunities for exhibitions of faithfulness to God. From the fact that his birth and manner of life were announced beforehand, as well as the work he was to do, it is evident that Samson was given the greatest opportunity to demonstrate faithfulness and to be a deliverer of his people. His superhuman strength was a gift to enable him to carry out his role as deliverer. This would mean he had special responsibilities. How he met them we will see as we trace his life.

Samson was to be a Nazarite. Such a man was to abstain from wine and from dead creatures, and was to let his hair remain uncut. Wine is a natural as well as scriptural symbol of festivity, exhilaration, and joy. Spiritually, it means the joy of earth as contrasted with the joy of the Spirit, the celebration of a rest here rather than of the time when new wine shall be drunk in the Father’s kingdom. The long hair tells of dependence and subjection. Such a place is humiliating to the natural man ("if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him" 1 Cor. 11:14), but such must be the place of one truly separated unto God.

The defilement of death is to be guarded against most jealously, not even the nearest and dearest being allowed to cause an exception to be made. Death is a reminder of sin, since death came by sin; and we should not allow anyone to tempt us into association with sin. The law made prominent the negative side of the Nazarite’s life, but grace gives us the positive side of the true Nazarite. In place of the wine of carnal joy, we have the joy of the Lord. The relinquishing of our independence and strength is met by that which infinitely exceeds all human strength and dignity. "My strength is made perfect in weakness." In place of that which has the stamp of death upon it, we have eternal life. In order to enjoy these blessed substitutes there must be a denial of self. This was the keynote of the Nazarite’s life_self-denial.

We have seen what manner of man it was God’s will for Samson to be as a Nazarite; we will now see what manner of man he actually was. A lack of unity or cohesion was a prominent aspect of his life. Brilliant deeds there were, but all was desultory. In a list of his recorded actions_slaying a lion, killing thirty Philistines in order to get clothes to keep a pledge, setting fire to the enemy’s fields, killing a thousand with the jawbone of an ass, carrying away the gates of Gaza, and overthrowing the temple of the Philistines_we look in vain for any earnest purpose running through his life. Some of his feats of strength seem almost ludicrous and some merely serve as signs pointing to his sins. We are compelled to say, "What a useless life!" It serves for warning, but there is little to imitate in it. He did judge Israel for twenty years, but nothing is said of those twenty years but the facts listed above. The question naturally arises, "Why was a life of such promise, so rich in endowment, so apparently useless? We believe the answer lies in the title of this article. There was a crisis, a turning point in his life, when he should have turned the opposite way from the one he pursued. That crisis in his life is marked by one word_self-pleasing. "Get her for me; for she pleaseth me well" (Judg. 14:3). The law of the Nazarite was characterized by self-denial; the life of Samson was characterized by self-pleasing. The crisis of his life was when he chose a wife from the people he was to destroy. It may be objected that the Lord thus sought an occasion against the Philistines and so permitted it. True, He permitted it, as He did in the case of Balaam, of the twelve spies, of the selling of Joseph into Egypt, and above all in the betrayal of our Lord; but this, instead of lessening responsibility, increases it as in the case of Judas. God permitted Samson to please himself, but it was Samson’s responsibility. God got glory from it, in spite of Samson’s self-will, but this does not affect the quality of Samson’s choice. He pleased himself, and the rest of his life had the taint of this about it. He dallied with Delilah in self-pleasing until she got the secret of his strength from him; and even in his death he seemed to be seeking for personal revenge and not the glory of God. One is surprised to see him keep his strength so long. It only shows us the longsuffering of God who thus would recall His poor servant by showing that He was still with him. It was only when Samson showed he no longer prized this strength by imparting its secret to a stranger that he lost it. Ah! what awful lessons are here! Doubtless he had not the remotest intention of parting with his secret; but Delilah had his heart. He tampered with the danger and awoke out of his sleep to find that his self-pleasing had brought him to destruction. Darkness closed in upon him, never to be lifted in this world.

What does it mean for us to tell the secret of our strength? Is it not to be at ease with this world, to be enjoying the world as Samson was, and then to talk about the things of God, our own secret of strength? The enemy is on the lookout for this; there is a time when the last act of inconsistency is done and all power is lost. "So-and-so talks a lot about God, but I find he likes the world about as well as any one." Our power is gone, and it is only in the mercy of God if it is ever in any degree recovered. But let us remember that Delilah’s lap was only the last step in a course of self-pleasing which began when he took the woman of Timnath to wife because she pleased him. We have spoken of this as a crisis. Doubtless there are such turning points in all our lives_times when we have taken a course which has characterized us ever since. The crisis may in itself be a small matter. Beware of taking the wrong turn in the crisis of your life. Beware of pleasing self instead of meeting the enemy. It was fitting that Samson’s bones should lie among his people as a constant reminder not to misuse God’s gifts and opportunities. Perhaps some Christians may feel as though they have taken the wrong turn, and as a result, their life has been blighted. For such God has blessing in spite of their failure, if there is true turning to Him. Having learned where our self-pleasing has brought us, we can then find that He can bring good out of evil, that He can bring Samson’s riddle to pass, "Out of the eater came forth meat" (Judg. 14:14). Doubtless Jacob’s closing days furnished such an exhibition of God’s goodness; and no matter where His people are, if they truly bow to Him, they will find their wilderness to blossom as the rose.

(From Help and Food, Vol. 9.)