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?" Judges 15:18
When I was a kid, I never really understood why my parents wanted me to have a clean room. After all, it was my room. All I had to do was close the door, and they would not see it. Well, as they say, hindsight is 20/20. Now I understand that that house was not mine. It belonged to my mom and dad. My responsibility, although I did not always recognize it, was to honor them by keeping my room, which really belonged to them, clean. I did not realize that my room was actually a gift from my parents. On a much grander scale, Scripture teaches us that this world and everything in it belongs to God, and every good gift that we have on earth belongs to Him. We will be reminded of this truth as we continue the study of the life of Samson today.
Samson can be found in Judges 15, fighting with the Philistines and his own Hebrew people. His people were angry that he was provoking the Philistines so often. Because of this, His people tied him up and handed him over to the Philistines. When the Philistines got to Samson, they shouted and believed that they were finally going to be able to defeat him. They must not have taken Samson's extraordinary strength into account. Samson broke the ropes around his arms and broke free. Then, Samson celebrated his strength. He bragged about everything he had done with his strength. He must have forgotten the source of his strength until he was thirsty.
When Samson was thirsty, he turned to God. He prayed and asked God to give him something to drink. As a result, God made water flow out of the ground for him. It took Samson's need for water to turn to God for his needs.
As I think about Samson's story, sometimes I behave like Samson, believing in my own strength and power, believing that I am the source and owner of the good things in my life. Sometimes, it is not until I am in need that I turn to Him and remember that all of the good things in my life are directly from Him. He is the ultimate provider of all good things. My friend, we need to remember this truth. Let's recognize and celebrate the good gifts that He has given us right now.
Sit down with a journal or notebook and start making a list of the good things that God has given you. As you write each gift, spend time thanking God for all of the good things He has done for you. Let's be people who are filled with gratitude for all of God's good gifts.
The Philistines retaliated by setting up camp in Judah and spreading out near the town of Lehi. The men of Judah asked the Philistines, “Why are you attacking us?”
The Philistines replied, “We’ve come to capture Samson. We’ve come to pay him back for what he did to us.”
So 3,000 men of Judah went down to get Samson at the cave in the rock of Etam. They said to Samson, “Don’t you realize the Philistines rule over us? What are you doing to us?”
But Samson replied, “I only did to them what they did to me.”
But the men of Judah told him, “We have come to tie you up and hand you over to the Philistines.”
“All right,” Samson said. “But promise that you won’t kill me yourselves.”
“We will only tie you up and hand you over to the Philistines,” they replied. “We won’t kill you.” So they tied him up with two new ropes and brought him up from the rock.
As Samson arrived at Lehi, the Philistines came shouting in triumph. But the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon Samson, and he snapped the ropes on his arms as if they were burnt strands of flax, and they fell from his wrists. Then he found the jawbone of a recently killed donkey. He picked it up and killed 1,000 Philistines with it. Then Samson said,
“With the jawbone of a donkey,
I’ve piled them in heaps!
With the jawbone of a donkey,
I’ve killed a thousand men!”
When he finished his boasting, he threw away the jawbone; and the place was named Jawbone Hill.
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?” 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.
Samson judged Israel for twenty years during the period when the Philistines dominated the land.
