Being strong in weakness
Being strong in weakness
Judges 16:28 Then Samson prayed to the Lord, “O Sovereign Lord, remember me. O God please strengthen me just once more, and let me with one blow get revenge on the Philistines for my two eyes.”
Extra Reading: Judges 16:23-31.
All of us want to be seen as tough and strong men and women in the public eye. In the Scripture we have just read we learn that Samson was in a position of weakness. Israel’s traditional enemies, the Philistines, have captured him, as a result of his own ill-discipline and carelessness. He was blinded and put to work in a mill. The Philistines interpreted Samson’s downfall as a triumph for their national deity, Dagon. So they organized a huge celebration to honour him. What was going on in the mind of Samson? “They praised their god saying, “Our god has delivered our enemy to us!” (Judges 16:24). Religious fervor, fueled by alcohol, stirred up the crowd until they demanded that Samson be brought out and further humiliated. So the pitiful Samson was led by the hand into the midst of the jeering crowd, where they proceeded to make sport of him.
We all know that Samson was born with the express intention that he should “rescue Israel from the Philistines” (13:5). This was his reason for being. But his present circumstances were a sad reminder of his terrible failure. It is sad that the man who intended to save Israel from the Philistines was held by them, bound and blind. Samson has become an object of ridicule and has also dragged Israel down to the status of a laughingstock. The worst to have happened is that he had given the followers of Dagon the opportunity to believe that their man-made idol was stronger than the Creator God, who is Jehovah. One thing that encourages me in this episode is that Samson thought about the living God once again, and he started to pray, “Sovereign Lord, remember me again. O God, please strengthen me one more time so that I may pay back the Philistines for the loss of my eyes” (16:28). Surprisingly, even at this time, Samson had vengeance in mind, rather than the fulfillment of his God-given task-to deliver Israel from the Philistines. But he acknowledged that the Lord was the source of his strength and that his failure had left him estranged from his God. And now he wanted to be strengthened again.
Prayer: O Lord, help us not to abandon our God-given tasks. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen!
Rev. Samuel N. Modise 
