She Pleases Me Well

Samson goes to Timnath, sees a Philistine woman, and demands that his parents get her for him. They warn him that she does not belong to God's people. On the way, Samson kills a lion through the Spirit's power. Later he finds honey inside the dead lion and eats it. He gives some to his parents but hides where it came from. Touching the dead lion breaks his vow, and he does it for a snack. His choices soon lead to threats, betrayal, and the deaths of thirty men.

• 'She pleaseth me well' (v. 3) is the closest thing Samson has to a life verse. Every disaster traces back to it.
• The Spirit gives Samson power to kill a lion. Later, Samson uses that same event as a chance to break his vow. Spiritual power does not prove that a man's heart is clean.
• He hides the honey's source from his parents (v. 9). Secrecy is the first symptom.
• He gambles with a riddle, loses because of a relationship he shouldn't be in, and pays the debt by killing strangers.
• 'It was of the LORD' (v. 4) — God is sovereignly working through Samson's sin without excusing it. Hold both.
• The pattern: see, want, take, rage, move on. Watch it repeat in chapters 15 and 16.

1. 01Be specific: what does 'she pleaseth me well' look like in your decision-making — in money, food, screens, women, respect?
2. 02Samson broke his vow for honey. What small, non-dramatic compromise have you made recently that cost you more than it was worth?
3. 03He didn't tell his parents where the honey came from. What are you right now not telling the two men in this room?
4. 04The Spirit's power operated in a man whose private life was a wreck. How does that reality change how you evaluate anointing in yourself and others?
5. 05What is your first move when you are humiliated or outmaneuvered? Samson's was violence. Name yours honestly.
6. 06His parents objected and he overrode them. Whose counsel have you overridden lately, and what was your justification?
7. 07God used it 'of the LORD' — and Samson still reaped everything. Why is God's sovereignty never a reason to relax about sin?

• 1 John 2:16

  The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life — Samson's biography in one verse.

• Genesis 3:6

  She saw, it was pleasant to the eyes, she took. The original 'pleaseth me well.'

• Job 31:1

  'I made a covenant with mine eyes.' The discipline Samson never adopted.

• Proverbs 5:3-8

  The strange woman's honey — the imagery Judges 14 makes literal.

• Romans 13:14

  Make not provision for the flesh. Samson provisioned constantly and prayed occasionally.

God wants to change what you desire, not only help you say no. Your cravings do not have to control your life. Tell the other men what desire is controlling you right now.

Lust and uncontrolled desires will cause many men to fall again. Do not teach them only how to manage their actions. Teach them that God can cleanse the heart. Make sure you are seeking that freedom for yourself too.

Name your appetite out loud. Make a covenant with your eyes today, specifically. Ask for a clean heart, not just a strong will.