He Wist Not That the LORD Was Departed

Samson visits a prostitute in Gaza and later carries the city's gates up a hill. Then he falls for Delilah. Three times she tries to use his secret against him, but he stays with her. She pressures him every day until he finally tells her everything. His hair is cut, his strength leaves, and his enemies blind him. The man who judged Israel for twenty years now grinds grain in prison. But his hair begins to grow again. Samson prays, and in his death he kills more enemies than he did during his life.

• His hair was never the true source of his strength. It was the last visible sign of a vow he had already broken in every other way.
• Delilah's method is repetition and access, not cleverness. Samson knew exactly what she was doing.
• The frightening part of verse 20 is that Samson does not know the LORD has left him. A man can keep doing the same routine and not notice that God's presence is gone.
• They put out his eyes — the organ that ruled him. Sin eventually takes the very part of him it exploited.
• 'Howbeit the hair of his head began to grow again' (v. 22). The quietest sentence of hope in Judges.
• His final prayer is still partly about vengeance for his two eyes. God answers anyway, and Hebrews 11 lists him.

1. 01How would you know, this week, if the presence of God had lifted from your ministry? What are your actual signs, other than results?
2. 02Delilah got access through repetition and closeness. What or who right now has daily access to your weakest place?
3. 03Samson watched her betray him three times and stayed. What in your life have you already seen the evidence about and not left?
4. 04'His soul was vexed unto death' — he gave in to pressure, not pleasure. Where is fatigue, not lust, your actual weakness?
5. 05The blinding fit the sin. Where has a consequence in your life been exactly shaped like the thing you indulged?
6. 06The hair grew back in prison. What does genuine restoration look like for a disqualified man, and how does your ministry handle him?
7. 07Samson accomplished the most in his last hour. Is that a comfort or a warning to you? Defend your answer.

• Psalm 51:10-12

  'Take not thy holy spirit from me' — David prays exactly what Samson failed to notice.

• Proverbs 7:21-23

  With her much fair speech she caused him to yield. Delilah's method described in advance.

• 1 Corinthians 9:27

  Lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.

• Galatians 6:1

  Restore such an one in the spirit of meekness, considering thyself. The pastoral response to a fallen man.

• Hebrews 11:32-34

  Samson listed among the faithful. God's grace is real toward wrecked men, and it does not undo the wreckage.

A man usually drifts from God one small step at a time. Staying close to God takes more than watching for trouble. It takes a heart fully given to Him each day. Choose one man who can ask you a hard question every week and catch the drift early.

This chapter can help men trapped in sexual sin. The main warning is not only the moment Samson falls. It is the slow drift that came first. Teach men to notice the drift early.

Ask God to show you any fade already in progress. Give the other men permission to ask you one hard question weekly. Pray Psalm 51 out loud together.