Judges 16:4 And it came to pass afterward, that he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah
If I were to ask you, “Who was the wisest man who ever lived?” you would probably say that it was Solomon, to which I would reply, “How many wives did he have?” How wise is it to have a hundred wives? If I were to say, “Who is the meekest man who ever lived?” you might remember that the Bible says something like that about Moses. If I were to reply, “Why is it that Moses was precluded from going into the land of promise?” the answer would be that he blew his cool and wasn’t meek at the time. He disobeyed God and lost his temper.
If I were to ask you, “Who is the strongest man who ever lived?” you would say it was Samson and I would remind you that Samson was a man who was led by the hand by a young boy just before he pulled the roof down on his own head. In other words, how wise was Solomon? How meek was Moses? How strong was Samson? How much was there of these traits? If you were to have a mortal combat between Samson and a feeble lady, whom do you think would win? We would all assume Samson would, yet we know in Samson’s story that the feeble lady wins.
Judges 16:4 says, “And it came to pass afterward, that he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah.” Strangely enough, the name Delilah means feeble. So, a feeble lady defeated this mighty man. It is because your strength doesn’t matter if you are governed by your weakness. That describes Samson. Samson was a strong man who was governed by his weakness.
First, Samson was unaccountable. Way back at the beginning of Samson’s story, we think about what Samson’s weakness was, and the standard answer would be that it was women. We read of at least three of them and none of them seemed to be very good for Samson. When Samson told his father about the first woman he wanted to marry, his father protested, “Can’t you find a woman not of the Philistines, but of your own people?” Samson replied very curtly, “Get her for me; for she pleaseth me well.” Samson was unaccountable. Samson was of marriageable age. He was not just a kid, yet this was his dad. Even if he had been married and new authority had been established, Samson would have done well and been wise to listen to the wisdom of his father or anyone who had some wisdom.
When you are twenty, you may not know much and you should know that you don’t. When you get to be a little older and you are the guy in charge of everything, it is difficult to ask people, to listen to people, or be accountable to anyone. If you are twenty and not accountable, that is not wise. If you are fifty and not accountable, that is not wise either. Your strength doesn’t matter if you are governed by your weakness, and Samson was governed by his weakness because he was unaccountable.
Second, Samson was smug. Judges 16 recounts Delilah asking him the source of his strength. I have a hard time comprehending this story because what she is trying to do is so obvious, but Samson just seems to be either naïve or so sure of himself that he thought he could play around with the truth and emerge unscathed.
Delilah said, “Tell me the secret of your strength.” Samson told her and then the Philistines were upon him. When it is revealed that Samson lied to her, she said, “Why are you mocking me?” Samson was utterly smug. Verse 20 says that Samson said to himself, “I will go out as at other times before, and shake myself. And he wist not that the LORD was departed from him.” He was smug and therefore he was blind long before the Philistines put out his eyes.
In short, Samson was governed by his passions, not just his weakness for women, but every passion. If he had an emotion, he acted upon that. For instance, in Judges 15 God obviously used Samson, but Samson was driven by his own passions and emotions. Samson says in Judges 15:7, “Yet will I be avenged of you,” speaking of the Philistines. Samson says in verse 11, “As they did unto me, so have I done unto them.” The point is that he wasn’t so much governed by some high motive, but by his own emotions, not reason but emotion. Samson was a very powerful man who lived in his weakness.
God has given you gifts and strengths, but your strength doesn’t matter if you are governed by your weakness. Find people to whom you can be accountable. Don’t become smug. Don’t let your emotions and passions govern your life.