From Judges 16:4-31. Samson was a very strong man. The secret of his great strength was that he was dedicated to God. As long as he honored God by not cutting his hair, God kept him strong. This was his secret, and the Phoenicians couldn’t figure it out.
Samson also had a weakness. He had never learned to say “no” when he saw something he liked. Many of us may have this same weakness, but for Samson, his weakness was women. One day he saw a Philistine girl who was beautiful and he began to care for her. When the Philistine rulers heard that Samson loved Delilah, they offered to pay her lots of money if she would persuade Samson to reveal his secret. The Philistines believed with Delilah’s help, they could capture him and put him in prison. Delilah loved pretty things that money can buy, and she loved her own people far more than she loved this strong man who came often to visit her so she consented at once to help the rulers in their plan to capture Samson.
Delilah began to think that she might not be able to get the money that the rulers offered her in exchange for the secret of Samson’s great strength. She felt very unhappy. Day after day she pleaded with Samson, telling him that surely he did not love her at all. Well, because Samson did love Delilah, he began to feel sorry for her. He did not want to make her so unhappy. So finally he told her the truth—that he was a Nazarite, and it was because his long hair had never been cut that he was a powerful man. “If I am shaved,” he said, “then my strength will go from me and I shall become weak, and be like any other man.” He slept .She caleld the king army.
The Philistines rejoiced greatly because at last, they had gotten hold of Samson. They bound him and took him to Gaza, the city where he once tore down the gates. Now they locked him in a prison, and to make very sure that he would not bother them again, they put out his eyes. Then they chained him with irons and made him turn a heavy millstone to grind grain, just as though he were an animal.
Poor, unhappy Samson! At last, when all was too late, he realized that Delilah, the woman he loved, was not his friend. First, Samson ignored God’s command by marrying a heathen woman, and also he ignored the advice of his godly parents. Samson made some wrong choices Trusting in Self-leads to Pride.
Every day you and I make choices. Do you think God is concerned about the people you choose to be friends with? Yes, remember? The I Corinthians verses God said “Bad company corrupts good character.” On the other hand, a friend will encourage you to obey God’s word and walk away from bad influences.
So Samson suffered the remainder of his life as a blind man. There in the prison he prayed to God and promised again to become a Nazarite, even though he was blind, and God heard his prayer.
They brought Samson into the court of the temple, to amuse them. No doubt they thought he looked very funny with his long, shaggy hair and beard, for he had never been shaven in the prison. They may have forgotten that the secret of his great strength lay in his long hair, or they may have supposed that he could no longer do harm because he was blind.
Samson knew that the temple was crowded with people. Even on the flat roof three thousand men and women were standing together looking down into the court where Samson was leaning against a pillar, praying. They did not know that he was asking God to help him once more. They were laughing at his misery. Samson had asked the boy who led him to take him to the great pillars that supported the roof, and standing between these pillars, he had placed his arms around them and bowed forward with all his might. Then suddenly the roof began to crack and fall in pieces, and the whole temple of Dagon fell down. There Samson died with the Philistines, in the ruins of the temple.
In the same way, we learn that certain people can corrupt or spoil good manners by encouraging us to pick up bad language and behavior. These people have no concern for what is right and wrong. They do what they please. They don’t care. On the other hand, a true friend encourages you to do what is right.