[0:00] here to worship the Lord. We can sing first of all in the Scottish Psalter, Psalm 81, the Scottish Psalter, Psalm 81, on page 334, page 334. We can sing first of all verses 6 down to verse 10. Scottish Psalter, Psalm 81, verses 6 down to verse 10. His shoulder I from burdens took, his hands from pots stood free. Thou didst in trouble on me call, and I delivered thee. In secret place of thundering, I did thee answer make. Not the streams of Meribah, of thee a proof did take. Psalm 81, verses 6 to 10, to God's praise.
[0:44] His shoulder I from burdens took, his hands from pots did free. Thou kissed in trouble on me call, and I delivered thee. In secret place of thundering, I did thee answer make. And at the streams of Meribah, the Lord, I delivered thee. O thou my people, give an ear, I'll testify to thee. To thee, O Israel,
[2:05] Christ has revealed thee, O Israel, den the double역s of the Serenity that the Son ótzes diaries shall not be Dell' The Lord shall not be any stage for at all.
[2:30] None unto any God anon, thou bowing, thou shalt fall.
[2:44] I am the Lord, my God, which is from Egypt and the eye.
[3:00] I fill thy mouth up and down, thee do thou it over wide.
[3:19] Let's join together now, a word of prayer. Let's pray. Lord, we give you praise once more for gathering us together this evening.
[3:35] Help us for this short time to focus and to listen clearly to your word. We often come to this place, as we have confessed many times before.
[3:46] We come to these times of worship. We come to this place of worship and we have so many things distracting us. We have so many things grabbing for our attention.
[3:57] There are things which are right and good. There are worries of health and worries of family. There are burdens which are necessary and burdens that indeed many of us must bear.
[4:09] There are concerns and stresses which indeed we must have, weighing us down, family and of circumstance. We also confess we come to this place with many things, many distractions, which are not good.
[4:23] Lord, the sins of this world, the sins of ourselves, and the various distracting thoughts which enter into our minds week after week and day by day and hour by hour. Lord, we ask for a short time this evening that these distracting thoughts, both those that are necessary and those that are other than necessary, Lord, would remove from us just for a while.
[4:45] We would lay aside the burdens of this world and the burdens of this life. We would lay aside the worry of responsibility, the anxiety. I'll put them to the back of our mind as we come around for a short time around your word.
[4:57] As we hear you speak peace to your people. As we see you give salvation to your people. As we see you deal in love with those and with one who does not deserve it.
[5:09] As we come to your word and receive the promises we find in it. The assurances we find. The warnings we find. Help us to do so with listening ears and a ready heart.
[5:24] Ready that you would move in us and make your word known to us. We confess we come to your word often so confused by it. We come to your word and we are so reluctant to wrestle with it and to spend time digging in it.
[5:39] Lord, we ask you would give us that wisdom and give us that desire to spend that time digging. To spend that time searching at your word. For the marvellous truths it contains.
[5:50] Help us, Lord, we ask just again for a short time to focus our attention on what it is we're doing here. Both in our reading but also in our singing also. We thank you for the gift of song.
[6:01] As we sing our praises. It is not just a supplementary part of the service. It is not just something we do to warm up before we get to the sermon. But indeed our praise.
[6:12] Our sung praise. Indeed the reading of your word. And even our time of prayer. These are essential elements of our public worship. Help us not to neglect any of them.
[6:23] Help us to raise our voices. Not concerned about our own personal quality. But to raise our voices and to sing as tunefully as we are individually able. To raise up these voices of praise to you.
[6:36] As we sing these psalms of warning and these psalms of joy. Help us this evening, Lord. We again confess that we come together as those with many needs. Many stresses and many strains.
[6:48] We bring just now, Lord, those here. Or those who are often here perhaps. But who are going through times of great pain. Those going through physical pain.
[6:59] Those who are concerned about their health. Those who are awaiting news. Those who are awaiting news of loved ones perhaps. Those who are concerned about a loved one's health.
[7:10] Pay Lord for those going through times of mental distress. Those who are suffering in their minds. Often as unseen and very often unknown.
[7:22] But as those perhaps here go through times of anxiety. Times of great sadness. Times of great worry. Times of depression. Lord, you alone know the details.
[7:33] We ask you to comfort your people. Pray just now for those worrying about family members. Worrying about family situations. We pray also for those here tonight worrying about financial situations.
[7:47] Those worrying about how the bills are looking in the weeks and months. Lord, we know these things are not a small prayer to you.
[7:57] You care for the details of our lives. Pray just now for those with unnamed worries and concerns and stresses and strains. Which they themselves perhaps can't even put a name to.
[8:10] But which bring them down. Lord, we ask you to be with them and encourage them. You would show them your light. And those of them who are yours, Lord. You would walk with them through these times. And they would know your presence alongside them.
[8:22] Pray just now for any of us this evening who are searching. And pray for any of us this evening who are wanting to know more about Jesus. I pray especially for our friends here this evening. But also remembering those perhaps online.
[8:34] Who in the weeks and months ahead may well listen to this sermon. And as you bring it to them. Lord, we ask that you would, even this evening, they come to understand. That there is a judge and he is sovereign.
[8:46] There is a king and his rule is perfect. That without his help and without hope that comes of him and him alone. We have no hope of salvation.
[8:56] But through him we have an everlasting, eternal hope. Of an everlasting and sure salvation. We pray just now for our gathering here. We thank you for this congregation. We pray for our work in this village, in this area, Lord.
[9:09] That you would bless it. Bless our ongoing work. Bless our plans also. Bless the future plans of this year. And of the various many plans of next year.
[9:21] We know that for all the plans we have. If you're not in it. If you're not there. If you're not fully active. If it's not for your name's sake and for your glory.
[9:31] And the house will not be built. We ask, Lord, you be with us in our planning. You be with us as we seek to see your word known and spread. And see you loved and known in this area.
[9:45] We pray, Lord, for the upcoming, this week, the upcoming AGM. We thank you once more, Lord, for our giving people. We thank you that we have sufficient funds to serve you in this place.
[9:56] We know that's a gift, Lord, from you as you work through your people. We pray also, Lord, just now for the upcoming quinquennial. And all the background reality that that entails.
[10:09] Lord, we ask you to give us wisdom as we work through it. And that you would help the process to be beneficial to us as a congregation. And to the wider presbytery. We also pray through the Bible study of that upcoming reality, Lord.
[10:22] We ask you to give us a time of rest and relaxation as we go through your word together. As we go through elements of your word. As we learn together as brothers and sisters around a time of rest and relaxation.
[10:35] As we delve into the big questions of what it is to know and to love and to follow Jesus as our saviour. Help us, Lord, individually. Help those here who know you and who love you.
[10:47] Help them in their walks this week. Help them in their private devotion this week. Help them in their own witnessing this week. As they seek to witness to family members and friends and colleagues.
[10:59] In various ways. As they seek to be salt and light in this dark world. That you bless them and encourage them. And look after them, Lord. You'd assure them that they are yours.
[11:10] As they go about their business, they are serving you in the mission field you have placed them. Whether at home, in the village, in places of work, in places of study. Lord, that you have your people in all these places.
[11:23] Help us as a current session. Help us, Lord, as a team of servants here to serve your people well. Give us, Lord, opportunities to serve your people better.
[11:33] Help us, Lord, to be a useful gathering of your people. I pray once more, Lord, for the congregations we remembered this morning.
[11:46] We remember, Lord, them priests in their time of vacancy. As they seek to serve you in an area which is proving to be so difficult over so many years. Lord, we ask that you would be with them and encourage them.
[12:00] We also remember Cote Bridge. Lord, we pray for them just now as they engage in the ongoing gospel work in that place. Again, as they deal with the complications.
[12:11] Not just of the world we live in. But they live in the complications of the very specific political reality of where that church is placed.
[12:22] Lord, as they witness to both sides of that politics and both sides of these belief systems. Lord, that they would know your leading and know your guidance.
[12:33] We pray, Lord, for Ivan and family. We pray, Lord, for Rosemary. We pray for the boys. We pray for them as a couple and a family. We pray for the team in Cote Bridge as they seek to serve you well.
[12:44] We pray once more for our persecuted brothers and sisters in China. As we remember this morning the early rain covenant church. We also remember the other churches connected to them who themselves also have faced their pastors and their elders being taken away from prison.
[13:00] Some of these churches who still are not quite clear as to when their pastors or elders or members will be released from prison. After many months and indeed some after several years of waiting to hear honest and clear news.
[13:17] Lord, be with them. We can't understand their situation. We can't enter into it. Lord, we ask you to encourage them in the midst of their own misery. In the midst of their imprisonment.
[13:29] We would know that they are doing so out of their love for a saviour. Or give us the sense we have to make the most of the freedom you have given us in this country. As we worship freely week after week.
[13:41] We pray for those in leadership over us. We pray, Lord, for the first minister. We pray for the prime minister. We pray for the king as your word instructs us to do. As we pray for them we ask you give them leadership.
[13:55] And that we would lead them and guide them in ways that would benefit our country and our countries. We also ask primarily, Lord, that you would bring them to a saving knowledge of yourself. As we remember to pray for them.
[14:09] We also want to pray for their ongoing reality of their salvation that we long to see. Until these days come, Lord. Help us to serve you faithfully in the day of small things we seem to be living in.
[14:22] We confess that a day of small things is not small for you. Because you are always working. We pray for the ongoing gospel work in Tulsa. The ongoing gospel work in this place. That you have planted these gospel seeds over many years.
[14:35] And we cannot see, we cannot understand, we can never know. But, Lord, you are bringing a harvest. A gospel harvest to fruition. We pray, Lord, that we see and know in the weeks and months.
[14:48] And if you will, the years to come. We would see many come to know and come to love you. Perhaps even many have sat under the gospel word for years. And your word has been slowly growing in their hearts.
[15:00] And soon we'll see a harvest. A harvest of that good news as they finally proclaim that they know and are known by. That they love and are loved by the Lord Jesus Christ.
[15:14] Until we see these days of blessing. Help us to be faithful in these current days. Help us to be faithful servants and willing servants.
[15:24] Give us wisdom, we ask. Forgive us our sin. We come before you as those who have gone astray in so many various ways. Lord, we come before you confessing our individual sin.
[15:36] Confessing that we have sinned against a holy God. Lord, we ask you to remove that guilt from us. And you remind us once more of the glory and power and place of the Lord Jesus Christ.
[15:48] Our glorious Saviour. Who has forgiven through his glorious work. Who has ensured that his people's sins were forgiven. That finished work on the cross.
[16:01] As he declared, it is finished. It's in his name and it's for his sake. We ask these many things. Amen. Let's turn to read God's word. Judges chapter 16.
[16:13] We're coming to a conclusion of our time with Samson. A few weeks now looking at poor Samson. We're finishing off in Judges chapter 16.
[16:25] Judges 16 is on page 201. Judges 16 on page 201.
[16:36] Samson went to Gaza. And there he saw a prostitute.
[16:48] And he went into her. The Gazites were told, Samson has come here. And they surrounded the place and set an ambush for him all night at the gate of the city. They kept quiet all night saying, Let us wait till the light of the morning.
[17:01] Then we will kill him. Samson lay till midnight. And at midnight he arose and took hold of the doors of the gate of the city and the two posts and pulled them up, bar and all, and put them on his shoulders.
[17:15] And carried them to the top of the hill that is in front of Hebron. After this he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah. And the lords of the Philistines came up to her and said to her, Seduce him and see where his great strength lies.
[17:33] And by what means we may overpower him. We may bind him to humble him. And we will give each you 1,100 pieces of silver.
[17:44] So Delilah said to Samson, Please tell me where your great strength lies and how you might be bound that one could subdue you. Samson said to her, If they bind me with seven fresh bowstrings that have not been dried, then I shall become weak and be like any other man.
[18:05] And the lord of the Philistines brought up to her seven fresh bowstrings that had not been dried. And she bound him with them. Now she had men lying in ambush in her chamber.
[18:16] And she said to him, The Philistines are upon you, Samson. But he snapped the bowstrings as a thread of flax snaps when it touches the fire. So the secret of his strength was not known.
[18:29] Then Delilah said to Samson, Behold, you have mocked me and told me lies. Please tell me how you might be bound. And he said to her, If they bind me with new ropes that have not been used, then I shall become weak and be like any other man.
[18:47] So Delilah took new ropes and bound him with them and said to him, The Philistines are upon you, Samson. And the men lying in ambush were in her chamber. But he snapped the ropes off his arms like a thread.
[19:00] Then Delilah said to Samson, Until now you have mocked me and told me lies. Tell me how you might be bound. And he said to her, If you weave the seven locks of my head with the web and fasten it tight with the pin, then I shall become weak and be like any other man.
[19:20] So while he slept, Delilah took the seven locks of his head and wove them into the web. And you made them tight in the pin and said to him, The Philistines are upon you, Samson.
[19:34] But he awoke from his sleep and pulled away the pin, the loom and the web. And she said to him, How can you say I love you when your heart is not with me?
[19:46] You have mocked me these three times and you have not told me where your great strength lies. And when she pressed him hard of her words day after day and urged him, his soul was vexed to death and he told her all his heart and said to her, A razor has never come upon my head, for I have been a Nazarite to God from my mother's womb.
[20:11] If my head is shaved, then my strength will leave me and I shall become weak and be like any other man. When Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she sent and called the lords of the Philistines, saying, Come up again, for he has told me all his heart.
[20:30] And the lords of the Philistines came up to her and brought the money in their hands. She made him sleep on her knees. And she called a man and had him shave off the seven locks of his head.
[20:41] And she began to torment him, and his strength left him. And she said, The Philistines are upon you, Samson. And he awoke from his sleep and said, I will go out as other times and shake myself free.
[20:54] But he did not know that the Lord had left him. And the Philistines seized him and gouged her his eyes and brought him down to Gaza and bound him with bronze shackles.
[21:05] And he ground the mill in the prison. But the hair of his head began to grow again after it had been shaved. Now the lords of the Philistines gathered to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon, their God, and to rejoice.
[21:20] And they said, Our God has given Samson, our enemy, into our hand. When the people saw him, they praised their God. For they said, Our God has given our enemy into our hand, the ravager of our country, who has killed many of us.
[21:36] And when their hearts were merry, they said, Call Samson, that he may entertain us. So they called Samson out of the prison, and he entertained them.
[21:47] They made him stand between the pillars. And Samson said to the young man who held him by the hand, Let me feel the pillars on which the house rests, that I may lean against them.
[21:58] Now the house was full of men and women. All the lords of the Philistines were there. On the roof there were about three thousand men and women who looked on while Samson entertained.
[22:11] Then Samson called to the Lord and said, O Lord, God, please remember me, and please strengthen me only this once. O God, that I may be avenged in the Philistines for my two eyes.
[22:25] And Samson grasped the two middle pillars on which the house rested, and he leaned his weight against them, his right hand on the one and his left hand on the other.
[22:37] And Samson said, Let me die with the Philistines. They bowed with all his strength, and the house fell upon the lords and upon all the people who were in it. So the dead whom he killed at his death were more than those whom he had killed during his life.
[22:52] Then his brothers and all his family came down and took him and brought him up and buried him between Zorah and Eshterol in the tomb of Manoah, his father.
[23:03] He had judged Israel twenty years. Amen. Give praise to God for his holy and his perfect word. Let's again sing to God's praise this time from Psalm 82.
[23:17] Sing Psalms, Psalm 82. Sing Psalms, Psalm 82. That's on page 110.
[23:29] Sing Psalms, Psalm 82 on page 110. We're going to sing this Psalm together, a full Psalm. God stands in the great assembly, judging God's who gather there.
[23:43] How long will you clear the wicked with the judgments you declare. Vindicate the weak and orphans and the rights of those oppressed. Save the weak, support the needy from the wicked.
[23:56] Give them rest. Psalm 82, the Sing Psalms. To God's praise. God stands in the great assembly, God's who gather there.
[24:16] How long will you clear the wicked with the judgments you declare.
[24:27] Vindicate the wicked with the wicked. Am find their fathers and orphans and the rights of those oppressed.
[24:39] Save the weak, support the needy from the wicked. Give them rest.
[24:51] They are void of understanding, no right judgment can't they be.
[25:03] Only walk in utter darkness, all others found in some shape.
[25:16] You are God, so I address them, you are sons of God most high.
[25:28] But like mortal men you perish, and like a ruler's side.
[25:41] Rise, O God, and come in judgment, justice for thee are common.
[25:53] For you hold us your possession, every risk and every man.
[26:05] Amen. I think we've heard of last week with chapter 15 that things only get worse before the end comes.
[26:41] And the truth is, and we read together as we know ourselves, things do get worse. Samson's life that ends, though perhaps there is some hope in the end. The journey to the end is pretty grim, it's pretty dark.
[26:56] When you actually stop and read Samson's account, I'll be honest, even in my preparation, we're a month now looking ahead to doing this series, reading over Samson's story.
[27:10] When you actually stop and read it in detail, it's pretty horrifying, isn't it? Every week, every chapter, you're thinking, what's he doing now? How can he get worse?
[27:21] Well, he manages each chapter to get worse and worse. And there's no different here in this final chapter of this final section of his life. If you remember, last week we saw, as we ended in chapter 15, chapter 15, verse 20, it tells us, talking about Samson, he judged Israel in the days of the Philistines 20 years.
[27:43] And normally that is the indicator of the end of the judge's account. The other judge, it says, XYZ, judged in the land for X amount of years.
[27:54] And that tells you that that judge's story, his account is now over. We say that Samson's story doesn't end there. There's more sin ahead, and here in this chapter, we have this sin.
[28:09] We also have the end of his life. Now, we know that this is an account that's so tainted with sin, so tainted with pain and sadness.
[28:20] But also, this account brings to the fore once more God's sovereign plan. Even despite the waywardness and, at times, the sheer joy-filled sinfulness of Samson, God has a clear plan.
[28:37] And God is carrying out that plan, even in the face of Samson's ongoing rebellion. Again, there is much sin in the life of Samson. We saw that. He goes against his parents.
[28:50] He goes against his godly parents, I should note. He goes against his godly calling. He goes against God himself. And all that he has done so far, bar a few things, but the majority of his life so far has been motivated by Samson's love of himself, his love of sin, his joy in rebellion.
[29:11] It's a bit of a mess. But again, God is there. And again and again, God is taking the mess of Samson's life and is using it for his glory.
[29:28] Just two points for this chapter. First of all, desire and then death. Desire and death. We see desire, first of all, the first half of the chapter, three quarters really of the chapter.
[29:44] First of all, looking together at verses 1 down to verse 3. Verses 1 down to verse 3, that first section of this chapter. As we leave chapter 15 on to chapter 16, the pattern continues.
[29:59] Samson can't seem to stop sinning. The whole chapter 16 was because of his marriage in chapter 14 to a Philistine woman who shouldn't have gone near, but because he wanted to marry her and all the fallout from that.
[30:12] We see chapter 15 taking place and all the chaos in that chapter. That brings us now to the next chapter. His wife is now dead, of course. She's been burnt alive because of him.
[30:24] And now he has moved on, it seems, quite quickly. Because now in chapter 16, the first few verses, quite simply, quite horrifyingly, quite plainly, Samson went to Gaza and there he saw a prostitute and he went into her.
[30:44] At least the last woman he saw, he made her his wife. At least there was some form of process involving his father and her father. There was some semblance of doing it, at least trying to do it in the right way.
[30:58] All that's now gone. He's forgotten her, it seems, and he's moved on in his life. And now he has abandoned any sense of doing things well. And now he's departed from even the most basic level of faithfulness, the most basic level of decency.
[31:17] Again, he is a judge. He is a Nazarite. He is supposed to be uniquely holy in everything he does. He should be a figure of acclaim, a figure of holiness, of near human perfection.
[31:32] That is his calling. But where do we see him? Well, first of all, he's in Gaza. He's in Philistine territory for a start. And is he there to accomplish his job as a judge?
[31:47] Is he there to kill more enemies? No, you know, he's in Gaza. He's in Philistine territory looking for a woman. Looking for a Philistine woman in the middle of Philistine land.
[31:59] And, of course, he finds one. As he prowls around, he finds this prostitute. And again, we said this at the start of our season, judges.
[32:11] And as judges goes on, indeed, God willing, into next week, it becomes so apparent. God is honest. And God does not care for our awkwardness when it comes to the reality of our humanity.
[32:25] Our forebears, going right back, were honest and open. When we came into the Victorian age, and from that we became a bit more awkward.
[32:38] A lot of euphemisms arrived, even in our scriptural sermons. God does not employ any quoting. He says it as it is. Samson found this woman and he slept with her.
[32:51] Simple as that. It's showing his sin. It's showing his fall away from any form of grace. And any form of place that he once might have held.
[33:01] God clearly shows us our sin. As always, his desire and his sin, it just lands him in more trouble.
[33:14] Because, of course, he's spotted in Gaza. Verse 2, the Gazites were told, Samson's here. So, of course, they surround him. You can imagine yourself. This man is a wanted man.
[33:27] He is on the run. He should be on the run, at least. He's killed all these Philistines. So, people of Gaza, understandably, of this town, they seek to surround Samson.
[33:37] They know where he is. They lie in ambush for him. But, again, of course, we see Samson escapes. He escapes in quite an almost comedic way, but it shows his strength.
[33:52] So, they are waiting around the place to set in ambush, waiting for him at the city gates. And they're keeping quiet. Samson takes the immediate option.
[34:05] He takes the gate. He escapes. And he takes the gate with him. He lifts the gate onto his shoulders. And he escapes with the gate. Again, Samson is using God's strength.
[34:18] He is using the God-given strength he has to escape from his own sinful situations. God has given Samson this unique ability of strength to wage war against the immeasurably strong Philistines.
[34:34] And Samson uses his strength yet again. Not to honour God. Not to serve God. He uses his strength again to escape from the situation his own sin has landed him in.
[34:46] Again, it gets worse. Again, it gets worse. And it gets worse. This might seem a short and perhaps almost a directionless, pointless story to include in this final section of his life.
[34:59] But it's vital that we have this account. Because this account sets the scene for us. It shows us that Samson is now completely almost directionless.
[35:12] It shows us that he is now living a life of near constant and it seems to be free sin. He is living life as he wants to live it. With no care for God.
[35:24] With no praise towards God. He doesn't praise God. He doesn't thank God here for escaping. No. He escapes. What happens when he escapes? He moves on to the next woman instead.
[35:38] Verse 4. After this, God has helped him escape. Samson has used this incredible strength. He's lifted up a whole gate to his shoulders.
[35:51] That's heavy. That's impossible, humanly speaking. God has given him this full strength to escape. And the very first thing Samson does in order to reflect on what has happened on God's salvation is he finds another woman.
[36:07] Verse 4. After this, he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek whose name was Delilah. Of course, Delilah is the most famous, I would say the most well-known of all the various many women we see him with in his life as given to us in the scripture.
[36:28] And she has perhaps the biggest impact on his life. We have to note here that in history perhaps, at least in common thought, and some of the common data, they'll almost lay some blame on Delilah here that she somehow seduced him.
[36:48] Samson went to search for her. She didn't go to search for him. We can't blame Delilah for the sins of Samson.
[36:59] She had her own sins to worry about. That is clear. But Samson here is sleeping out women, is seeking out women to sleep with. He is seeking out Philistine women to sleep with.
[37:10] And he finds Delilah. The sin belongs to Samson. And how this situation goes, where it leads to the downfall of his life, it belongs to Samson.
[37:22] We love to blame other people. We love to lay the blame to everyone else apart from ourselves when our lives become a mess. Sometimes and very often, it's us.
[37:33] It's our sin. It's our desire. It's our waywardness that leaves us in the situation we are in. When it comes down to sin. We're not compelled to sin.
[37:45] Samson's not compelled to sin here. But he does. We find in verse 5 here, it wasn't just a normal relationship, of course.
[37:57] There is a real sting to the tale of this relationship. We see that Delilah has been bought with a fair amount of silver over to the Philistine lords.
[38:10] They have bought her. She is now working really as a spy on behalf of these Philistine lords. Samson, blinded by love, perhaps.
[38:25] He's a smart man. But he's blinded by love. Blinded by his own sin. We now see that his sin is now leading him to slowly but surely destroy his own life.
[38:37] We then enter into the series, as we know, the series of events which takes us slowly but surely down and down and down. And you see that. Samson slowly breaks down and he slowly tells her how to destroy him.
[38:55] The very first time she asks him, he comes this random thing to her. Seven fish bow strings and bound him.
[39:05] And of course something happens. The second time is seven ropes and so on. That's obviously not true. When note, as she wears him down and as he remains with her.
[39:20] He's not forced to be here. Every time he visits her, he's choosing to go visit her. Every time he visits her and she asks him again, slowly but surely, he is destroying his own life.
[39:31] And we see here that the downgrade, verse 14 and verse 13, verse 14. Samson now tells her, it's something to do with his hair.
[39:44] If you add my hair to a loom really and make my hair part of the weave of the loom, I'll be helpless then.
[39:55] And then finally, he tells her the truth. And she said to him, verse 15, how can you say I love you? And Samson's telling this woman he loves her.
[40:07] How can you say I love you and your heart is not with me? So on and so on. So much. So day and night, she asks him, until his soul was vexed to death.
[40:21] Poor Samson. If only he could escape. Well, he can. He can walk away. But no, he chooses to remain in a sinful situation because he loves it. And because he loves to sin, he does not leave.
[40:34] And because he does not leave, he finally tells her his secret. As it were, his sin now catches him out.
[40:47] Out. Out. He tells her. And then we see Samson, Delilah, I should say, spring into action.
[41:00] Delilah now in her full role as a spy to the enemy now. She tells the Philistine lords what Samson told her.
[41:11] His hair is shaved off. The one he says he loves has now destroyed him. And also we see, we note here, she also torments him.
[41:22] It's not enough that he's doomed. But she now torments him also. It's pretty horrifying, really, when you read it very carefully. Samson's hair is shaved.
[41:35] And Samson is captured. In summary, it is Samson's sin which leads to his own destruction.
[41:48] Dear friends, never think that sin is meaningless. Never think that even your small sin has no impact. Friends and brothers and sisters, it's been often repeated throughout the ages, but it's true.
[42:05] Your sins will always find you out. Now, whether that is public or not, it does not matter. Your sins will always find you out. Unrepentant sin, as we covered before in Psalm 32, a few months ago before communion.
[42:20] Unrepentant sin has a real lasting effect. It will have an effect internally, externally, physically, mentally, socially.
[42:34] It will have an effect. And ultimately, unrepentant sin, it leads to a lost eternity.
[42:44] Unrepentant sin has never, ever been repented for. If you've never, ever cried out for salvation for your sin, it destroys you now, but it also destroys you eternally.
[42:56] That is the solemn reminder. Samson's captured. Here we see the second point we have. The death of Samson.
[43:08] His desire now leads to his death. He's captured, verse 20 down to verse 22. Now, Samson's hair, it's not magic.
[43:18] He's not got magic hair. But what does his hair symbolize? His hair symbolizes that he is a Nazarite. And one that God has chosen to bless with great strength.
[43:30] But that blessing of God's strength, it goes hand in hand with him at least somehow still being or looking like or acting like a Nazarite.
[43:40] But now, because of his own sin, his own rebellion, that last evidence he has that the Lord has blessed him, that last small reminder that he was chosen by God for a purpose, his long hair, it's been shaved off.
[43:57] Now, spiritually and reflected in his physical reality, Samson is now cut off completely from what he once was called to be.
[44:08] And with that, he is now cut off completely from the power God gave him. And we see that his power's gone. His hair is gone. He is no longer recognizable as a Nazarite.
[44:20] He's now just Samson. The son of Manoah. He's captured quite brutally and quite horrifyingly and very evilly.
[44:32] His eyes are gouged out. These eyes which have caused him to sin so often are now horrifically removed from him. He is now just one lonely, powerless man against the whole Philistine war machine with their thousands of soldiers.
[44:51] He has no hope. He has, as it were just now, at least no help. He is on his own. And Samson is captured and taken away. There's a horrifying phrase you see in the capture of Samson.
[45:09] At the end of verse 20. That last phrase of verse 20. Samson cries out, I will go out as ever times and shake myself free.
[45:20] But he did not know that the Lord had left him. And note there, Lord is capitals. He did not know that Yahweh had left him. Samson is now on his own.
[45:33] He has sinned and sinned. Gone against God. He has presumed God's continued grace. He has presumed God's continued unabounding love.
[45:44] Even in the face of his ongoing sin. And finally the Lord has let Samson's sin catch up to him. God is not on the wrong here.
[45:54] He has finally let Samson get what he wants. He wanted a life of ongoing, unstopped sin. And God now lets Samson have that.
[46:07] God has rescued him time and time and time again. That rescue for now has stopped. And Samson now receives in himself the just rewards for a sinful life.
[46:20] God is merciful. But God is not mocked. He is not mocked. He's captured. His eyes are gouged out.
[46:33] And this man who spent his life roaming around the country. Doing as he pleased. He is now we see tied down to this mill. Walking around and round with no eyes.
[46:46] And no escape. And no strength. But note what the text tells us. Verse 22. But the hair of his head began to grow again after it had been shaved.
[47:04] And we're saying the hair is not magic. Why does scripture include this for us? Well, it doesn't go too far to make the point.
[47:18] But if his long hair as a Nazarite symbolizes his oath, his promises, his lifestyle of serving God. Then perhaps, and we see this here later on in detail again.
[47:32] Now he is confined. Now he is captured. Now he's got nothing to do all day but walk in circles it seems. As his hair grows back, we are seeing Samson returning back to what he was called to be and called to do in the first place.
[47:51] As he spends his time going round and round being an object of mockery, an object of abuse. Slowly but surely, he is coming back to what he is, what he was born to be.
[48:06] A judge of Israel. The saviour of his people. The hair growing back is a glorious image. Slowly but surely, as Samson comes back to his senses, he is coming back to the Lord.
[48:21] As he comes back to the Lord, he is getting more strength. He gets more strength. The hair as a word is growing. And this man who was hopeless and helpless, he is not yet done in his service for the Lord.
[48:38] You see he's mocked mercilessly. Verse 23 down to verse 27. We see that they call a gathering. Verse 23. And they're worshipping Dagon. Just by the by.
[48:50] This is a dragon. A god. It's a dragon god that they worshipped. It's the same root god as Baal. It's the same god in the end. Lowercase g.
[49:01] Small g. It's all Satan, of course. But they worshipped Baal. But Baal was the same family of gods as Dagon. It's all the same root. But either way, these Philistines worshipped Dagon.
[49:14] And note that they praised Dagon. Our God has given Samson, our enemy, into our hand. And then the people praise him the same way. The people then say, our God has given our enemy into our hands.
[49:25] A ravager of our country who has killed many of us. They mock him. And the truth is, they aren't 100% wrong.
[49:35] God has given Samson into their hand. But it's not their God. It's not Dagon who's given Samson into their hand. It is the true and living God as Yahweh himself has given Samson into their hand.
[49:51] As they're about to find out, sadly, perhaps for them, in a few short minutes. There's these thousands of them. Three thousand men and women mocking him.
[50:03] Probably more. As you note, there's three thousand, as it were, on the roof. Plenty more, we are sure, in the area. All mocking him. All enjoying the victory.
[50:14] It's a short-lived victory. Here we see the end, of course, of Samson's life. What has Samson done only once before in our few weeks looking at him?
[50:26] There's one thing we said he does twice in his whole life. Pray. He has prayed once before, Lord, I'm so thirsty, I'm going to die.
[50:37] Give me some drink. Give me some water. That kind of uselessly prayer that Samson prays. That feeling sorry for himself prayer he prays. Well, now we see the second time that Samson prays in his life that's recorded for us.
[50:52] And the prayer now is totally different. Totally different. Verse 28. And note here the small details. Then Samson called to Yahweh and said, O Lord God.
[51:12] Elohim. Adonai. Elohim, Yahweh. Please remember me. Samson now giving God finally. He's taken his whole life. 20 odd years of being a judge.
[51:23] Samson now finally gives God the place that God deserves. And he names God well. And he addresses God respectfully and properly. He says to God, Please remember me.
[51:36] And please strengthen me only this once. No word. God has strengthened him countless times before. So many times Samson doesn't even realise God looked after him. But anyway.
[51:48] Strengthen me only this once. But Samson is still Samson. Why does he want strengthened? Because he wants revenge for his eyes. That I may be avenging the Philistines for my two eyes.
[52:00] The Lord seems to not hold but against him. He prays for strength. He prays for help.
[52:12] It's taken Samson's whole life. And finally at the very last thing he does. He is now about to achieve. He is now about to achieve.
[52:23] His actual calling. Of destroying the enemy. When it takes place. He puts his hands out. And he pulls down. He pushes and he pulls and he pulls down.
[52:35] These pillars. If a roof held 3,000 men and women. This is no small building. This is no small feat. This is not Samson being a strong man.
[52:46] This is Samson with God's full strength. Samson in this one movement. He kills the lords of the Philistines. He kills their families.
[52:56] He destroys the enemy. He has finally accomplished what it is. He was called to do from the very start. He was supposed to free his people.
[53:07] From the evil rule and oppression. Of the Philistines. Now finally 3,000 plus of them. Are gone. A useless judge in many ways.
[53:22] A terrible judge. In many ways. A judge whose pattern. We should not be following at all. In many ways. Now finally.
[53:33] As his last act. Of sacrifice. He accomplishes. The work he was called to do. The parallel is clear for us. But it must.
[53:44] Be made. Where we see in Samson's life. These last few weeks. A useless judge. Giving his life. To save his people from the enemy.
[53:55] We have of course. In our saviour. A faithful. Judge. Who had not a single point in his life. Did he put himself. First.
[54:07] At every single decision. Every single chance. Samson had. To put the Lord first. And himself second. Samson chose. Himself. Every point.
[54:19] Our saviour. Was faced with. Trial. And temptation. And agony. And pain. And suffering. Our saviour. Again and again. He chose the path.
[54:29] Of suffering. He chose the path. Of obedience. He chose the path. Of love. For his people. Because he is. The perfect. Judge.
[54:40] He is the perfect. Saviour. We have a faithful judge. Who. As Samson was a. A very poor shadow of. Who like Samson.
[54:52] At the very end. Who brings victory of his. For his people. From his suffering. As Samson ends his life. He does so to save his people.
[55:02] From the oppression of the enemy. As our saviour. Suffered and died on that cross. He brought an end. To the oppression. And the suffering. Of his people. From the enemy. What Samson.
[55:14] Could only be a shadow. Of our saviour. Completed. In. Its fullness. As we come to an end. Of our study.
[55:25] We will. Come to a conclusion. Of judges. Next week. I don't want to be in judges. When December starts. We have been long enough. In judges. I think. Let's. End our year. Of a bit of a.
[55:35] A positive. Look. Into some. Some. Some more glorious. Gospel. Truths. So next week. Just as a. Some homework. For you. And I am saying this.
[55:46] Quite seriously. If you can. Next week. We're covering. Chapters. 19. 20. And 21. There's a reason. For that. I'm not wanting.
[55:56] A quick skive. But chapters. 19. 20. And 21. They have a connection. They all go together. You'll see that. In detail. So.
[56:07] Can I ask. If you have time. This week. And I hope you do. Please read. These chapters. Before coming. Next. Lord's. Day. Evening. Read chapters. 19. 20. And 21.
[56:18] We'll read. Sections. From each. As we go through. The sermon. Now. Just to say. I must warn you. If you haven't read them before. They are.
[56:29] Not. Easy. Chapters. To read. Read. In fact. They are quite grim. Chapters. To read. They are. Horrifying. Chapters. To read. And they're supposed to be.
[56:41] As God brings this. Story. Of his rebellious people. To an end. He does so. Showing one thing. See the last few chapters. 19.
[56:51] To 21. There is no more. Outside enemy. Being judged against. There's no more. Philistines. Or Hittites. And so on. No. Chapters 19. To 21.
[57:02] We see the evil. Of God's own people. And I say evil. I mean it. It is. Horrifying. To read. And.
[57:13] I'll give away. Next week's sermon. Just now. Because it's quite clear. When you read this chapter. Note one thing. There is no help coming. There is no help given.
[57:25] There is no hope. In these last few chapters. They are dark. And become darker. And darker. As you go on. And our whole sermon. Is based next week. For Lord's help.
[57:36] And the final words. Of chapter 21. It's how we begun. Our study in Judges. In those days. There was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right.
[57:49] In his own eyes. We have. A king. Not just a king of Israel. We have a king. Who reigns. Over all his creation. And despite the evil.
[57:59] Of his creatures. Despite the evil. We see in this world. The evil we'll see. Next week. In these three chapters. We have hope. That in Jesus. And with Jesus. And through Jesus.
[58:10] He looks after his people. He keeps his people. He loves his people. And he protects. His precious. People. Let's bow our heads now.
[58:21] A word of prayer. Lord. Thank you Lord. For. The honest look. That we have in your word. As to the reality. Of the life. Of your servants. Those of your servants.
[58:32] Who served you well. But also those of your servants. Who. Like Samson. Who. Who spent so much time. In sin. And so much time. In rebellion. That it seems as if they. Didn't even serve you at all.
[58:43] In their whole life. Lord. We ask that you would. Bless these words. To us. And as we see. In the account of Samson. Despite. A poor example. Of a servant. That you.
[58:54] Keep your people. You look after your people. You save. And love your people. You rescue your people. Despite. The rebellion. And the arrogance. Of those.
[59:05] At times. You have called. To serve you. Help us. As we. Begin this new week. To do so. Thinking. And reflecting. On the account of Samson. We face much evil. In this world.
[59:16] Face much persecution. And much pain. But we face this world. With our God. Behind us. Before us. Around us. For one who loves us. And who keeps us. Who promises never to leave.
[59:27] Nor forsake us. With all these things in mind. We come just now. To sing your praise. Once more. To sing it from your word. We give you thanks for that. As we sing your word. We know we do so. Singing words that are perfect.
[59:39] Because they come from you. Help us sing Lord. With minds and hearts. Full of praise. It's got all these things. In and through. And for Jesus. For his precious name's sake. Amen.
[59:53] We can sing some more verses. From the first singing we had. Scottish Psalter. Psalm 81. Scottish Psalter. Psalm 81.
[60:03] Psalm 81. Psalm 81. That's on page 335. That's on page 335. Psalm 81. Psalm 81. Psalm 81. On page 335.
[60:14] We can sing verses 11 down. To the end. Verse 16. Psalm 81. Verses 11. Down to verse 16. As we sing of God's deliverance.
[60:28] Of his people Israel. But yet my people. To my voice. Would not attentive be. And even my chosen Israel. He would have none of me. So.
[60:39] To the lust of their own hearts. I then delivered. And then in counsels of their own. They vainly wondered. Psalm 81.
[60:50] Verses 11 to 16. To God's praise.platz. Amen. Him. He would not listen.
[61:18] He would have none of me. So to the last song of their own hearts, I can be given it.
[61:42] And then in counsels of their own, they make me wander then.
[61:57] O that my people have me here, this thread my lips have jones.
[62:13] I have led me to subdue my hand turned on their foes.
[62:28] The haters of the Lord to Him submission should have paid.
[62:44] But as for them, their time should have forevermore remained.
[63:00] He should have also fed and went the finest of the wheat.
[63:16] Oh, honey from the rock I fill, I should have made Thee.
[63:32] In the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God the Father, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, both you now and forevermore. Amen.