Good morning.
My name is Matthew Capone, and I'm the pastor here at Cheyenne Mountain Presbyterian Church.
And it's my joy to bring God's word to you today.
A special welcome if you are new or visiting with us.
We're glad that you're here.
And we're glad that you're here not because we're trying to fill seats,
but because we're following Jesus together as one community.
And as we follow Jesus together, we become convinced that there's no one so good
they don't need God's grace, and no one's so bad that they can't have it,
which is why we come back week after week to hear what God has to say to us in his word.
This week we are resuming our series in the book of Judges.
And you'll remember that the book of Judges is about a number of things.
It's about the need for constant renewal and revival among God's people.
It's about the need for a true and faithful king,
a king who can do what no human can do,
which is to change the hearts of men.
It's about the power of spirit-filled leadership.
And it's about God's mercy to hard-hearted people, people like you and me.
Last time we were in Judges chapter 13 and we began the story of Samson.
And you'll remember that we asked this question of,
what is our hope when it appears that the lights have gone out?
And we saw that our hope is that God does not give up on us.
Israel may have forgotten God.
God has not forgotten Israel.
It's with that that we continue into chapter 14.
And you'll remember, if you've been with us,
that there's this pattern that was set out at the very beginning of the book of Judges
that we're going to go from best to worst.
And so we had Othniel, who was our greatest judge of all time,
the model judge, the perfect judge.
Now we come to the last judge, Samson, who is, without a doubt, the worst judge.
And so, as we come to this passage, we're simply wondering this,
how is God going to work through this crazy leader?
How is God going to work through the dysfunction and anger and lust and disrespect of Samson?
And so with that, I invite you to turn with me to God's word.
As we turn, you can go in your Bible.
You can turn in your worship guide.
You can turn on your phone.
No matter what you do, remember that this is God's word.
Proverbs chapter 30 tells us,
And so it's for that reason that we read now, Judges chapter 14, starting at verse 1.
Samson went down to Timnah, and at Timnah he saw one of the daughters of the Philistines.
Then he came up and told his father and mother,
I saw one of the daughters of the Philistines at Timnah.
Now, get her for me as my wife.
But his father and mother said to him,
Is there not a woman among the daughters of your relatives or among all our people
that you must go to take a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines?
But Samson said to his father,
Get her for me, for she is right in my eyes.
Verse 4.
His father and mother did not know that it was from the Lord,
for he was seeking an opportunity against the Philistines.
At that time the Philistines ruled over Israel.
Then Samson went down with his father and mother to Timnah,
and they came to the vineyards of Timnah.
And behold, a young lion came toward him roaring.
Then the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon him,
and although he had nothing in his hand,
he tore the lion in pieces as one tears a young goat.
But he did not tell his father or his mother what he had done.
Then he went down and talked with the woman,
and she was right in Samson's eyes.
Verse 8.
Verse 10.
His father went down to the woman,
and Samson prepared a feast there,
for so the young men used to do.
As soon as the people saw him,
they brought thirty companions to be with him.
And Samson said to them,
Let me now put a riddle to you.
If you can tell me what it is,
within the seven days of the feast,
and find it out,
then I will give you thirty linen garments
and thirty changes of clothes.
But if you cannot tell me what it is,
then you shall give me thirty linen garments
and thirty changes of clothes.
And they said to him,
Put your riddle, that we may hear it.
Verse 14.
And he said to them,
Out of the eater came something to eat,
out of the strong came something sweet.
And in three days they could not solve the riddle.
On the fourth day they said to Samson's wife,
Entice your husband to tell us what the riddle is,
lest we burn you and your father's house with fire.
Have you invited us here to impoverish us?
And Samson's wife wept over him and said,
You only hate me, you do not love me.
You have put a riddle to my people,
and you have not told me what it is.
And he said to her,
Behold, I have not told my father nor my mother,
and shall I tell you?
She wept before him the seven days
that their feast lasted.
And on the seventh day he told her,
because she pressed him hard.
Then she told the riddle to her people.
And the men of the city said to him on the seventh day,
before the sun went down,
What is sweeter than honey?
What is stronger than a lion?
And he said to them,
If you had not plowed with my heifer,
you would not have found out my riddle.
Verse 19.
And the spirit of the Lord rushed upon him,
and he went down to Ashkelon,
and struck down thirty men of the town,
and took their spoil,
and gave the garments to those who had told the riddle.
In hot anger he went back to his father's house.
And Samson's wife was given to his companion,
who had been his best man.
I invite you to pray with me
as we come to this portion of God's word.
Our Father in heaven,
we do thank you again
that you have given us your word
to instruct us,
to help us,
to guide us.
And we thank you that you
use imperfect, flawed, sinful people
in your kingdom,
people like Samson.
We ask that you would use
this chapter this morning
to show us our great need
for your grace and your mercy.
You'd comfort us
with that very same grace and mercy
that you would lead us to know
and love our Lord Jesus more and more.
It's in his name
that we ask all of these things.
Amen.
If we had just Judges chapter 13
to go on,
if that's all we knew
about the story of Samson,
we would be only excited at this point.
We talked last week
about how God has this great mercy
for his people
despite the fact
that they have forgotten him.
They don't even cry out to him for help
and yet God still shows up to rescue.
He's raising up this redeemer,
this man who's going to save Israel
from the Philistines.
And he has even a more complicated
birth story and calling story
than any other judge that we've seen.
Even more than that,
you may remember
as we left chapter 13,
we were told this very last verse,
the spirit of the Lord
began to stir him,
that is Samson.
And so just knowing that,
we would think,
wow, God is going to do
the pattern that he's done before.
Samson has been raised up.
What should we expect
but that he's going to go out
and have a great victory?
Chapter 14,
we should see Samson.
He's going to go.
He's going to trash the Philistines.
Everyone's going to rejoice.
Things are going to continue
very well in the nation of Israel.
And so it should be,
in a sense,
a surprise to us
as we begin chapter 14
because it is a disappointing
montage of failure.
Samson does stupid thing
after stupid thing.
Verses 2 and 3,
Samson is disrespectful
of his parents.
He orders them around.
He says,
look,
this woman is right in my eyes.
And he says twice,
get her for me.
His parents try to dissuade him,
try to ask him,
hey, isn't there someone
among our own people,
someone who loves God
that you could go with?
And Samson doesn't even
listen to them.
He just tells them,
this is what I want.
This is what you're going to do.
And so he has this disregard
for his parents' concern
and advice.
Even more than that,
Samson has no regard
for God's law.
If you were with us
back in 2019
when we were in the book
of Nehemiah,
as we got to the very end,
remember one of Nehemiah's reforms
was to break up
these interfaith marriages
where God's people
had married with pagans
who were pulling them away
from worship
of the one true God.
And so Samson's parents,
rightly or wrongly,
like many parents,
decide to pick their battles
and they head down
with Samson
for this unfortunate marriage.
And let's not miss
what Samson is doing here.
It's not simply
or merely
that Samson is marrying
someone who does not love
the one true God.
Samson is marrying
into the Philistines.
He should instead
be fighting
the Philistines.
He's doing the very opposite
of what God
has called him to do.
He is making friends
with God's enemies.
If that were not enough,
Samson then goes on
to violate himself
and his parents.
In verses 6-9,
we see that this lion comes.
The Spirit of the Lord
comes upon Samson.
He's able to rip
this lion apart.
So far, so good.
He comes back
to the lion, though,
and he finds
this beehive is there.
He finds there's actually
honey he can get.
Now, remember I told you
last week the fact
that Samson is a Nazarite
is going to become
very important this week.
Nazarites are set apart
to God with a special focus
and devotion to him,
and there's three things
they're not supposed to do.
They're not supposed
to touch dead bodies.
They're not supposed
to cut their hair.
They're not supposed
to touch alcohol.
Where is the honey?
It's inside a dead body.
And it's not really
just Nazarites
who aren't supposed
to touch dead bodies.
It's all of God's people
are made ceremonially
unclean by this.
To make things worse,
it's not just that
Samson touches this honey.
He takes it
and brings it
to his parents,
and verse 9
tells us how bad it is.
He did not tell them
that he had scraped
the honey
from the carcass
of a lion.
This would be similar
to you today
going to the bathroom,
not washing your hands
at all,
and then coming back
to prepare food
for everyone.
Okay, we are being told
this.
Samson is nasty.
Okay?
Samson is gross.
He touches dead bodies.
He then gives
dead body honey
to other people,
doesn't tell them
what it is
they're touching
and they're eating.
Remember,
he's a Nazarite.
No dead bodies,
no cutting hair,
no alcohol.
What does he do next?
Well, he goes
and he throws
this party.
Verses 10.
Verse 10 and 11.
Samson prepared
a feast there
for so the young men
used to do.
What do the young men
do when they
throw a party?
They're not drinking
ginger ale.
Okay?
Samson continues
to disregard
God's call
on his life.
In fact,
he sums it up
in both verse 3
and verse 7
when we're told
about his feelings
toward this woman,
we're given this phrase,
she was right
in his eyes.
Now,
for a long time,
I used to think
that this statement
was about
Samson's physical
attraction to this woman
and at some level
that's probably true,
but this phrase,
right in their eyes,
is going to show up
later in the book
of Judges,
not about romantic
relationships,
but about people
doing whatever
they want.
In other words,
Samson likes her,
and nothing
else matters.
Samson is interested
in this woman.
He could not
care less
what his parents
think,
what God
thinks.
Samson does
what Samson wants.
For whatever reason,
this woman
melts
Samson's butter.
Okay?
Nothing else
matters.
And so we're
seeing a theme here.
We have not
seen it once,
twice,
but three times.
Samson does
almost everything
wrong.
Samson is supposed
to be set apart
to God as a Nazarite.
He's supposed
to be called
to this higher level
of obedience
and focus.
He can't even
get the basics
right.
Not marrying
a Philistine,
that's not some
special rule
for Nazarites.
No,
no Israelite
is supposed
to do that.
Yes,
Nazarites are
not supposed
to touch
dead bodies.
No Israelite
is supposed
to touch
a dead body.
Samson
should be
taking
senior level
classes.
Samson
can't even
make it
through Israelite
101.
Samson
is
the worst
judge.
So the author
of Judges
is telling us
over and over
to make sure
we don't
miss it.
Look,
Samson
is a trash
fire.
Samson's
life is
a complete
train wreck.
This
is the man
who God
is going
to use
to save
his people
from the
Philistines.
A man
who disregards
his parents.
A man
who disregards
God
himself.
So what
do we do?
with this
terrible
no-good
judge.
Now the
key
to chapter
14
is
in verse
4.
Samson's
parents
are
beside
themselves
that Samson's
making these
choices that
he's marrying
the wrong
person.
But what
they don't
know is
what we're
told here.
It was
from
the Lord.
for he
was seeking
an opportunity
against the
Philistines.
In other
words,
Samson
is a
mess.
God
is still
at work.
In the
midst of
Samson's
flaws
and failure,
God is
still
bringing
deliverance.
God is
working out
his purposes
no matter
what.
In fact,
this is a
theme we've
seen in
other parts
of Scripture.
You may
remember at
the very
end of
the book
of Genesis
in the
Joseph story,
Joseph is
sold by his
brothers because
of their
jealousy,
cast him
into a pit,
then they sell
him into
slavery.
God uses
their jealousy
to save
his people
from famine.
And you'll
remember,
Joseph gives
this memorable
line at the
very end of
the book.
He tells
his brothers,
as for
you,
you meant
evil against
me,
but God
meant it
for good
to bring
it about
that many
people should
be kept
alive as
they are
today.
The point
is this.
God is
gracious,
and in
his
graciousness,
he works
through sinful,
flawed,
foolish,
arrogant,
imperfect
people.
God uses
foolish,
selfish,
sinful men
and women
to accomplish
his will.
God
will
accomplish
his
purposes.
God
will
accomplish
his purposes.
The will
of the
Lord
will
prevail.
God
uses
parents who
are still
wrestling with
their own
demons
to teach
their
children
and their
grandchildren
about God's
love.
God uses
narcissists
with strong
personalities
to get
organizations
off the
ground.
God uses
self-centered
friends
who often
lose the
plot
to care
for us,
to comfort
us,
to serve
us.
God
uses
leaders
with
overwhelming
pride
and ego
to take
courageous
stands
for
unpopular
truths.
God
uses
people
who are
anxious
and
fearful
to speak
words of
comfort and
healing
to his
people.
God
uses the
persecution
of the
church
to
scatter
his
people
and
spread
the
gospel.
Now,
don't hear
what I'm
not saying.
I am
not saying
sin does
not matter.
And I
am not
saying
that our
sin
does not
have
consequences.
Gideon's
sin is
going to
catch up
with him
in a
big way.
In two
chapters,
chapter 16,
the rant
is going
to come
to.
Samson
is going
to have
to pay
the price
for his
foolishness.
So I'm
not saying
sin doesn't
matter.
I'm not
saying we
brush away
those
things.
What I
am saying
is this.
God
is gracious.
God
in his
grace
chooses
to work
through
imperfect
people.
In fact,
that's the
only kind
of people
there are.
God
in his
grace
accomplishes
his work
through
Samson.
God
in his
grace
accomplishes
his work
through
you
and me.
You'll
see this
on page
seven of
your worship
guide,
a quote
from Martin
Luther.
God
uses
crooked
sticks
to draw
straight
lines.
Christian,
you are,
I am,
we are
crooked
sticks.
And God's
line will
always be
straight.
God
uses you
and me
and us
in the
midst of
our stupidity,
our mistakes,
our failure,
our sin.
none of
them
stop
the
advance
of his
kingdom.
They don't
stop Samson
from being
used by
God.
They don't
stop us
either.
God
will
be
God
to be
God.
God
is
using us
when God
uses us,
it does
not mean
that he
approves
of everything
in our
lives.
It does
not mean
that we
have it
all figured
out.
it does
not mean
when we
see great
fruit and
success
in our
efforts
that we
pat ourselves
on the
back.
It does
mean that
God is a
God of
mercy.
It does
mean that
God is a
God who
keeps his
promises.
It does
mean that
God is a
God who
is faithful.
So there's
a sobering
truth.
It gives
us great
humility as
we follow
Jesus
together.
There's
also an
encouraging
truth.
God
can and
God will
use us
for his
glory despite
our sin
and rebellion
and confusion.
Not
because we
are great,
but because
God is
great.
God will
always
accomplish
his
purposes.
I told
you a
minute ago
that verse
4 was our
key to this
chapter.
And verse
4 tells us
it was from
the Lord.
What is it
that's from
the Lord?
Also tells us
he's seeking
an opportunity
against the
Philistines.
Remember,
when the
angel of the
Lord comes
to Manoah's
wife,
the angel
says,
look,
Samson is
going to
begin to
save Israel.
And what
is it that
happens in
this chapter?
Samson begins
to save
Israel.
And he
begins to
save Israel
by taking
some Philistines
to task.
In verses
12-8,
he sets out
this impossible
riddle.
This riddle
that makes
sense to
him because
he's experienced
it, right?
He knows
about the
lion.
Not a
riddle that
makes sense
to anyone
else.
So Samson,
he's not
fair to
the Philistines.
The Philistines
decide all is
fair in love
and war.
They're not
fair to
Samson.
And so we
see in
verse 15,
they go and
threaten his
wife.
Clearly his
wife is not
aware of
Samson's
powers.
If she
were, she
would have
just filled
him in.
Hey, there's
some Philistines
they've
threatened to
burn down
my parents'
house.
Can you go
rip them
apart?
Instead, she
spends days
crying, right?
Not knowing
how it is
that she
can convince
Samson.
And finally,
verses 17
and 18,
he tells
her.
She tells
them, and
there's some
foreshadowing
here, wait
for chapter
16, the
same play
is going to
get run on
Samson again.
Samson has
a weakness,
that weakness
is women.
And what
does God
do?
He
accomplishes
his purposes.
Verse 19,
And the
spirit of the
Lord rushed
upon him,
and he
went down
to Ashkelon,
and struck
down thirty
men of the
town, and
took their
spoil, and
gave the
garments to
those who
had told
the riddle.
In hot
anger, he
went back
to his
father's
house.
Samson
wrecks
some
Philistines.
God
creates
tension
between
his people
and the
Philistines
when his
people are
complacent
under
oppression.
God
accomplishes
his purposes.
God
uses
Samson
to reach
end state.
Samson's
sin
and lust
and selfishness
are not
great enough
to stand
in God's
way.
Christian,
your lust
and sin
and selfishness
are not
great enough
to stand
in God's
way.
That is
how great
our God
is.
It's not
just that God
uses sinful
men and
women,
though.
We also see
here God
beats the
devil at
his own
game.
Satan loves
to promote
sin.
Satan is
thrilled
that Samson
has all
of these
character
flaws.
Satan is
delighted
that Samson
has an
anger
problem.
He loves
that Samson
is weak
around women.
God says
whatever evil
you promote,
I will
use it
for my
purposes.
I will
turn
evil
to good.
Remember
again,
Genesis 50,
as for you,
you meant
evil against
me,
but God
meant it
for good.
You'll see
this on page
nine of your
worship guide.
William Gurnall
tells us,
God lays
as it were
his own
plans under
Satan's
wings and
makes him
hatch them.
The Philistines
are going to
be defeated
no matter
what.
Some of you
may be
familiar with
the card
game Uno.
In that game,
you know you
can move
either clockwise
or counterclockwise,
and it's
become a
popular meme
in recent
years,
the power
of the
reverse Uno
card.
Someone's
coming up
against you
with an
attack.
All you
need to
do is
have the
most special
card in
the entire
deck,
the reverse
card,
and you
throw it
down,
and suddenly
the direction
of play
changes.
So if
moves were
moving
clockwise,
you throw
down your
reverse Uno
card,
things go
counterclockwise.
Going
counterclockwise,
you throw
your reverse
card down,
they go
clockwise.
It's become
this meme
of reversing
the direction,
using someone's
momentum
against them.
There's a
picture you
can find on
the internet
of a
referee
calling out
a soccer
player with
his card,
and the
soccer player
has the
reverse Uno
card in
his hand.
And so
he's saying,
no,
ref,
the call
is on
you,
not me.
God
constantly
plays reverse
Uno on
the devil.
God uses
Satan's
momentum
against him.
God takes
the evil
and sin
in this
world,
and he
takes the
evil and
the sin
of his
people.
He uses
it to
accomplish
his will.
No matter
how tricky
and strategic
and tactical
Satan is,
he always
ends up
flat on
his face.
It's
ironic as
we move
through the
book of
Judges,
as things
get worse
in Israel,
the encouragement
actually increases.
You may
remember as
we were in
the early
Judges,
we would
talk about,
hey,
this is the
sin that
Israel is
falling into.
We want
to avoid
that sin
and move
towards
righteousness,
right?
This chapter
we've kind
of given
up on
that.
There's
too many
sins
going on
here for
Samson.
He's
doing
everything
wrong.
And so
more and
more,
the sounding
note is
this,
as bad
as things
get for
God's
people,
God's
mercy is
greater.
As much
as God's
people mess
it up,
God's
power is
more.
No matter
how much
you believe
that you
have messed
it up,
God is
still in
control.
Even if
you think
the future
is gone,
God is
still
writing it.
God's
grace
is more
and more.
The more
Israel
fails,
the more
gracious
God
is.
It is
one thing
in the
beginning
and middle
of Judges
to see
God's grace
to sinful
people.
It is
another
thing
to see
God's grace
to really
sinful
people.
God's
grace
in the
life of
Samson
is
shocking.
Christian,
God's
grace in
your life
is shocking
as well.
And it's
shocking
because of
his mercy
and his
love
and his
forgiveness.
It's pretty
clear what I
hinted at last
week, which is
that Samson is
not going to
cut it.
Israel
ultimately is
going to need
a better
and greater
king.
We've already
seen some of
Samson's
failures.
Things are
going to get
worse next
week and
even worse
the week
after.
Samson is
going to,
at the end,
because of
God's mercy,
pull a
success
from the
jaws of
defeat.
Which brings
us back to
the beginning,
the middle of
this chapter.
You may
have found
it strange
that a
beehive
shows up
in a
lion's
carcass.
At least
I hope you
found it
strange.
When I
go to
Costco,
there is
no lion's
carcass
honey.
Right?
Because those
things don't
happen.
Honey does
not come out
of dead
corpses.
One commentator
puts it this
way,
Bees do
not normally
inhabit
cadavers,
flies and
maggots do.
God is
bringing
something sweet
and gracious
out of the
corpse of
his people.
God is
taking what
should be
rotting and
decaying
and turning
it into
something
life-giving.
God shows
up to his
people who
have forgotten
and abandoned
him and he
brings them
deliverance.
Which points
us forward to
an even
greater and
sweeter
deliverance.
God comes
to his
people who
rebel against
him and
he sends
his one
and only
son to
bring
something
sweet.
God shows
up to a
world that
hates him
and he
sacrifices
his one
and only
son so
that he
can love
them.
Samson
begins to
save Israel
from the
Philistines.
God saves
his people
once and
for all.
And so
as we
reach past
the halfway
point in
Judges, we
see God's
grace dripping
more and
more.
We see
God's grace
growing larger
and larger
because sweetness
comes from
death, not
only in this
lion, but
in our
Lord Jesus.
That Jesus
comes and
he lives the
perfect life
that we
should have
lived.
He dies the
death that
we deserve
to die.
He brings
life where
there should
be death.
As one
man has
put it, he
uses an
instrument of
torture as
an instrument
of salvation.
He takes
people who
hate him.
He sends
his son to
love them.
Christian,
that's the
good news
for this
world.
That's the
good news
for you.
God uses
imperfect,
sinful,
failing,
stupid people
to accomplish
his purposes.
Those are
the only
people there
are.
Grace,
grace,
God's grace,
grace that
is greater
than all
our sin.
Let's pray.
Our Father
in heaven,
we do
praise you
and thank
you that
your grace
is so
great it
is shocking.
We thank
you for
your grace
in Samson's
life,
your faithfulness
to your
people.
We thank
you for
your faithfulness
to us
in our
lives.
We ask
that you
would remind
us of it,
that we
would know
that the
future isn't
gone because
you're still
writing it for
us.
That would
lead us to
greater hope
and confidence
and trust
and faith
in you.
And we
ask these
things in
the mighty
name of
Jesus Christ.
Amen.