Where Did His Strength Lie?

1stBBC

Where did his strength lie?

Jdg 16:6 And Delilah said to Samson, Tell me, I pray thee, wherein thy great strength lieth, and wherewith thou mightest be bound to afflict thee.

Jdg 16:13 And Delilah said unto Samson, Hitherto thou hast mocked me, and told me lies: tell me wherewith thou mightest be bound. And he said unto her, If thou weavest the seven locks of my head with the web.

Jdg 16:19 And she made him sleep upon her knees; and she called for a man, and she caused him to shave off the seven locks of his head; and she began to afflict him, and his strength went from him.

After many victories, one day Samson lost his strength.

Where did his strength lie? Was it in the 7 locks of his hair!? No, his strength was:

1. in the purpose he was made for

Jdg 13:5 … and he shall begin to save Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.

2. in the kind of life he lived

Jdg 16:17 And he told her all his heart, and said unto her, There hath not come a razor upon my head; for I have been a Nazirite unto God from my mother’s womb: if I be shaven, then my strength will go from me, and I shall become weak, and be like any other man.

He lived as a Nazirite … holy and separated.

3. in the spirit of God that moved him

Jdg 13:25 And the Spirit of Jehovah began to move him in Mahaneh-dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.

Jdg 14:6 And the Spirit of Jehovah came mightily upon him, and he rent him as he would have rent a kid; and he had nothing in his hand: but he told not his father or his mother what he had done.

Jdg 14:19 And the Spirit of Jehovah came mightily upon him, and he went down to Ashkelon, and smote thirty men of them, and took their spoil, and gave the changes of raiment unto them that declared the riddle. And his anger was kindled, and he went up to his father’s house.

But when he loved, it was not the spirit.

Sometimes we take it for granted that we always possess the power of the spirit ….

Jdg 16: … And he awoke out of his sleep, and said, I will go out as at other times, and shake myself free. But he knew not that Jehovah was departed from him.

4. in his obedience

When he disobeyed and did not flee, he lost it.

1Ti 6:11 But thou, O man of God, flee these things;

Fun instead of run.

Num 25:1 And Israel abode in Shittim; and the people began to play the harlot with the daughters of Moab

Jos 1:7 Only be strong and very courageous, to observe to do according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded thee: turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest have good success whithersoever thou goest.

All the law, all the success.

5. in his father’s love

He lost it, but it grew again. His love never fails even when we fail.

Jdg 16:22 Howbeit the hair of his head began to grow again after he was shaven.

Mic 7:19 He will again have compassion upon us; he will tread our iniquities under foot; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.

6. in his prayers

Jdg 16:28 And Samson called unto the LORD, and said, O Lord GOD, remember me, I pray thee, and strengthen me, I pray thee, only this once, O God, that I may be at once avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes.

“Only this one” but not like the rest … to compensate on all the wasted years.

Psa 147:3 He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds.

No more required for pride or glory but for a noble cause back again.

Jdg 16:30 And Samson said, Let me die with the Philistines

He was asking for God’s glory this time and cared less about his life. With his sin he brought shame and wasted opportunities, but now he was asking to be given another chance to fulfill his purpose.

7. in his weakness

2Co 12:9 And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

When he was weak he achieved more than when he was strong.

Jdg 16:30 And he bowed himself with all his might; and the house fell upon the lords, and upon all the people that were therein. So the dead which he slew at his death were more than they which he slew in his life.

Heb 11:34 Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong

Was it in the 7 locks of his hair?

Pastor Tony Skaff

2005