Maybe the most interesting Judge in the Bible is Sampson. I call him, God’s Superman. In Judges 16, a worldly woman whom he loves tries to trick him into telling her the secret of his strength. He fools her and fools her. Finally we read in Judges 16:15
“Then Delilah said to Samson, ‘How can you say, ‘I love you,’ when your heart Is not with me? You have mocked me these three times, and have not told me where your great strength lies.’”
This may be one of the perplexing verses in the Bible. Samson was a flawed but a great man. He is mentioned in the Faith’s hall of fame (Hebrews 11), but he is blind to the love of his life, Delilah. A woman who obviously does not love him back. Three times she asked him the secret of his strength. Three times he deceives her and she tests him by trying to weaken him. After each time she called out “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” You would think he would have figured her out, but he did not.
She nagged him until he finally told her the truth about his strength. Finally, she weakens him for real and calls for his enemies. They came and easily captured him, blinded him, and make a slave of him.
Why couldn’t Samson see what kind of woman she was? The answer is found in verse 4 of this chapter.
“It happened that he loved a woman in the Valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah.” (16:4).
He could not see her flaws because he loved her. It is as simple as that. He was willfully blind to her evil because he loved her.
The great lesson for us is this: Be careful about what who or what you love. Of course you should love your family, but when it comes to things of the world and worldly people, guard your heart. What you love can become your blind spot.
Lonnie Davis