[One-Verse Meditation]

Judges 15:14 (NIV) “As he approached Lehi, the Philistines came toward him shouting. The Spirit of the LORD came powerfully upon him. The ropes on his arms became like charred flax, and the bindings dropped from his hands.”

[Meditation]

When the Philistines, who had become Samson’s enemies, encamped in Judah, the men of Judah confronted their kinsman Samson instead of fighting the enemy. “Don’t you realize that the Philistines are rulers over us?” (v. 11). They mobilized three thousand men to bind one man, Samson, and hand him over to the enemy. It is an absurd situation, where they make a problem of their own kinsman’s resistance rather than the oppressor’s tyranny.

So Samson stands before the Philistines, bound. At that very moment when all human hope is gone, the Bible declares, “The Spirit of the LORD came powerfully upon him.” The ropes that bound him become useless. They fall away like burnt flax, and with a fresh jawbone of a donkey he had picked up, Samson strikes down a thousand men. All by himself. Is it not incredible?

This amazing event is what happens in the life of a saint today. Like Samson, unable to do anything about the ropes that bound him, we are helpless against the shadow of death that follows us. But at that very moment, in that place of helplessness, the Spirit of God works. He breaks all the bindings that entangled us and places in our hands the faith of grace (which may seem insignificant to the world). In this way, He enables us to live a victorious life that overcomes the world. This is the glory of a saint who has the Holy Spirit.

[Prayer]

Lord, today I begin this new day with the power of the Spirit that came upon Samson. Help me to trust in You, who work in the very place where my helplessness is revealed, and to take a strong step of faith, looking to You who are beyond what is seen. Amen.
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[Daily Reading]

Judges 15:1-16