Today's Favorite Verse: Judges 16:28

Today's Favorite Verse: Judges 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 eyes."

I do believe Samson was conditionally given the gift of great physical strength. I feel really bad that he instead chose to use this gift to his own devices. If he had served the Lord instead of himself the outcome would have been so different. The downfall of Samson was his uncontrollable lust for undesirable women. Women that betrayed him for a price. His story demonstrates the penalty of breaking the law of chastity, and where it leads you.

I know this verse has Samson calling on the Lord to give him strength one last time. I don't think the Lord did it to avenge the loss of Samson's eyes though. In away I feel Samson took his own life, the ultimate defiance of God's will for his life. With his suicide he also took out 3,000 Philistines. I think defeating the Philistines was God's purpose for his life. The problem is Samson did things his way and not the Lord's way. If Samson had worked with the Lord maybe he could have lead a great army against the Philistines, and killed those same 3,000. I am sure the Lord would have given him strength to have been victorious over them. He could have been a marvelous example of the power of the Lord. I wondered if he could have been another Ammon (Alma 17). Samson's story is a great example of predestination, yet still having our agency to choose.


Day 802