应守的秘密
士师记十六章15至25节
15大利拉对参孙说：“你既不与我同心，怎么说你爱我呢？你这三次欺哄我，没有告诉我，你因何有这么大的力气。”
16大利拉天天用话催逼他，甚至他心里烦闷要死。
17参孙就把心中所藏的都告诉了她，对她说：“向来人没有用剃头刀剃我的头，因为我自出母胎就归神作拿细耳人；若剃了我的头发，我的力气就离开我，我便软弱像别人一样。”
18大利拉见他把心中所藏的都告诉了她，就打发人到非利士人的首领那里，对他们说：“他已经把心中所藏的都告诉了我，请你们再上来一次。”于是，非利士人的首领手里拿着银子，上到妇人那里。
19大利拉使参孙枕着她的膝睡觉，叫了一个人来剃除他头上的七条发绺。于是，大利拉克制他，他的力气就离开他了。
20大利拉说：“参孙哪，非利士人拿你来了！”参孙从睡中醒来，心里说：‘我要像前几次出去活动身体。’他却不知道耶和华已经离开他了。
21非利士人将他拿住，剜了他的眼睛，带他下到迦萨，用铜链拘索他，他就在监里推磨。
22然而他的头发被剃之后，又渐渐长起来了。
23非利士人的首领聚集，要给他们的神大衮献大祭，并且欢乐。因为他们说：“我们的神将我们的仇敌参孙交在我们手中了。”
24众人看见参孙，就赞美他们的神说：“我们的神将毁坏我们地、杀害我们许多人的仇敌，交在我们手中了。”
25他们正宴乐的时候，就说：“叫参孙来，在我们面前戏耍戏耍。”于是将参孙从监里提出来，他就在众人面前戏耍。他们使他站在两柱中间。
信息分享
「你不依从我，怎么算是爱我呢？」许多人正是因着这句话，而掉入陷阱之中。为了证明自己爱对方，便向对方的要求屈服，结果却被出卖。
参孙的遭遇尤其可悲。圣经其中一节最可悲的经文，也许就是本章的20节：「他却不知道耶和华已经离开了他。」他已经失去神先前赐给他的力量。他竭力去做往日能做的事，却不成功。
请看第24、25节。神的仆人跌倒，神的敌人便可以扬言：「我们的神才是最伟大。」这当然是谎话，但参孙的失败却使他们肯定自己的想法。
因此，我们的见证影响深远。当我们有美好的表现，便能够荣耀神。可是，当我们软弱跌倒，在别人眼中我们的神便好像无能。神当然不是。我们之所以跌倒，是因为我们没有珍惜神的恩典和能力，那是神愿意随时赐给我们的。我们为何不紧记这功课，在每天的生活中经历更多的得胜呢！
参孙最后的祷告，再一次证明神有无穷的赦罪之恩（28-30）。纵使他的祷告似乎仍然是为了自己，而且多少带有报复的成分，但神仍然应允他的祈求。
我们从参孙身上学到甚么重要的教训呢？就是神无论赐给我们甚么恩赐，我们都要按着神的旨意去运用，并借此荣耀神。
THE SECRET HE SHOULD HAVE KEPT
Judges 16:15-25
15 Then she said to him, “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.”
16 And it came to pass, when she pestered him daily with her words and pressed him, so that his soul was vexed to death,
17 that he told her all his heart, and said to her, “No razor has ever come upon my head, for I have been a Nazirite to God from my mother’s womb. If I am shaven, then my strength will leave me, and I shall become weak, and be like any other man.”
18 When Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she sent and called for the lords of the Philistines, saying, “Come up once more, for he has told me all his heart.” So the lords of the Philistines came up to her and brought the money in their hand.
19 Then she lulled him to sleep on her knees, and called for a man and had him shave off the seven locks of his head. Then she began to torment him, and his strength left him.
20 And she said, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” So he awoke from his sleep, and said, “I will go out as before, at other times, and shake myself free!” But he did not know that the LORD had departed from him.
21 Then the Philistines took him and put out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza. They bound him with bronze fetters, and he became a grinder in the prison.
22 However, the hair of his head began to grow again after it had been shaven.
23 Now the lords of the Philistines gathered together to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon their god, and to rejoice. And they said:
“Our god has delivered into our hands
Samson our enemy!”
24 When the people saw him, they praised their god; for they said:
“Our god has delivered into our hands our enemy,
The destroyer of our land,
And the one who multiplied our dead.”
25 So it happened, when their hearts were merry, that they said, “Call for Samson, that he may perform for us.” So they called for Samson from the prison, and he performed for them. And they stationed him between the pillars.
Message
“How can you say you love me if you won't do what I want?” That's a trap so many people have fallen into. To prove their love (was it really love?) they have given in and then felt betrayed afterwards.
Samson's story is particularly pitiful. Perhaps one of the saddest verses in Scripture is verse 20, “He did not know that the Lord had left him”. All the previous strength loaned to him by God was now gone. He tried to do what he had done before, but he could not.
Look at verses 24 and 25. The failure of God's servant meant God's enemies could say, “Our gods are the greatest.” They were wrong of course but Samson's failure made them think that way.
How far-reaching is our witness! When it is clean and honoring to God, it can really bring glory to Him. When we fail, it looks like God has failed. He hasn't, of course. We have failed because we have not appropriated the grace and strength which God was (and is) waiting to give us. Why don't we learn this lesson and achieve victory more often in daily experience?
Samson's final prayer is another illustration of God's forgiving grace (vv. 28-30). God granted his request even though there still seems to be a lot of self-centeredness in it. It almost seems like a prayer for revenge.
What is the major lesson for us from Samson's life? Whatever gifts God has given us, they are to be used for His glory and according to His will.