2. And what was the result? His._yiel.ding meant^an^ immediate loss^ j^_^ow^rJ_,,^ml^^'^'£o^ on^^might think, whether the heaH of the Hebrew judge were adorned with locks that hung to his broad shoulders, or were closely shorn ? His strength surely lay in his mighty sinew and muscle. But this is just the naturalistic reasoning that misses the Divine element of the Hebrew history. The great thing about the Divine ordination of Samson's life was just that obedience to God
1 H. P. Liddon.
JUDGES XVI. 20 201
had been made to hinge upon a detail. The detail is nothing, the principle is everything. Xt.. is^the. -incidgfital expression of -^ eternal reality ; the Rmalj^Jjnly thgt prOtServp^or^^eyeredj breaks the chayi o( otjedienck^that keeps^man Jn^ coiniguniori_ffitJi.God. Keep it intact, and there is for every emergency the unceasing inflow of the Divine power; break it, disregard the small, apparently insignificant point which God in your inner life has made the condition of His being with you, and the power flies.' It flies insensibly as the perishing of the perfume from a dead flower, to be succeeded in time by the odour of corruption. So . it flew quietly, swiftly from Samson. " And he woke out of hisw sleep, and said, I will go out as at other times, and shake myself.w But he wist not that the Lord was departed from him." rf JL
He knew his loss pnl^_j£hen^th,e_stra His enemies <*^**'
were without. They^flew upon him, and he, confident with the confidence of fifty past victories, bent his mighty limbs for the fray. But, ^tjbe JJO wer ., was gone. Eamath-Lehi was not to be repeated then. Tha-^r.^n£th. Jbha.t.Jiad jnada-one n&an a. terror to a b^n^had gone. ]|lAC.cid.^nd .ppw;erless, he sank-.a. pitiable prey to ,tlie,,ground, " And, the Philistines Jaj^hpkl_onJliI^,,^ put out hi8_eYes: and thej_brought hir^i dpwn^^jp Jjaza, and boUBlL- him Svith let.teia^^ -togs.; aTid,hp did gri^j^ in thft
pnaonJioi^."
H The--fiQastan1^ cQjBggage QLeYei'^.,TX)£jL_p and seer, of l/fT
pyftry Iftader apd, p;ni<Je of Hebrew .^history, is th^Jjj_^^.y- .asjGrQd /»■- "^ rlwptT^,i]j, jjhp. rifl.tinn p.fl,nj-,hp. nn,tjon bp^ {?i-fiat. Thp chosen race gjol into^be wilderness a_mere_band ^ol fugitive^_jalaves ; t^y become 'jj algirS^aliifllubfiS^^ Thpy gn o,ut tn17att1pf
agaiftat m i gb ty pn pfioiegj^and jjjt tle_^e j>uj;^o fljgjit_^ tbQu§and.A becaufia-JGrad.-jgiarches~ •mt£ the^host : thej^^gojbg ^ttle^_without i God ..and the process is reversed — they go .ouj one7_way_andnBp"ft j Rpygri wftys- Prophets like Elyah defy kings like Ahab ; men i untrained to arms like Gideon put trained armies to flight ; I EUfiha, lonely and forgotten, counts those who be with him more j than those who be with his foes, because he sees the chariots and '■ horsemen of God moving in the clouds ; David, the shepherd boy, | is stronger than Goliath ; Daniel, in his purity and piety, is more \ than a match for the tyrannous king who holds him in his power ; / and the simple explanation of every such triumph is that God is with these heroes of faith and action. We may say, if we will, ^ that the heroism of those men was but the reflex action of their \
202 UNCONSCIOUS LOSS
faith ; it does not alter the facts. Something made them great, some power moving in and through them, which begot faith, and courage and high ideals, and noblest heroism. "Tbe-Xord was with, them,'.' is the explanatioii^_^affp^ed us^n , Scrip^uv^ He w'as'witfi them of their own consent, working through their own obedience and consecration. They were His vehicles, His instruments, the media of Divine manifestations. And if they had withdrawn from God, or if God had withdrawn from them, then had they been as other men ; they would have awakened as Samson did, to know their strength departed and the fountains pi their virtue dry. ^
How infinite and sweet, Thou everywhere And all-abounding Love, Thy service is !
Thou liest an ocean round my world of care,
My petty every-day ; and fresh and fair
Pour Thy strong tides through all my crevices,
Until the silence ripples into prayer.
That Thy full glory may abound, increase. And so Thy likeness shall be formed in me,
I pray; the answer is not rest or peace,
But charges, duties, wants, anxieties.
Till there seems room for everything but Thee,
And never time for anything but these.
And I should fear, but lo ! amid the press. The whirl and hum and pressure of the day,
I hear Thy garment's sweep. Thy seamless dress,
And close beside my work and weariness Discern Thy gracious form, not far away,
But very near, 0 Lord, to help and bless.
The busy fingers fly, the eyes may see
Only the glancing needle which they hold.
But all my life is blossoming inwardly.
And every breath is like a litany.
While through each labour, like a thread of gold,
Is woven the sweet consciousness of Thee!^
' W. J. Dawson. * Sarah Cliauncey Woolsej.
JUDGES XVI. 20 203
II.
The Chkistian's Loss.
Samson as consecrated is a type of every Christian. But we may take the text in two ways, first, as it refers to the Christian who has lost touch with God — the bafil^filiiJer, — "^he_Lord.waa^ departecLjfjCDZQ. hi]:g_" ;_ se,Qondv_as_Xt ^s£erA.4Q_^lie_Chnsl;ja^CL_wh^o --.^ has .iees-^LHoiiilied byjthe Holx,.Gho&t,an(ihas^ received power igr/^ sppcjal Rp.rvir.p.j s^.ri^ has^^af terwaida .lost this power. Qi l^m — ^ Samson is jSLQig_cleaj'ly the type.