Our song of preparation here this morning, Psalm 79. Psalm 79, the first rendition of the psalm, so letter A, God, the nations have invaded. It's really what the book of Judges is all about, and it's especially what we look at this morning through Samson, the Judge Samson. Psalm 79, we're only going to sing the first and the third. I know we have more listed in the bulletin, but just the first and the third for the sake of time. So stand with me as we sing 1 and 3, Psalm 79a. to the bridge of praise be. And the voices of your faithful to our anthem pose to be. For how long will your displeasure carry on ♪ To tell the Savior good-bye ♪ ♪ I dare all gods to be proud ♪ ♪ For the glory of the nations ♪ ♪ Have rejected your holy name ♪ ♪ All the kingdoms which they founded ♪ Please turn with me in your Bibles this morning, congregation, to the book of Judges, chapter 16. The book of Judges, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, helping you find that. Old Testament there, soon after the five books of Moses. Book of Judges, chapter 16, where here we read of the death of Samson. His life is fairly familiar to us. We do not need to go over all of that. But it is especially in his death where we see a foretaste of our own Savior, Jesus Christ. So beginning at verse 23, reading through the end of the chapter. Congregation, hear the word of the Lord as it is read for you this morning. Now the lords of the Philistines gathered to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon, their God, and to rejoice. And they said, our God has given Samson, our enemy, into our hand. And when the people saw him, they praised their God, for they said, Our God has given our enemy into our hand, the ravager of our country who has killed many of us. And when their hearts were merry, they said, Call Samson, that he may entertain us. So they called Samson out of the prison, and he entertained them. They made him stand between the pillars. And Samson said to the young man who held him by the hand, let me feel the pillars on which the house rests, that I may lean against them. Now the house was full of men and women. All the lords of the Philistines were there. And on the roof, there were about 3,000 men and women who looked on while Samson entertained. Verse 28 is our text this morning. Then Samson called to the Lord and said, O Lord God, please remember me, and please strengthen me only this once, O God, that I may be avenged on the Philistines for my two eyes. And Samson grasped the two middle pillars on which the house rested, and he leaned his weight against them, his right hand on the one and his left hand on the other, and Samson said, let me die with the Philistines. Then he bowed with all his strength and the house fell upon the lords and upon all the people who were in it. So the dead whom he killed at his death were more than those whom he had killed during his life. Then his brothers and all his family came down and took him and brought him up and buried him between Zorah and Eshtael in the tomb of Manoah, his father. And he had judged Israel 20 years. Let's ask God's guiding hand upon his word as it's brought forth here this morning. Heavenly Father, we do pray that indeed you would instruct us, even from this life and death, this Judge Samson. Lord, give us eyes to see, spiritual ears that are discerning and wise. Lord, lead us through the power of your Holy Spirit, for without your guiding us, we indeed would be blind and lost. So grant your blessing to us. Picture us Christ and him crucified. In Jesus' name alone we pray, amen. Beloved congregation of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, as Reformed Christians, we understand that God's one great covenantal act of redemption can be seen, is pictured for us in both the Old and the New Testament alike. In other words, Jesus is not just a New Testament figure, for our Savior is foreshadowed in all of the Old Testament books of Scripture as well. How God was always picturing, foreshadowing, we like to say, his divine plan of redemption for his coveted people, even when they were not aware of it. And beloved, if there was ever a time when God's Old Testament people were not aware of the Lord's redemptive role being carried out in their midst, it was during this long period of time in Israel's history known as the time of the judges. This leads us immediately into the first point of the message, the purpose and the theme of the book of Judges. First of all, beloved, we should understand what this word Judges truly means. You are aware that this book is named after the 12 individuals whom God raised up in order to judge or to deliver his people out of the hands of their enemies and oppressors. That time period within the nation of Israel that this book describes begins right around the year 1400 BC. Beginning shortly after the time of Joshua's death, it spans the next 350 years, right up to the time of the arrival of Samuel as God's last judge and his first great prophet. Now that Hebrew word used to describe these 12 individuals is shefat. Shefat, and it does mean to judge. But beloved, whenever you hear that word judge, do not think of a person dressed in a long black robe with a gavel in his hand presiding over a court of law. These biblical judges are not those kinds of judges. The Hebrew word shefat can also mean to lead or even to deliver. And so these are Israel's deliverers, the 11 men and the one woman whom the Lord raised up to lead his people, to deliver his people out of oppression and sin and into freedom and blessing. So here is an important point, congregation. The judges, as God's deliverers then, are all pictures of Jesus in the Old Testament. They're all representatives of God's saving work in the lives of His covenant people. And as such, they all point forward to the consummate saving work done by God's ultimate deliverer, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. So we must realize that these 12 judges, in essence, are God's grace shown to his Old Testament people. They are Israel's saviors in miniature. And remember the pattern that we see running throughout this book of Holy Scripture. After the death of Joshua, the people of Israel fail in the command given them from God to totally destroy the pagan Canaanite population. Walking by faith with the Lord was hard. And instead, they became content living alongside of these sinners, coexisting with these unbelievers. And slowly but surely, God's people became more and more tolerant of and then open-minded toward these reprobates. And congregation, understand that is always how sin works in our lives. Still today, The more comfortable we become with a sin, the more sinful we become. Little sins, beloved, always turn into big sins in our lives. And let that be a warning to those who are here this morning playing with sin, willing to live with sin in your life. It will one day consume you. And soon, astonishingly soon, we see God's people begin intermingling with and even intermarrying with these unbelievers. Soon Israel was breaking covenant with Almighty God and they instead were forming covenants with unbelieving sinners. And as such congregation, Israel deserved God's immediate and total and eternal judgment. Extermination would have been totally fair on God's part toward His people. Swift condemnation should have fallen upon them. But what does God do instead? In love, in His covenantal faithfulness, God first sends oppressive enemies upon them to teach them their sin, And then when Israel cries out for help, when they turn from their sin and repent and look to the Lord, God sends them a Shaphat, a deliverer. to save them out of the hand of that enemy and to bring them back into a state of covenantal acceptance and grace. That's the pattern that we see throughout this book. So there's really the theme of the book of Judges, the pattern that we see repeated over and over again. God being exceedingly gracious and long-suffering, Israel being exceedingly faithless and sinful. And yet salvation comes to them sent by God through a deliverer. And congregation, if we stop for just a moment and think about this, if we're truly honest in examining our own hearts and lives, don't we see ourselves here? Isn't this the same pattern that we too live with still today in our own lives? The theme of the book of Judges could just as well be the theme of our own lives, couldn't it? For God is exceedingly long-suffering with us. He is amazingly gracious and compassionate with us. If he were to give us truly what we deserve, not one of us would survive. And yet equally amazing is our faithlessness that we show in return to him. How easily we take God's blessings and use them simply for ourself. How thanklessly we gladly take from God his goodness, but we use that goodness only on our own ends and purposes. And yet God has not judged us or immediately condemned us, has he? Instead, God has done just the opposite. He has sent a deliverer, the Lord Jesus Christ, He has taken on our enemy and defeated him. He has judged rightly and obeyed God perfectly and has won for us our deliverance and freedom. And so beloved, this cycle found in the book of Judges is really the history of God's people on this earth. It's the story of every one of us. Here we have, in essence, the gospel explained. For here we have salvation by grace alone, through faith alone, in Jesus Christ alone. And so here is the purpose and the theme of the book of Judges. Secondly this morning, we want to examine how this theme plays out in the life of Samson. So the purpose and the theme of the deliverer, Samson, now chronologically realized, Samson is Israel's last judge. The end of his life coincides with the beginning of the life of the prophet Samuel. And one thing unique about Samson is that he works entirely alone doing God's business. All of the other judges of Israel had armies, close supporters. Even Gideon, remember, had his 300 specially chosen men. But Samson has no one to walk alongside of him, no one to help him in life, not even one. And in this wandering loneliness, Samson represents, more than any of the other 11 judges, Samson represents Israel's ultimate judge who is yet to come. For as we now know, as New Testament believers today, the true deliverer of God's chosen people will also work and live alone. Yes, he had his 12 disciples, but you remember that when he really needed them, they all abandoned him. There was no one to help share the burden that Jesus alone must carry. The true judge of God will accomplish the deliverance of God's people from its archenemy, Satan, all by himself, alone in the strength and the spirit of Almighty God. Now it is at this point that we must also speak of how Samson is very much not like Jesus. Not only is Samson's strength and power legendary, but so is his lust and his sexual sin. In fact, Samson's total inability to control his worst habit has caused some to question how such an obvious sinner ever came to be positively portrayed and spoken well of in Holy Scripture. For remember how Hebrews chapter 11 speaks, in its great hall of faith, speaks about Samson. This is why what is said about Samson in chapter 11 must be kept in mind for us this morning. Because you see, if we were to view Samson only from the outside, then we too would regard him as nothing more than just another reprobate. But how does God view him? What does God's word say about this Old Testament judge? You know, we're told in Hebrews 11, verses 33 and 34, that these heroes of the Old Testament, I'm quoting here now, through faith, conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised, who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword, whose weakness was turned into strength, and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. Hebrews 11, verses 33 and 34. Now, beloved, understand those two verses are given as a summary of several of the Old Testament heroes of the faith who are listed in that chapter, with Samson being one of those several. But I believe that that one phrase mentioned in the very middle of those verses was especially written with Samson in mind. It applies to him perfectly. It's that phrase whose weakness was turned into strength. Weakness turned into strength. Beloved, it is true that in Samson's uncontrolled lust, he is weak, extremely weak. He's the most frail and fallible of all the Old Testament judges. And so in that way, he is the most unlike our ultimate judge and savior, Jesus Christ. And yet, you see, it is also only when Samson finds himself weak, and at that lowest point in his life, paying the due penalty in prison for his purposeful indulgence with sin, only when he is the most helpless, with no eyes, no hair, grinding grain like an animal in a Philistine torture chamber, only to be brought out into public when they want to make fun of him and humiliate him, only in such weakness was Samson given true strength. The strength to fully trust in God. You see, only when all of God's earthly blessings had been taken away from him, Only then did Samson finally come to a point of submission, of repentance, and of faith. Only when day after day he toiled endlessly in prison did Samson finally look up in faith to the Lord and he was made strong. And so it is only after this point of faith and confession do we see then how Samson can be a picture of Jesus to us today. And that leads us into the third point of the message then this morning. The purpose and the theme of Samson's death. Because you see it is especially in his death that we see a foreshadowing of our Lord's death as well. We can hear of Samson's change of heart by examining more closely his prayer found in our text. Look with me at verse 28 again. Verse 28, then Samson called to the Lord and said, O Lord God, please remember me and please strengthen me only this once. O God, that I may be avenged on the Philistines for my two eyes." Notice there how Samson makes two requests of the Lord in his prayer. First of all, Samson begins by saying, O Lord God, please remember me. Remember me. Now understand, beloved, this is a cry of repentance. For only a submissive and penitent sinner calls upon the Lord God to remember them. Unrepentant sinners don't care about God, if he remembers them or not. Only a faith that trusts entirely in the Lord makes such a plea, remember me. This tells us that day by day in Gaza's prison, the Lord was working upon Samson's heart. Samson remembers how richly he had formerly been blessed by God, how special he was in being set apart at birth with that Nazarite vow. He remembers how God had used him mightily and often to strike fear and terror into the hearts of God's enemies. but Samson also remembers how his pride got in his way of his service to the Lord. Daily he's reminded how through his own sin, his own foolish mistakes, his purposeful choices to pursue carnal lusts, how God's name now and God's people now are being mocked and derided all because of what he had done. so that now God's enemies are prevailing over God's people. And the false God, Dagon, is being praised instead of the true God, Yahweh. All because of Samson's sin. So truly, this is the lowest point of Samson's life. And yet in that lowest point, in Gaza's prison, wonderful things begin to happen within Samson's heart. It first begins to soften, then it melts, and then finally it is broken, broken of its pride, broken because of its guilt and its shame, and he cries out, remember me. He has been unfaithful to God's covenant calling, And so Samson cries out a call of faith. And how do we know it is true faith? Beloved, it is because of what Samson is willing to ask for in that second request of his prayer. Take notice of that. O Lord God, please remember me, this part, and please strengthen me only this once, O God, that I may be avenged on the Philistines for my two eyes." Notice how Samson asked for strength from God, but to do what, beloved? What is it, the purpose that he has in mind? Well, we're told that he wants to be avenged for or take vengeance on the Philistines for his two eyes. How are we to understand this? We must understand, beloved, that this is divine vengeance that Samson is asking for here. He desires strength from the Lord in order to carry out God's judgment upon God's enemies. We must know that Samson is not just angry that he can no longer see. So this is not revenge. If you have an NIV version of the Bible on your laps, you'll notice that's the word they use there. That's an unfortunate translation. So Samson is not angry that these uncircumcised pagans have taken out his eyes. that they have defaced God's anointed servant, but they are also purposefully defacing the Lord God of all heaven and earth. They are mocking the name of the living God. And so Samson's desire is for divine judgment to fall upon those who dare to defame the Lord and to deface God's servant. And so Samson prays. He prays that God may allow him the privilege of doing one last thing, to glorify God, even though it may mean his own death. Now, beloved, I want to pause here because I must explain that this is not suicide on Samson's part. Realize that suicide is never portrayed in scripture as being something that's good. It is always sinful and bad. Now understand why this is. Suicide is a faithless act. It's done to escape what seems to be a hopeless situation. And as such, you see, it is an act of rebellion against God. Why is it rebellion? It's because, you see, The person is saying through that act that not even God could help me in this situation. Not even God could fix this. And so I must take matters into my own hands. Beloved, that is sinful. Now understand that is not the, suicide is not the unforgivable sin. Realize that. but it is still rebellion against the Lord. Samson is not reacting in a rebellious, cowardly, faithless way. Rather, what we see Samson doing is submitting himself fully into God's plan for his life. He's not rebelling against it. He's asking God to affirm it. Understand why this is. This is why Samson prays, you see, for one last measure of strength, for divine strength. For if this is not how God intends for Samson to die, then that strength needed by him to collapse these pillars will not be given to him. If God intends for him instead to keep circling around that wheel in the Philistine dungeon, well then so be it. As a mere man, Samson could push against these pillars all he wants, but nothing will happen. And so in his prayer, we see submission. Samson is willing to go all the way to death if it is God's will for him. Samson is willing to be used in whatever way God sees best to carry out God's divine vengeance against sin, divine justice against these mocking sinners. zeal for the Lord has consumed him. And so acceptance of God's plan for his life now motivates Samson to be willing to go even all the way unto death for the honor and the glory of God. And so, beloved, it is in Samson's death that we see a picture, a beautiful picture of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Because zeal for the Father has also motivated our Savior, didn't it? Our Lord, too, was willing to offer the ultimate sacrifice for the praise and the honor of His heavenly Father. Our Lord, too, went all the way unto death so that divine judgment against human sin could be brought about Our Savior allows himself to be arrested, to be mocked by the jeering crowds. Our Lord, too, was humiliated and made a public spectacle upon the cross, made fun of by the soldiers, the religious leaders, the people. And yet it is in that humble, last, ultimate act of submission and sacrifice on Calvary's cross that our Lord redeemed, delivered, judged His people, justifying them for all eternity. Christ's shame brought glory to God the Father. Christ's death brings life to us as God's people. At the cross, divine vengeance falls upon God's enemies, and divine grace is given to all who will repent and believe. So beloved, have you done just that? Have you repented of your sin? Do you see in Jesus your ultimate and only deliverer, your judge, your Shaphat? In Samson's life, we see all the failures of Israel and of ourself. Indeed, he was full of sin. And yet in Samson's death, we see a beautiful picture of our Savior, Jesus Christ. We see the Lord God Almighty fighting for His people, saving to the fullest His chosen ones. In Samson, we see Jesus in the Old Testament. Look to Him in faith. Go out into the world this week and serve Him with all your heart and find your hope in your great Deliverer, Jesus Christ. Let's pray. Our Father in heaven, we do thank you that indeed, even though, yes, sin is still all around us and all around your people in this world, we pray that you would grant your guidance to us. As we seek to go forth out into this world this week, may you lead and guide and deliver and bless. Lord, I pray that you would be with these, your people, in whatever they face, whatever you have in store for them. Lord, I pray that even when they reach the bottom of their lives, may they look up in faith to their great Savior, their Deliverer, their Judge, Jesus Christ. Watch over and keep us all. In Jesus' name alone we pray, amen.