And so the title for tonight's message is Samson is Taught an Important Lesson. First of all, why Samson needs taught. Why Samson needs taught. And then secondly, how God teaches him. How God teaches him. So first of all then, why Samson needs taught? Well, after slaying a thousand men, the heaps are lying about him, heap upon heap, as he says. He's surrounded by heaps of bodies, And he has in his hand still, after slaughtering a thousand men, covered in blood and human tissue, he has still in his hand the jawbone. He doesn't throw it away yet. Before he throws it away, he breaks out into a poetic song of victory. This is his first tribute at the scene. He says, with the jawbone of an ass, heaps upon heaps, with the jaw of an ass, have I slain a thousand men. So this is his tribute, his poetic memorial to the victory, this song. are this poem. Now it is a carefully framed tribute and a very thoughtfully constructed song or poem. We didn't think Samson was a poet, did we? He's a warrior. He's a long-heard Nazarite. We didn't think he had the poetic gift. but he does. He has the gift of poetry. As I said, it is a carefully framed tribute, and this speaking of Samson is very important to the Holy Spirit who has recorded it for us. There's a focus on it. There's more attention given to it than there is to the killing of a thousand that's hardly described at all. But the speaking is described, what Samson says after the battle is described, and it's highlighted as well by the Holy Ghost. Because it says here, Samson said, and then it gives us the poem then at the end of the poem it says, And it came to pass when he had made an end of speaking. So the verb said and the verb to speak encloses it. That's the repetition of an idea, but the Holy Spirit is saying he said this, and then it's so very important, I came to pass that when he had made an end of speaking after he'd spoken it. So the Holy Spirit is highlighting it. There's something very special about it that he wants us to know. So it doesn't just say, with the jawbone of an ass, heaps upon heaps, and with the jaw of an ass have I slain a thousand men, and then he threw away the jawbone. That's not what it says. It says when he had met an end of speaking, speaking those very poetic words, speaking those very thoughtful and most carefully constructed words, after he had spoken it. with the jawbone of an ass in his hand all the time. This jawbone of an ass, he's holding it up kind of thing, and he's coming up with this eloquence and poetry, and then when he's made an end of speaking, he throws it onto the heaps. The Holy Spirit is painting it, and we shouldn't read it quickly. We have to be drawn into the drama. and see the story and the history and picture it in three-dimensional. So this speaking is very important. After that he throws it away and he casts it probably upon the piles, upon the heaps, or further up the hill, and he gives the place a new name. That's the second tribute, the second memorial. he called the place Ramath Lehi. And that's the high place. Ramath is a high place, or the height, or the hill. Lehi and the jawbone, the hell or the height of the jawbone, that's the second. He gives it a new name. And so whenever it says the Philistines gathered at Lehi, it hadn't been called Lehi then, that was the name that was given to it later, whenever Samson threw the jawbone down and it got that name later. That's the second tribute, his second memorial. He creates a poem and then he gives it a new name. Isn't that what's done whenever there's all those great events? A poem, or a hymn, or a song to commemorate it. Don't we have that for all the great events, 1690? Don't we have place names sometimes and names that are given to the place in memorial? Well, that's what Samson's doing. But do you notice something in all of this? Do you? With the jawbone of an ass? Heaps upon heaps. With the jawbone of an ass have I slew a thousand men? The hell of the jawbone? Now, if this was you, what would you do? Well, let me tell you what I think we would do. Certainly what we should do. If you had just experienced such a mighty deliverance, if you had received grace and strength to fade off a thousand men, what would you do? I think we would be humbled. I think we would be overawed. I think we would be utterly overwhelmed. with gratitude to God, I think we would be melded. I think some of us have come out of less dangerous situations, and we've given God the tribute, and God the thanks, and God the glory. But what does Samson say? With the jawbone of an ass, With the jawbone of an ass I have slew a thousand men. Where's God in that? It's what he did, isn't it? Aye, this aye, this what I did, what I did. The jawbone of an ass, This is it. This is what did it. The jawbone of an ass. This is what did it. Was it the jawbone of an ass that did it? Was it Samson that did it? No, I don't think so. It was the Lord, wasn't it? It was the Lord that did it. It was the mighty Spirit of God that did it. This, to me, sounds like boasting. What he has accomplished, he gives two memorial tributes, and both of them are to the jawbone, and there's not one mention of the Lord, not one mention of the Lord. Now how do we explain this? He experiences, and this is where Samson's fall is really beginning, this pride, this boasting. He experiences through God a great deliverance with the only weapon that he can lay hold of. And he's not overwhelmed with praise to God. Now, how can we explain this? And the only explanation I can come up with is that Samson is, he's too used to victories. He's too used to it. He slew the lion. He slew the Philistines in Ashkelon. He slew the Philistines in Timnah. And now he's done it again. He's used to it. He's used to having the Spirit of God's might. He's so used to it that he has forgotten the Lord. And that's why Samson's heading for a great fall. And, brethren and sisters, we're no different. because we get used to things and we forget God. And sometimes we even boast what we've done. We lose the marvel that God helps us and God gives us the grace. Take your job, for example. Whenever you were starting out on your job and you began to do it well, And oh, you thank God and you praised him for the help and you depended on him. But then you got used to your job and your achievements and you saw you had some abilities and you lost the wonder and the sense of gratitude to God and you forgot him. And you didn't, you stop acknowledging him now. and you begin to think you're able to do it on your own, and you begin to become self-confident and proud, and we may even begin to boast about what we've accomplished. May we do that? May we even begin to talk about the jawbone more than about the Lord? He's talking about the jawbone all the time. The jawbone with the jawbone. And he called the place the hell of the jawbone. He's talking about the jawbone. Oh, this is marvelous. Look what I did just with the jawbone. He's forgot God. And he's proud. And he's self-confident. Now the jawbone to us, it might be a pain. It might be a pen. I can write with a pen. And we begin to give glory to the pen and what we do with the pen. Or it might be something else, what we can do. And we forget who gave us a gift. And who gives us the wisdom. And who gives us the health and strength and the power. Who do you think had that jawbone lying there beside him? He broke the ropes. He needed something quick. Who do you think had the jawbone beside him? It was the Lord, wasn't it? Wasn't it the Lord had the jawbone beside him? And who was it came upon him? Mightily, it says, mightily came upon him. Was it his own muscles and his own strength and his own ability? Who was it came upon him? It was the Holy Spirit give him that. And brothers and sisters, if we can do anything, if we can speak, if we can talk, if we can preach, if we can write, it's only because the Holy Spirit gives us some ability and the opportunity as well. and he has the job of nervousitis, and we get the opportunity to take it up and to use it. It's all of God. We must never forget that. We must never forget that. We must never boast or talk exceedingly arrogantly and proudly. No. Let me give you a simple example of our behavior. This is a very simple example, but I'll give you an idea of maybe how easy we can fall into this. Every morning we arise and wake. And what do we say when we're talking to somebody? I got up this morning at 8 o'clock. I got up at 7.30. I got up. Is that what happened? Is that what happened? Did we just get up? Did we just get up? No. The Lord raised us up. The Lord kept us during the night hours so that whenever we went to sleep, our hearts still beat and our lungs were still breathing. A sleep apnea or some of these other things that come on you during the night watches didn't kill us. The Lord kept us. And the Lord raised us up, and he kept us in health and strength and safety, and he gave us the attitude to get out of bed and to face the day. However bleak it looked, he gave us the grace to get up and face the day. And that happens every day. But we're not amazed anymore, are we? Because It happens every morning and we just think it's us, it's just us. I got up and I've lost the sense of amazement that the Lord raised me up. What did David say? I laid me down and slept. I awaked for the Lord sustained me. That's what he thought about his awakening. The Lord awaked and sustained me. Now I know the circumstances when he wrote that psalm were most unusual. He was being pursued by Absalom. It was a very dangerous night. He could have been killed that night. If the advice of Ahithophel had been heeded, that's what would have happened. It would have been on him like a swarm of bees. But he says, I awaked the next morning. for the Lord sustained me." That's giving glory to God. He didn't say, I just got up at seven o'clock and it was all right. No, no. He has a sense of gratitude to God. That's just a simple example, getting up in the morning, but we can multiply that ad infinitum. I know that that's an extreme example, but it's true. We are so like Samson. We forget the Lord. And we give tribute to ourselves all the time. We do. I got up at seven o'clock this morning. I did this. I did that. I did the other. With this, I done that. We do that all the time. We're like Samson. We give tribute to ourselves, and we give little acknowledgement to the Lord, and we think we did it in our own strength. Samson, for God who gave him the strength, Samson forgot who confounded and put the fear into a thousand of those Philistines. Samson forgot who left the jawbone beside him to pick it up. Samson forgot who melted the ropes so that they fell off his arms. He forgot, and we do too. I think sometimes, brethren and sisters, we say, I did too much. and too little. The Lord enabled me. The Lord helped me. So Samson has failed to make his boast in the Lord. It's a serious failure and the Lord is going to have to teach him about it. And he is, and we're going to see that. The Lord's going to have to remind him of his weakness and of his dependence upon the Lord, even for the most simple things. The Lord's going to have to teach him that again. And I think, brethren and sisters, that's Samson's real problem. That's Samson's real problem. He has the long hair and the strength, And he doesn't realize how weak he is. He's going to get a wee lesson, and he doesn't learn. And then he gets a harder lesson. Because if we don't learn with a simple lesson, the Lord sends us a harder lesson to learn. But he's always teaching us. So Samson's a type of Messiah, but this language shows that he is not Messiah. Our Lord Jesus, when he walked the earth, he didn't talk like this. He wasn't boasting. In everything that befell him, he acknowledged his Father. He remembered his Father at every turn. Remember how he said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth. because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and has revealed them unto babes. And how he said to Peter, whenever Peter made his great confession, and he knew the kind of pride was in Peter, in fact, to come out later on, he says, Peter, my father's revealed it unto you. He acknowledged his father at every turn. You remember at the grave of Lazarus, Jesus lifted up his eyes and he said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me always. And then he said, Lazarus, come forth. He acknowledged his father. He wasn't boastful or proud or arrogant. He said, I can do nothing of myself as my father hath taught me. I speak these things. Always acknowledging his Father. He glorified his Father on the earth. He was never arrogant. He was never proud. He was never boastful. He was never forgetful of his dependence upon his Father. What does the Bible say, brethren and sisters? Boast not thyself of tomorrow. Not even of tomorrow. Don't boast about it as if it's certain, as if it's in your hand, as if it's sure. Don't boast thyself. In fact, you shouldn't boast yourself of anything. We must always acknowledge the Lord, if the Lord will, about future things and about past things. The Lord enabled me. The Lord enabled me. So God has a lot to say to boasters and talkers about themselves. How long shall they utter and speak? All the workers of iniquity boast themselves. No, brethren and sisters, let us be like David. My soul should make her boast in the Lord. I'll boast in the Lord. The humble shall hear thereof. and be glad. In God we boast all the day long, the psalmist said, and praise thy name forever. So that's the first lesson. Know that God abhors boasting. And that is, of course, one reason why salvation could never be of works, not of works, lest any man should boast. God hates boasting. And that's why, among other reasons, that's one of the reasons why he has excluded anything that we do out of salvation. It's all of grace. You're not saved because you did something. No. Because if you were saved because you did something, you can boast. God won't have that. He saved us by his grace, by his grace. So, that's why Samson has to be taught. Let's see then, secondly, how God teaches him. How does God teaches him? Well, the Lord teaches him by humbling him, because it says here, and he was sore athirst, So the Lord is teaching him now. This is part of the instruction. Okay, Samson, you've made your boast. You've killed a thousand Philistines. Now you have no water. What are you going to do now? You have no water. And he's sore of thirst. And it's not ordinary thirst. He's sore of thirst. He's terrible of thirst. In fact, he's dangerously thirsty. He's talking about, now shall I die for thirst? He's a death store. The spirit has nearly gone from him, because it says after he gets the water that he revived, and his spirit came again. He's nearly dead. Killed a thousand men, but nearly dead because of the lack of water. The Lord's teaching him. The Lord's teaching him. He can lay his hand on a jawbone, but he can't lay his hand on a glass of water. It's a hard lesson to learn, but it's a humbling lesson. That's how God works when we get lifted up. There's some wee simple thing in our life that he uses to humble us. Some wee simple thing. That's how he works. When we talk so exceedingly proudly. When we speak boastingly or arrogantly, the Lord will send us a humbling lesson, because God resisteth the proud. It will be a difficult trial, but he gives grace to the humble. So something will humble us. And that's what's happening to Samson now. He's being humbled, I tell you. So the Lord sends these to us all the time. We need to humble ourselves unto these things when he sends them. James puts it this way, humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up. Or Peter puts it also, humble yourselves unto the mighty hand of God, because that's what's going to come on us when we're praying in Oregon, the mighty hand of God. And when it comes, we better humble ourselves. Well, Samson gets this mighty trial now. What's he going to do now? Is he going to still be proud? Is he going to come out with another nice wee poem about himself? What does he do, brothers and sisters? Well, at last, At last, he prays. At last, he acknowledges God. And he prays there, and what a change. What a change in the tone. It's not so poetic now and rhyming and eloquent. But it's a heart cry. It's the cry of a humbled man. It's the cry of a man who's been brought down, and there's a complete change in his language, a complete change in his tone. He called on the Lord and said, Thou hast given this great deliverance. At last! At last he's acknowledged it! At last it's been squeezed out of his mouth. Thy has given this great deliverance. At last, it's not a jawbone. It's not Ramath Lehi anymore. It gets another name. Thy has given this great deliverance. Isn't that what the 40 years in the wilderness for Israel was all about? Remember how Moses said to them after the end of it, he says, thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy God led thee these 40 years in the wilderness. Poo humble. It took 40 years, 40 years in the wilderness to bring them down from their high horses and a lot of dead bodies too. It took 40 years to humble them. You remember how God put Nebuchadnezzar out in the field? Oh, I'll build this great empire. And these beautiful gardens that my hands have built. And God smote him. And he thought he was an animal. And he lived out in the fields and ate grass like an ass. God humbled him. And now he said, now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol the King of Heaven. I've learned to do that. I learned the hard way. I now extol him. All his works are truth and all his ways are judgment. And then he adds, on them that walk in pride, he is able to obey us. I know. because I was out there eating the grass. I know. We don't want the Lord to put us out there eating grass, do we? Or send something else into our life to cut the arrogant talk out of us. And so maybe that's why God brings us through hard times. That's maybe why we have so many humbling visitations, because you're just a proud, arrogant man or woman, whatever. Or maybe I'm a proud, arrogant minister, and I need to be told. But when the Lord brings us low, it is a time to be low, to lie low, and to learn lowliness, and to humble ourselves. under his mighty hand, and to go over the ground, the past ground, and say, Lord, yes, thou didst give the great deliverance. And so when Samson has this change of attitude, and he prays and tells the Lord he's in thirst and he's going to fall into the hands of the circumcised, the Lord reverses the situation. And it says in verse 19, God cleave and hallowed place that was in the jaw. And there came water thereout. And when he had drunk, his spirit came again, and he revived. Oh, revival. Revival. All was revival after we humble ourselves. All is revival after we acknowledge God and true contrition and take the lowly place. All is revival when we get off our high horse of arrogance. There is some uncertainty about what is happening here. It says that God claimed a hollow place that was in the jaw. And there are two understandings of this verse and what is happening. There are those who say that the jawbone itself, that he picked up the jawbone itself, and there was a hollow place in part of the jaw, and there was water inside that hollow place, and he was able to drink from the jaw, the jawbone itself. But the word jaw here is the word Lehi. So God claimed a hollow place that was in Lehi. And so it may not be the jawbone itself. But now the place, so a hallow place or a fountain or a spring, God clave a hallow place and a spring come forth out of this new, this area that had got the name Jah, out of Lehi now, out of Jah, there's a spring comes forth. God clave it, he clave the ground, he clave a hallow place, and there is now a spring coming forth. And I think myself personally that that is what is happening. And the end of the verse makes that fairly certain. He called the name thereof En Hachoree, which is in Lehi unto this day. So it seems to be a fountain or a spring. And he gives it the spring name. The word in there at the start is eye or fountain or spring. And so I think a spring comes out, and he doesn't get the water out of the jawbone itself, but he gets it out of the ground, which is now called lehi, or jawbone. But whatever, he gets water, and God gives it to him, and he revives. He is refreshed, and the Spirit has returned, and he's quickened. And there is a lesson here, as I say, on revival, whether national, ecclesiastical, or personal, there are very important lessons here on revival. The greatest enemy and threat to revival is our pride and our self-sufficiency, taking God for granted. Brethren and sisters, taking God for granted makes us barren and dry. forgetting your dependence upon the Lord completely makes you barren and dry. Sin makes us barren, especially pride. And God must bring us low, and we must become thirsty, and we must humble ourselves. And so Samson experiences revival. And now he gives his third tribute, his third memorial. And he's given the name to a spring now, because the spring of water has come out, and God has given that spring of water. And he calls it Enhachore. and it means the fountain of the crier. The fountain of the crier. He doesn't just call it May Spring. He doesn't call it Samson's Fountain. He doesn't call it Jawbone. Well, no. He's learned his lesson. It's the fountain of the man who prays. It's the fountain of the man who cries. It's the fountain of the man who calls upon the Lord. because that's what the crying was. He called on the Lord. He cried unto the Lord. So that's Samson's way of saying, I was brought to cry. I was brought to my knees. God taught me. And this is a memorial, not to my strength, not to my power, But this is a memorial to my weakness. This is a memorial that I just was a crying man. That's all I am. I'm just a crying man. That's all I am. You've learned lessons, Samson. You really have. Better to be known as the crier than the man of might and power. Better be known as a man of prayer than a man of valor. Don't talk proudly. Cry. Cry. Cry unto God. Don't talk proudly. Let me tell you, There's a fountain. There's a fountain for the man who cries. Yes, there is. The whole church can be dead, but I tell you, the man who cries can be in revival. He can be refreshed. He can be revived. He can have his spirit coming to him again. The man who cries, God always cleaves a fountain for him. So it's a hard lesson to learn, isn't it? But you know, whatever makes us cry is good. Well, we'll pray then.