"...See where his great strength lies..."

Welcome to this edition of the Fit Tip Friday newsletter!This week we will look at the story of Samson. I have been wanting to write about Samson ever since I started Layman's Fitness, as he tends to be the iconic figure of strength in the Old Testament. His story is both heroic and tragic. And to guide our story, we will ask the same question the haunted the Philistines: Where does this guy get his strength from?!Strength UnstoppableThe Philistines made several attempts to defeat Samson. And their failings made them desperate to uncover the secret of his strength. Samson's interaction with the Philistines in Judges 14 starts with a riddle at his wedding. The Philistines were unable to solve it, and to avoid paying him the 30 garments of clothing they threateningly manipulated his fiance to extract the answer from him.  But once Samson discovered they learned the answer by manipulation, he provided their payment by killing 30 of their own (Judges 14:19).Samson's future father-in-law (also a Philistine) then married off Samson's fiance to his best man. And once Samson learned this, he released 300 foxes with torches on their tails in the Philistine's grainfields and olive orchards (Judges 15:5).The Philistines reacted by sending an army to capture Samson (Judges 15:9). Samson responded by killing 1,000 Philistines with the jawbone of a donkey (Judges 15:15).When the Philistines learned Samson was in Gaza, they surrounded the city to capture him (Judges 16:2). But Samson escaped by uprooting the city gate and carried them on his shoulders up a hill.They couldn't outwit his riddle. They couldn't defeat him in hand-to-hand combat. They couldn't capture him. But the Philistines did catch on to Samson's Achilles heel. His Kryptonite. His vice. Lust.Strength UncoveredThe conflict at and following Samson's wedding was centered around his affection for "one of the daughters of the Philistines" (Judges 14:1), who was "right in [his] eyes" (Judges 14:1).Before carrying the gates up the hill, Samson was in Gaza fornicating with a prostitute (Judges 16:1).So it's no wonder that when the Philistines learned that Delilah was the new object of his eyes (Judges 16:4), they attempted to bribe her so that they could find out the source of his strength. Their commissioning of his lover had worked before when they tried to get information out of Samson (Judges 14:15). Why not try again?And Delilah tried. Three times. And each time she asked him to disclose the secret of his strength, he lied to her. Then she continued to press him. Again and again. She was relentless, like the woman in Proverbs who is a "continual dripping on a rainy day" (Proverbs 27:15).  "Day after day" (Judges 16:16) until the point where Samson's soul was "vexed to death" (Judges 16:16). And like an ox led to the slaughter, he opened up and told her the source of his strength. "And he told her all his heart, and said to her, 'A razor has never come upon my head, for I have been a Nazarite to God from my mother's womb. If my head is shaved, then my strength will leave me, and I shall become weak and be like any other man".- Judges (16:17)And Delilah takes advantage of him. She "made him sleep on her knees" (Judges 16:19), had someone shave his head, and summoned the Philistines to capture him. The tragedy of this entire story is in Samson's response. He wakes up with a shaven head, but he's ready to fight as before. He thinks he still has his strength. "And he awoke from his sleep and said, "I will go out as at other times and shake myself free". But he did not know that the Lord had left him. - Judges 16:20The Lord had left him, and Samson was unawares. Without the Lord strengthening him, Samson was vulnerable. He was quickly overpowered by his enemy, his eyes were gouged, and made both slave and prisoner (Judges 16:21). The man who had done what was right in his eyes (Judges 14:3) in a nation who continually did what was right in their eyes (Judges 21:25) had both of his eyes gouged out by his enemy. Strength Understood The angel that foretold Samson's arrival to his parents said nothing explicitly about Samson's hair giving him strength."No razor shall come upon his head, for the child shall be a Nazarite to God from the womb, and he shall begin to save Israel from the hand of the Philistines" (Judges 13:5)Samson's hair was a marker of his separation unto God as a Nazarite (see Numbers 6). A Nazarite was separated unto the Lord, and this separation was demonstrated by an abstinence from strong drink, shaving one's head, and the touching of dead bodies. The angel of the Lord makes a particular emphasis on the unshaven head at the time of Samson's promise. As a Nazarite, Samson was consecrated to the Lord, and commissioned by Him to deliver Isreal from the Philistines. Samson's hair was a sign of his separation for the work the Lord had for him. And Samson trashed both his consecreation and his commissioning on the lap of his enemy. As readers of Samson's story, we are told the explicit secret of Samson's strength three times.

• "And the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon him..." (Judges 14:6) and he killed a lion with his bare hands. 

• "And the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon him..." (Judges 14:19) and he struck down 30 Philistines. 

• "Then the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon him..." (Judges 15:14) and he struck down 1,000 Philistines with the jawbone of the donkey. 

The Spirit of God strengthened Samson for the work He had for Samson to do. And when Samson succombs to Delilah, he forfeits his consecration, his mission, and the source of his strength. As commentator Matthew Henry puts it:"Therefore the badge of his consecration was the pledge of his strength; if he lose the former, he knows he forfeits the latter". But the Lord is gracious still!Strength UndeservedThe Philistines had won. They had successfully used Delilah to subdue Israel's champion. And they subsequently threw a pagan party to their god Dagon to celebrate the capturing of Samson (16:23). Samson was weakened, blinded, and humiliated, and the Philistines had no problem mocking him in that condition. During their celebration they called him out to be a spectacle for their entertainment (Judges 16:25). And while Samson leaned against the pillars with his hands, he revealed that he finally understood the source of his strength as well as his mission. "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' " (Judges 16:28). Samson asks God for strength to avenge and defeat the Philistines. Samson asks in faith, knowing that he will die if his prayer is granted. And God graciously strengthens him one last time, and though Samson perishes, the "dead whom he killed at his death were more than those whom he had killed during his life" (Judges 16:30). And in true narrative form, Samson dies carrying out his consecreation and his mission with his hair regrown (Judges 16:22). Samson makes the list in Hebrews 11:33 as a faith hero. In all of his shortcomings, vices, and mistakes, the Lord graciously strengthened Samson to accomplish His mission through him. And after his disastrous fall, Samson asks one last time in faith that God would strengthen him to fulfill his mission. In Samson's final moments, he lived by faith, not by sight. Again, as Matthew Henry comments:"The grace of faith is the strength of the soul for great service" 

Blessed Beats - Playlist #2 

As it's the first week of the month, we have a new workout playlist on Spotify, LF Workout Playlist 2. You visit the playlist by clicking the hyperlinks or by clicking the Spotify icon at the bottom of this email.  

• Art of Drifting - KB

• Art of Hope - KB

• Mr. Pretender - KB

• Legendary - Skillet 

• Clarity - Andy Mineo

• Startling Mystery - Shai Linne

• Gotta Know - Lecrae

• Prove It - Crowder/KB

• Killa - Lecrae

• JOY - Kings Kaleidoscope

• Change - Lecrae

This is a 11 song playlist that takes ~42 minutes. Enjoy!

Vacations & Exercise

Last month, I shared some tips and tactics for body stewardship while on vacation.I recently put these recommendations into a new blog post.  

Quick Summary:Body stewardship does not stop on vacation. In fact, vacations are an opportunity to improve your body stewardship if used wisely. Spend time outside. Experiment with your exercise routine. Reflect on your body stewardship system. Feast unto the Lord. Rest unto the Lord.