Judges 14 Devotional

Sovereign over Stubborn Choices

“(Now his father and mother did not know this was from the LORD, who was seeking an occasion to move against the Philistines; for at that time the Philistines were ruling over Israel.)”Judges 14:4 (BSB)

Samson's story begins with a demand. He sees a Philistine woman in Timnah and tells his parents to get her for him, brushing aside their objection because she pleases him (14:1-3). Then comes a surprising note. His parents did not know this was from the LORD, who was seeking an occasion against the Philistines ruling Israel (14:4).

That verse does not make Samson's choices good. He keeps secrets from his parents, eats honey from a lion's carcass, and turns his wedding feast into a contest that ends with threats against his bride, thirty men killed in Ashkelon, and his wife given to another (14:6-20). Samson acts on what pleases his eyes, the habit the book will later name as the whole nation's sickness (17:6). Yet God is not stalled by Samson's stubbornness. He works through it toward Israel's rescue. Proverbs makes the same point: people make their plans, but God decides where they lead (Proverbs 16:9). It is comfort that no one's worst choices have the final word over God's purposes.

To think about: Which of your past choices do you need to entrust to God, who is able to work even through what was wrong?