Poetry

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Samson was an Israelite warrior and judge, or divinely inspired leader,
He was an attractive man, and his arms were built like the tallest cedar.
One day Samson went to Gaza, where he saw a stunningly beautiful prostitute,
She stood patiently in front of the inn displaying her womanly fruit.
He went in to spend the night with her and the people of Gaza were told,
So they surrounded the inn and lay in wait for darker motives to unfold.
The mercenaries that surrounded the inn were drilled and highly skilled,
They were intent on one task to capture Samson and have him killed.
But Samson lay there only until the middle of the quiet starry night,
Then he got up and tore the city gates off and posts with all his might.
On his shoulders, he carried them to the top of the hill that faces Hebron,
Where he threw them to the ground and waited till the crack of dawn.
Sometime later, he found a woman called Delilah who he fell in love,
but the Philistines tried to get her to betray him and then to get rid off.
“lure him into showing you the great secret of his strength,” they asked,
Then we may be able to overpower him and subdue him very-very fast.
“Each one of us will give you eleven hundred shekels if you do our will,”
“Don’t worry yourself we will do the deed to subdue and kill.
So Delilah said to Samson, “Tell me the secret of your amazing power?
and how you can be tied up and subdued when we are together within this hour?
Samson answered her, “If anyone ties me up with seven fresh bowstrings,
I’ll become as weak as any other man and can be subdued under there wings.
Then the Philistines brought her seven bowstrings that had not been dried,
She lay with Samson and after he allowed her to be physically tied.
With men hidden in the room, she called to him loudly with alarm,
“Samson the Philistines are upon you! and they mean you considerable harm.
But he snapped the bowstrings as easily as a piece of string snaps,
So his strength was not discovered and he didn’t fall into there trap.
Then Delilah said to Samson, “You have made a fool of me; you lied to me,
Come now, tell me how you can be tied like we had mutually agreed.
He said, “If anyone ties me with ropes that have never been used before,
I’ll become as weak as any other man and you can subdue me on the floor.
She lay with Samson and after he allowed her to be physically tied.
With men hidden in the room, she called to him loudly with alarm,
“Samson the Philistines are upon you! and they mean you considerable harm.
But he broke the ropes as easily as a piece of frayed string snaps,
So his strength was not discovered and he didn’t fall into there trap.
Then Delilah said to Samson, “You have made a fool of me; you lied to me,
Come now, tell me how you can be tied as we had mutually agreed.
He replied, “If you weave the braids of my head and tighten it with a pin,
I’ll become as weak as any other man so let me get it over with and begin.
So while he was sleeping, Delilah took hold of the seven braids of his head,
wove them into fabric and tightened them with a pin as he said.
With men hidden in the room, she called to him loudly with alarm,
“Samson the Philistines are upon you! and they mean you considerable harm.
He awoke from his sleep and pulled up the pin with the fabric and the loom,
Again he smiled at her deceptively getting up and leaving the room.
She said “How can you say, ‘I love you,’ when you won’t confide in me?
This is the third time you have made me out to be a fool and deceived thee.
With nagging, she prodded him day after day until he was sick to death of it.
So he relented to her sultry charms and allowed himself to finally submit.
So he told her everything. “No razor has ever been used at all on my head,”
he said, “because I have been a Nazarite dedicated to God instead.
From my mother’s womb, if my head were shaved, my strength would leave me,
and I would become as weak as any other man please this time believe me.
When Delilah saw that he had told her everything with sincerity in his eyes,
She called the Philistines and said, “come back there are no more lies.”
So the Philistines returned with bags of the silver in their greedy hands,
after putting him to sleep on her lap they arrived hatching sinister plans,
The seven braids of his hair were carefully cut, bagged and removed,
And his great strength left him gradually so it was eventually proved.
Then she called, “Samson, the Philistines are quickly upon you!”
He awoke and thought, I will never be captured or be able to easily subdue.
But he did not know that the Lord had left him while he was fast asleep,
And his great strength had departed also, and now he was in it knee-deep.
Then a group seized him, gouged out his eyes and took him down to Gaza,
Binding him with bronze shackles they set him to grind grain in the plaza.
But the hair on his head began to grow again after it had been shaved,
And the power of the Lord had returned to Samson who now held bound enslaved.
Now the Leaders assembled to offer a great sacrifice to the fish God Dagon,
saying, “Our god has delivered Samson, our enemy, and now it’s begun!”
While they were merry they said “bring Samson out so he can perform for us,
So they called Samson out of the prison, and he performed without fuss.
When they stood him among the pillars, Samson said to the servant in his ear,
“Put me in between the pillars that support the temple while they jeer.”
Now the temple was crowded with leaders, men and many women there,
three thousand were watching Samson perform with a full head of hair.
Then Samson prayed to God “remember me, Lord, I am your servant who is tied,
let me with one blow get revenge on the leaders for taking my two eyes.”
Then Samson reached toward the central pillars on which the temple stood,
bracing himself against them his muscles flexed and many understood.
Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines!” and he pushed hard,
and down came tumbling down the temple on the rulers like a pack of cards.
Thus he killed many more when he died than while he lived in the city,
and his brothers and his father’s whole family buried him with pity.
They brought him back and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in a tomb,
He had led Israel for twenty years a judge born from his mother’s womb.
Despite all of Samson’s weaknesses, he did turn back to his first love,
God in His sovereignty used Samson to fulfil His purpose from above.
In reality, Samson’s death did much to impede the actions of the Philistines,
the destruction of the temple of Dagon was a major factor in their decline.
Perhaps the lesson we learn is that God would rather forgive than judge,
Samson was the strongest man and the Lord did not hold a personal grudge.

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