The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1889-12-05
SAMSON'S DOWNFALL.
A Sermon to Young Men by Rev.
T. Dewitt Talmage.
Young Men Lured by Temptation LIkened
Unto Samson, Shorn of His Locks,
PowerIess In the Hands of
His Enemies.


Entice him, and see where n his great strength
lieth and by what means We may prevail
against him, that we may bind him to afiict
him; and we will give thee every one of US
eleven hundred pieces of silver.-Judges xvi, s..
One thousand pounds, or about five
thousand dollars of our money, were
thus offered for the capture of q giant.
1t would take a skillful photographer to
picture Samson as he really was. The
most facile words are not supple enough
to describe him. He was a giant and q
child; the conqueror and the defeated;
able to snap a lions jaw, and yet capt
ured by the sigh of a maiden. He was
ruler and slave; commingling of virtue
and vice, the sublime and the ridiculous !;
sharp enough to make good riddle, and
yet weak enough to be caught in the
most superficial stratagem; honest
enough to settle his debt and yet out
rageously robbing somebody else to get
the material to pay it; miracle and q
scofffng; browning glory and a burning
shame. There he stands, looming up
above other men; a mountain of flesh;
mis- arms punched with muscle that can
lift the gate of city; taking an attitude
defiant OF armed men and wild beasts.
His hair had never been cut and it rolled
down in seven great plaits over his
shoulders, adding to his fiercenes SIS and
terror. The Philistines want to conquer
him. and therefore they must find out
where the secret of his strength lies.
There is woman living in the Valley
OF Sorek by the name of Delilah. They
appoint her the agent in the case. The
Philistines are secreted in the same
building, and then Delilah goes to work
and coaxes Samson to tell what is the
secret of his strength:
"Well," he says, 'if you should take
seven green withes, such as they fasten
wild beasts with, and put them around
me, should be perfectly powerless."
So she binds him with the seven green
withes. Then she claps her hands, and
says: "They come - the Philistines ~
and he walks out as though there were
no impeachment. She coaxes him again,
and says: ''Now tell me the secret of
this great strength" and he replies:
"lf you should take some ropes that
have never been used, and tie me with
them. / should be just like other men,"
She ties him with the ropes, claps her
hands and shouts: ''They come-the
Philistines" He walks out as easy as
he did before-not a single obstruction.
She coaxes him again, and he says:
Now, If you should take these seven
long plaits of hair, and by this house
loom weave them into web, l could not
get away" So the house loom is rolled
up, and the shuttle flies backward and
forward, and the long plaits of hair are
woven into a web. Then she claps her
hands and says: ''They come-the Phi
listinesW He walks out as easily as he
did before, dragging a part of the loom
with him. But after awhile she per-
suades him to tell the truth. He says:
'If you should take razor, or shears.
and cut off this long hair, l should be
powerless, and in the hands of my ene-
miles,"
Samson sleeps, and, that she may not
wake him up during the process of shear
ing, help is called in. You know that the
BARRIERS of the East have such a skillful
way of manipulating the head to this
very day they will put a man, wide
awake, asleep. hear the blades of the
shears grinding against each other, aud
see the long locks falling off. The
shears, or razor, aecomplishes what
green withes, and new ropes, and house
loom could not do. Suddenly she claps
N~ ANAAN'S oAAN soy AA0 tIl0S DC
upon thee, Samson I" He rouses ND with
struggle, but his strength is all gone.
He is in the hands of his enemiesl I |
hear the groan of the giant as they take |
his eyes out, and then see him stagger-
ing on in his blindness. feeling his way
as he goes on toward GAIA. The prison |
door is opened and the giant is thrust in. |
He sits down and puts his hands on the |
mill crank, which, with exhausting hori- |
zontal motion, goes day after day, week |
after week, month after month-work, |
work, work. The CONSERVATION of the |
world in captivity, his locks shorn, his |
eyes punctured, grinding corn in GAIA. |
In previous sermon on this character |
learned some lessons, but another class |
OF lessons are before US now.
Learn first how very strong people are
sometimes coaxed into great imbecili- |
ties. Samson had no right to reveal the |
secret of his strength. Delilah's first at.
tempt to find out is failure. He saws:
Green withes will bind me-" but it was
afailure. Then he says: "a new rome
will bind me-" but that also was fail
ure. Then he says: "Weave my locks
into web and that will bind me.w vet
that also was failure. But, at last Won
see how she coaxed it out Of him. I'm
important actions in life that involve no
moral principle may without injury he
subjected to ardent persuasions. but as
soon as you have come to the line that
separates right from wrong, no induce
ment or Establishment ought to make Won
step over it. Suppose man has been
brought up in Christian household and
sacredly TO observe the Sabbath. SIM
day comes; you want fresh air. Tempta.
lion says:
Sunday is just like other days; now
don't be bigoted; we will ride forth
among the works of God; the whole
earth is His temple; we will not 90 into
any dissipations; come, now, have the
carriage engaged, and we shall be back
soon enough togo to church in the even
ing; don't yield to Puritanic notions.
you Will be no worse for ride in the
country; the blossoms are out and thew
Jay every thing is looking glorious"
"Well, will go to please you.u is the
response. And out they go over the
street. conscience drowned in the clatter
II the swift hoofs and the rush of the
resounding wheels. That tempted man
nay have had moral character enouob
o break the green withes of ten thousand
allurements, but he has been ,
vercome by coaxing.
1--WE young men passing down this