The Tupelo journal., 1903-04-03

PI lSoh Jus
WITH eyes blinded and hand. and
w feet manacled, Samson soon
realized his true condition. The Lord
was departed from him. There is no
sadder thing which can be recorded
than to say that the Lord has depart
ed from the shorn Samsons. They are
not conscious of the weakness until
they are seized by the enemy, and
their eyes are bored out, and their
limbs have the chains forged about
them; then in bitterness they learn
that while they have been dwelling in
the land of self-desire and worldly in
dulgences, and sleeping in the lap of
sin and pleasure, they have been shorn.
Eyes blinded and limbs shackied-how
suggestive! Long, unbroken abiding
in darkness will weaken and destroy
the power of sight. The blind fish in
Mammoth cave have e%yeballs, but no
sight. 1t is supposed that when the
fish first came into the dark cavern
they could see, but as the years rolled
on and the eyes were not used in the
dreadful blackness, they lost the use
of those eyes. Ike Christian wEo
dwells in the darkness of the worlds
pleasures and sins is as sure to be
stricken with blindness - spiritual
blindness - as the fish in the ave.
And chains are forged there, too, and
the Christian is forced to wear them,
and finally grind for the enemy. All,
what a sight all oven the world to-day;
shorn Samsons, blinded and bound,
grinding for the philistines who have
enticed them! Shorn Samsons, but,
thank God, the enemy cannot prevent
the hair growing again. There is es-
cape from the prison, and the chains.
Did it ever occur to you that it was
a strange thing that those Philistines
did not keep Samson's hair clipped?
They knew his strength lay in his
hair. This had been clearly and most
forcibly demonstrated to them. Why.
then, such fatal oversight a. to per-
nit it to become long again? The
devil is always short-sighted. He is
never able to keep the shorn Samson
from regaining his strength. Even
the devils power is limited. There is
encouragement here for every Chris
tan. There are two steps which the
shorn Samson must take to get his
strength back and to get out of prison.
He must be patient in tribulation, and
must sincerely repent of his sin. Pa
thence will supply the material IL of
which repentance is able to build the
ladder up which faith may climb to
| the presence of God. And the soul
that gets back to where God is will
find that he has regained his strength.
THE restored Samson won the
GROWING victory of his life. so
that God could write of him that 1.-The
dead which he slew at his death were
more than they which he slew in his
life Looked at from Gods view
| point, Samson's death was a glorious
triumph. Do not suppose that re-
venge was what nerved Samson's arms
that day to tumble the arena in ruins
upon the heads of the Philistine lords
and people. 1t was a contest between
the false god Dagon and the true God.
Do not suppose that Samson, because
of his sightless eyes and shackled
limbs, sought death in dependency.
No, rather with his returning strength
and the conscious thrill of the pres
ence of God with him, he was willing
to die that the God, Whom he had so
dishonored, and Whose name he had
so brought in reproach before the
goddess people about kim, might be
indicated. So it is with the Chris
tian who regains his strength after
having been shorn by the enemy. He
may win victories, If he will, which
will far eclipse any whichhe had won
before. | never used to like to read
about Samson after he fell into the
hands of Delilah, it seemed so sad, so
terrible. and his death seemed so igno-
minious and shameful for SO mighty
a champion. But this part of the
story of Samson glows with new
beauty for me 0 as | realize how
faithfully it illustrates the majesty.
the power, the triumph of God through
the forgiven and restored Christian.
Shorn Samsons on every hand. What
a dark picture! But oh, how that pic
ture can be made to glow with the Di-
vine presence AID power, if those
shorn Samsons will only patiently
walk in the affection and darkness un-
til through repentant tears may be
seen shining the face of the Lord, and
they may hear His reassuring words:
BE strong in the Lord and the pow.
er of His Might" Then strike, strike!
For the Lords Of the PhiISfinas -