The L'Anse sentinel. (L'Anse, L.S., Mich.) 18??-current, 1903-03-28

Text:-"And he (Samson) wist not that
abe Lord was departed from him
Nsa
TT is the privilege and the duty OF
the Christian to 'be strong In
the Lord and in the power OF
His might" but it Is the sad and
mournful fact that too often his
,oye of the world and hiss indulgences
IN sinful pleasures rob him OF his
strength, and, like the shorn Sam
son of our text, he does not realize
that the Lord has departed from
aim until he falls into the hands OF
the enemy of his soul, his eyes are
burned out and he Is set to grind
eng out the bread of sorrows in the
prison house of affection. Then, II
he is teachable, he may be led to
sincere repentance and regain his
,aost strength and his lost power
Yes, his eyes will still be sightless-
the hideous scars left by the enemys
power over him-buts with his
strength restored, he may be able
TO win mightier victories over the
forces of sin during the remainder
OF his life than the sum of all his
previous triumphs. Yea, he will be
willing to die that his God may be
INDICATED and glorified, and that
Dagon, the false god of the Philis'
tines, may be put to shame. This is
the lesson of Samson, the Nazaritc,
Gods strong man.
T EFT us go down to that frontier
IL land where dwelt the tribe OF
Dan and search out our hero. ms
we journey through the wildly beau
tifui hills and valleys Of that part OF
Palestine we begin to hear tales
wonderful tales, of the prowess OF
n young Israelite. Being told that
he was even then in the camp OF
Dan between Zorah and Eshtaol
performing mighty deeds, we hasten
thithcr. Those were evil days and
the oppressive hand of the Philis'
tines was heavy upon Gods people
because of their disobedience to His
law and yielding to the sinful pleas,
Hres and practices of the heather
nations about them. The common
distress and peril draw the people
together in thought and sympathy
They hold their public meetings tc
talk over the situation and find Q
possible way of escape from theiI
slavery. 1t was at such n meeting
ms this in safe retreat between
Zorah and Eshtaol that one day 6
young man appeared. He heard the
stories of cruel oppression as they
were told, and realized as never be
fore that the dominion of the Philis
tines meant destruction of the life
of the home and of the nation of the
children of Israel. While the discus
sion went on and plans were offered
for the breaking of the yoke, the
Spirit of God began to move within
the young man before us, and the
arena at Athens or Rome never
witnessed greater feats of strength
or drawer, than first astonished, and
then aroused to new hope the op.
pressed Israelites.
IF the supernatural strength of
Il Samson awakened in the hearts
of the children of Israel sense of
the true source of power and
strength, his sins aroused them to a
consciousness of what harm their
close fellowship with the Philistines
was working and would continue to
work for them. They knew he was
a Nazarite, and that his great
strength came from God, and, when
they saw their hero shorn and with
sightless eyes grinding in the prison
house of the Philistines, they knew
that weakness and terrible disaster
followed swift upon the departure
from Gods commandments and
Gods service. Surely the expert
ences of Samson must have made
the children of Israel stop and think,
and teach them more of Gods way
with man. When messengers came
speeding across the borderland from
Philistia into the country of the Israel
tics, bearing the news that while the
Philistines were celebrating in wild
a bandon the great victory over their
enemy and were exalting Dagon as the
god who had triumphed, Samson,
whose hair had grown with his re.
pentance, and his strength with his
hair" had torn away the gigantic pill
lars that supported the vast arena
where the celebrat ton was taking place
and had wrought the destruction OF al
the lords of the Philistines, this new,
must have revealed to them that Goo
was n forgiving God, and that with re
pcntance came renewed strength ant
opportunity for new victories.
NHOLY associations and revealin,
~ the secrets of God to his unright
eous companion were great sins an,
cost Samson his strength, his sight
and plunged him into the degradation
and shame of a convict laborer, bu
1t would have been a greater sin 70
Samson to have lost all faith In Go,
and to have ended his days In the Phil
istine prison. While he was grindin,
for the Philistines he was sitting un
der the tutelage of God, and learnin,
his bitter lesson. Each hair as II grew
in length was q strand in the faitl
which was laying hold Of God anew
And while the haunting shouts OF hi
are ringing in his ears, tn
n.