1. Bring Samson out to entertain us! (23-25a)

The Philistines were jubilant because the one man in Israel who was not afraid of them, the man who had made donkeys of them all, was their helpless prisoner. They gouged out his eyes and treated him like a circus animal.

2. Let me die with the Philistines (25b-31)

Samson was blind and helpless--but as his hair began to grow, his strength gradually came back. One day, the Philistines all assembled to offer a sacrifice to Dagon their god. Samson was brought in to entertain them. He prayed with all his heart for strength and God heard his prayer. He used his last strength to push down the main support pillars of the temple of Dagon. The roof fell and the rulers and all the people in the temple died with him. He killed more of God's enemies in his death than he had killed in his lifetime. God used him to lift the defeated spirits of his oppressed people and give them hope.

Application: Lord, you always hear desperate prayers. Help me to serve you with all my heart in life and in death.
One Word: A man used by God