A Very Freaky Gospel

Judges Week! Thanks to the Rev. Linda Sharon for the scripture and interpretation.
The music choice is all mine.


Judges 16:6-14

So Delilah said to Samson, “Tell me the secret of your great strength and how you can be tied up and subdued.”

Samson answered her, “If anyone ties me with seven fresh bowstrings that have not been dried, I’ll become as weak as any other man.”

Then the rulers of the Philistines brought her seven fresh bowstrings that had not been dried, and she tied him with them.

With men hidden in the room, she called to him, “Samson, the Philistines are upon you!” But he snapped the bowstrings as easily as a piece of string snaps when it comes close to a flame. So the secret of his strength was not discovered.

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.”

He said, “If anyone ties me securely with new ropes that have never been used, I’ll become as weak as any other man.”

So Delilah took new ropes and tied him with them. Then, with men hidden in the room, she called to him, “Samson, the Philistines are upon you!” But he snapped the ropes off his arms as if they were threads.

Delilah then said to Samson, “All this time you have been making a fool of me and lying to me. Tell me how you can be tied.”

He replied, “If you weave the seven braids of my head into the fabric on the loom and tighten it with the pin, I’ll become as weak as any other man.” So while he was sleeping, Delilah took the seven braids of his head, wove them into the fabric and tightened it with the pin.

Again she called to him, “Samson, the Philistines are upon you!” He awoke from his sleep and pulled up the pin and the loom, with the fabric.

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She's a very kinky girl,
The kind you don't bring home to mother.

"Super Freak" recorded by Rick James, written by Rick James and Alonzo Miller, from "Street Songs"

In the story of Samson and Delilah, this dialogue is where Delilah asks and Samson lies avout the source of his strength. He tells three different lies before he tells her the truth of how to subdue his strength. In the first lie, Samson is bound with fresh bowstring. In the second, he is bound with new ropes that have never been used. In the third, his hair is pinned into a loom.

In each of these stories, Delilah cries, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” This is Samson's cue to escape the bonds and kill the Philistines. The third of these stories ends as Samson awakens to Delilah's screams. Only after these three false starts does Samson tell the truth and Samson is subdued.

One of the things Pastors often hear from the flock is that holy writ is so old, and so ancient that it has precious little to do with life today. Often this is code for "scripture is not very interesting or relevant." Look at this story again. When we read it, we read Samson is bound while asleep and Delilah awakens him to the threat of the Philistines. Oh really?

So now, look again, no where in the first two trials does it say Samson slept? It doesn't say Delilah wakes him. That doesn't happen until the third.

Often, people say that scripture is stale, stodgy, sterile. There's nothing like today's life and time in it. Well let me just say this about Delilah, "She's a very freaky girl." Samson liked her freak too. If he was awake while Delilah bound him with bow string and then with new ropes, and scripture doesn't mention sleep until the hair-pinning incident, this story suddenly reveals a much kinkier twist.

It then also goes deeper to remind us of this tried and true lesson--We are not punished for our sins, but by our sins.

There is a lot of scripture we never see because we think we've seen it all. Beware, and be alert. There are a lot of things we gloss over because we think we already know when unless we pay close attention we don't.