Victory and Weakness

“[Samson] slew a thousand men … and he was sore athirst” (Judges 15:15,18).

It is quite common for God’s people, when they have enjoyed a great deliverance, to find a little trouble too much for them. Samson slays a thousand Philistines, and then faints for a little water! Jacob wrestles with God and overcomes Omnipotence itself, and then goes “halting on his thigh!”

Is it strange that there must be a reminder of weakness whenever we win the day? It is as if the Lord must teach us our littleness, our nothingness, in order to keep us within bounds. Samson boasted right loudly when he said, “I have slain a thousand men.” But his boastful throat soon grew hoarse with thirst, and he resigned himself to prayer. When David had mounted the throne of Israel, he said, “I am this day weak, though anointed king” (2 Samuel 3:39).

If God has worked a great deliverance for you, your present difficulty is only like Samson’s thirst, and the Lord will not let you faint.

—C.H. Spurgeon