say, or do. Are you highly favoured with gifts, graces, or endowments? Never forget, that in yourself you are nothing; that all these gifts in themselves are nothing; and that all your help lies in the Lord alone. Has your course been signally marked by the tokens of divine favour and acceptance? Never imagine, that you may deviate in safety from the path of holiness and life, in the smallest degree; nor think, that, if you do, you will escape the snares of the enemy, or the rod of correction. In Samson's history you may trace the propriety of these remarks, and learn to take heed where others have fallen. (Ps. lxxxix. 31, 32.)

The circumstances recorded in this chapter clearly teach us, how many are the entanglements, or the deceitfulness of sin; and how difficult it is to escape the snare, when once entrapped. Such was the case before us. Instead of exhibiting that greatness of character and exploit which we might well have expected, we behold a mighty champion amusing himself and others with riddles, or wasting his strength in acts of petty, though great revenge. Is this Samson ? Does God condescend to work by such an instrument as this? Then, surely, that work must be of God, and not of man. That he was delivered out of his difficulties, that he smote his enemies, brake the withs and cords wherewith he was bound, and slew his thousands with the jawbone of an ass, and that God heard and answered his cry in his great distress, was no proof that his ways were right; but rather that the Lord was merciful and gracious, and that he could as easily accomplish his purposes without, as with such means.

has

your soul at liberty. How many persons have entailed misery on themselves all their days, by venturing to contract forbidden connexions, and by walking in forbidden ways s! Their career has been sad indeed; their character has become clouded; their state doubtful; their usefulness curtailed; their life miserable; their end to be deplored! Though, in some cases, where true grace been given, the Lord has not utterly forsaken them, but has granted them mercy from time to time; yet, altogether, their example has been more to be avoided than imitated. In others, the whole course has been of the most melancholy description indeed: hopeful symptoms have come to nought; pleasing anticipations have utterly failed; the life has been wretched; and the latter end miserable beyond conception.

Oh, who will not fear the Lord? Who will not dread sin? Who will not shun the enemy? Who will not turn from forbidden paths? Who will not break off from evil courses? Who will not pray, yea, earnestly pray, that he may be kept near to the Lord, and walk in that way which is pleasing and acceptable in his sight?

CHAPTER XVI.

1 Samson at Gaza escapeth, and carrieth away the gates of the city. 4 Delilah, corrupted by the Philistines, enticeth Samson. 6 Thrice she is deceived. 15 At last she overcometh him. 21 The Philistines take him, and put out his eyes. 22 His strength renewing, he pulleth down the house upon the Philistines, and dieth.

Beware, then, of sin: beware of forbidden paths; beware of playing with the enemy, and parleying with temptation. Such was Samson's perilous course. You see the consequence; you see how he stumbled, was entangled, and fell. Oh, the deceitfulness of sin! It can assume a thousand forms, and put on a thousand faces, to deceive and destroy and when your own wicked corruptions run in the same stream with the outward temptation, the danger becomes immensely greater, and nothing but a miracle of mercy can break the snare, and set

HEN went Samson to Gaza, and saw there 'an harlot, and went in unto her. 2 And it was told the Gazites, saying, Samson is come hither. And they compassed him in, and laid wait for him all night in the gate of the city, and were quiet all the night, saying, In the morning, when it is day, we shall kill him.

3 And Samson lay till midnight, and arose at midnight, and took the doors of the gate of the city, and the two posts, and went away with them, 'bar and all, and put them upon his shoulders, and carried them up to the top of an hill that is before Hebron.

4 ¶ And it came to pass afterward, that he loved a woman 'in the valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah.

5 And the lords of the Philistines came up unto her, and said unto her, Entice him, and see wherein his great strength lieth, and by

what means we may prevail against him, that we may bind him to afflict him: and we will give thee every one of us eleven hundred pieces of silver.

6 And Delilah said to Samson, Tell me, I pray thee, wherein thy great strength lieth, and wherewith thou mightest be bound to afflict thee.

7 And Samson said unto her, If they bind me with seven 67 green withs that were never dried, then shall I be weak, and be as another man.

8 Then the lords of the Philistines brought up to her seven green withs which had not been dried, and she bound him with them.

9 Now there were men lying in wait, abiding with her in the chamber. And she said unto him, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he brake the withs, as a thread of tow is broken when it toucheth the fire. So his strength was not known.

10 And Delilah said unto Samson, Behold, thou hast mocked me, and told me lies: now tell me, I pray thee, wherewith thou mightest be bound.

11 And he said unto her, If they bind me fast with new ropes that never were occupied, then shall I be weak, and be as another

man.

12 Delilah therefore took new ropes, and bound him therewith, and said unto him, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And there were liers in wait abiding in the chamber. And he brake them from off his arms like a thread.

13 And Delilah said unto Samson, Hitherto thou hast mocked me, and told me lies: tell me wherewith thou mightest be bound. And he said unto her, If thou weavest the seven locks of my head with the web.

14 And she fastened it with the pin, and said unto him, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he awaked out of his sleep, and went away with the pin of the beam, and with the web.

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And she said unto him, How canst thou say, I love thee, when thine heart is not with me? thou hast mocked me these three times, and hast not told me wherein thy great strength lieth.

16 And it came to pass, when she pressed him daily with her words, and urged him, so that his soul was "vexed unto death;

17 That he told her all his heart, and said unto her, There hath not come a razor upon mine head; for I have been a Nazarite unto God from my mother's womb: if I be shaven, then my strength will go from me, and I shall become weak, and be like any other man.

18 And when Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she sent and called for the lords of the Philistines, saying, Come up this once, for he hath shewed me all his heart. Then the lords of the Philistines came up unto her, and brought money in their hand.

19 And she made him sleep upon her knees; and she called for a man, and she caused him to shave off the seven locks of his head; and she began to afflict him, and his strength went from him.

20 And she said, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he awoke out of his sleep, and said, I will go out as at other times before, and shake myself. And he wist not that the LORD was departed from him.

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21 But the Philistines took him, and put out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza, and bound him with fetters of brass; and he did grind in the prison house.

22 Howbeit the hair of his head began to grow again after he was shaven.

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23 Then the lords of the Philistines gathered them together for to offer a great sacrifice unto Dagon their god, and to rejoice for they said, Our god hath delivered Samson our enemy into our hand.

24 And when the people saw him, they praised their god: for they said, Our god hath delivered into our hands our enemy, and the destroyer of our country, which slew many of us.

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25 And it came to pass, when their hearts were merry, that they said, Call for Samson, that he may make us sport. And they called for Samson out of the prison house; and he made them sport: and they set him between the pillars.

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26 And Samson said unto the lad that held him by the hand, Suffer me that I may feel the pillars whereupon the house standeth, that I may lean upon them.

27 Now the house was full of men and women; and all the lords of the Philistines were there; and there were upon the roof about three thousand men and women, that beheld while Samson made sport.

28 And Samson called unto the LORD, and said, O Lord GOD, remember me, I pray thee, and strengthen me, I pray thee, only this once, O God, that I may be at once avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes.

29 And Samson took hold of the two middle pillars upon which the house stood, and on which it was borne up, of the one with his right hand, and of the other with his left.

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30 And Samson said, Let me die with the Philistines. And he bowed himself with all his might; and the house fell upon the

WHO can read this history of Samson without fear and trembling? That such a renowned character should so greatly fall, may well sound the alarm in all our ears. "Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall" in like manner. (1 Cor. x. 12.) But where lay the essence of his fall? In the consciousness of his being endued with such great strength. Not that that strength was the fault, or any fault in itself, for it was the special gift of God; but he was led thereby to forget his dependance on the Lord, to consider his strength more as a possession than a gift, to cherish an unwarranted degree of self-confidence, and to venture on forbidden paths and sinful indulgences. Surely, the fact speaks loudly to all; and, "he that hath ears to hear, let him hear." (Matt. xi. 15.) We have seen how the Lord brought him out of his perplexities hitherto; will he venture on forbidden courses again? Alas! yes. Instead of having gained wisdom by his past experience, he seems to have been more infatuated; instead of becoming more watchful, he appears more heedless. Again, we behold him captivated by an harlot's charms, and brought to the lowest abasement through her artful wiles. In this respect also, it is clear that he had fallen into the snare of vainconfidence. All through the circumstances here recorded, he was not only tantalising his paramour, but playing with temptation; till, at length, God so forsook him, as to allow his enemies to triumph in his fall, and to treat him with the utmost cruelty and contempt.

Let us pause, and learn wisdom. Is this the Nazarite unto God? Is this the man to be devoted unto God from his mother's womb? Alas! how changed! how fallen! The mighty champion of Israel, who had slain his thousands, and tens of thousands, with an apparently useless weapon, whose very name struck terror into the heart of his foes, whom neither withs nor ropes could bind, nor numbers overcome, when God was with him, is now a poor captive prisoner; his eyes were torn out, and himself became the derision and sport of his foes. Shall we insult over his fall? God forbid. Shall we not rather feel pity and compassion for his misery and distress? Shall we not, also, learn to look to ourselves, and ask, Why have we not done the same, or brought our souls into a deeper misery? Oh, see the artfulness of abandoned tempters; see the insidiousness of the workings of sin; see the treachery of the enemy. The real language of every temptation yielded to, is, not the Philistines, but the devils be upon thee, sinner; and if the Lord come not to thy aid, thy destruction is sure.

Learn, also, another lesson equally important. God may have left you to yourself when you provoke him by sin, long before you have made the discovery. You may shake your locks, and say, "I will go out as at other times" (v. 20); but the Lord has departed from you; your vain confidence soon fails, and you fall still deeper than you are already fallen. Have you not often cause to apprehend that this may be the case after grievous provocations, when you find duties dead, and privileges a burden; when the Word becomes a sealed book, and the precious truths of the gospel are an empty sound? Look well to your steps, and see how the matter stands between God and your soul.

We hope that Samson's last days were his best. It is likely that the prison became a sanctified paradise to his soul; that he came to himself; and that the spirit of prayer was restored. As his hair began to grow, so his strength revived; and his last exploit at once marked the vigour of his restored faith, the strength of his importunate prayer, and his triumphant, though inglorious end. Many truths are here taught. You see the evil of

ANOTHER.remarkable history opens before us in this chapter, in the course of which many evils are brought to light. The hidden cor

whose name was Micah.

2 And he said unto his mother, The eleven hundred shekels of silver that were taken from thee, about which thou cursedst, and spakest of also in mine ears, behold, the silver is with me; I took it. And his mother said, Blessed be thou of the LORD, my son.

3 And when he had restored the eleven hundred shekels of silver to his mother, his mother said, I had wholly dedicated the silver unto the LORD from my hand for my son, to make a graven image and a molten image: now therefore I will restore it unto thee.

4 Yet he restored the money unto his mother; and his mother took two hundred shekels of silver, and gave them to the founder, who made thereof a graven image and a molten image: and they were in the house of Micah.

5 And the man Micah had an house of gods, and made an ephod, and teraphim, and consecrated one of his sons, who became his priest.

6 In those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes.

7¶ And there was a young man out of Beth-lehem-judah of the family of Judah, who was a Levite, and he sojourned there.

8 And the man departed out of the city from Beth-lehem-judah to sojourn where he could find a place: and he came to mount Ephraim to the house of Micah, as he journeyed.

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9 And Micah said unto him, Whence comest thou? And he said unto him, I am a Levite of Beth-lehem-judah, and I go to sojourn where I may find a place.

10 And Micah said unto him, Dwell with me, and be unto me a father and a priest, and I will give thee ten shekels of silver by the year, and a suit of apparel, and thy victuals. So the Levite went in.

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11 And the Levite was content to dwell with the man; and the young man was unto him as one of his sons.

all things, and its desperate wickedness, are here developed in a new manner. It is the case of Micah, his mother, the molten images they made, and the Levite they hired to officiate in the house.

The mother of this man had a certain sum of money: this was known to her son, and he stole it. On discovering the loss she had sustained, the woman became greatly enraged, and cursed the thief whoever he might be. Alarmed at this curse, and accused by his guilty conscience, he confessed his crime, and restored what he had taken. Glad to have regained the treasure, instead of rebuking him for his theft, she applauded him for the act, and even called him the blessed of the Lord (v. 2): and then she declared that, as she had devoted the money to the Lord, she would now carry her intention into effect, and make a graven and a molten image, which the Lord had forbidden to be done. This was executed, and a wandering Levite, who was more influenced by gain than principle, was ready to offer his services to set forward the impious idolatry.

What a complication of wickedness and sin is here. Consider the action of the thief. His eye saw, and his heart coveted this sum of money. He then took it, and thus robbed his own mother. Will not sin break through every restraint? Even the respect due to a parent, or the duty of taking care of her interests, is of no avail, when that love of money, which is the root of all evil, takes possession of the heart, and aims at the gratification of its desire. But can wealth gotten by iniquity prosper? Can the thief be happy? Is there not a dreadful sound in his ears? Will not a guilty conscience appal him? Can he retain in peace his ill

gotten treasure? In the present instance, the theft was restored, not because he repented of his sin, or stood in awe of the Majesty of heaven. It was the dread of a mother's curse, and not a penitent sense of the sin, that made him act as he did. Was he, then, a renewed man? Read the sequel, and you will soon find the sad proof that he

was not.

Consider the parent. This money seems to have been intended by her for an idolatrous purpose. She designed to make her son the instrument of that sin; and when it was restored, instead of reflecting on her ways, or rebuking the thief, she pursued her design, and praised him for the part he had acted: she had her money, and she cared not how. How deceitful is the human heart! Can this woman really believe her own words? Can she really think, that the God who had forbidden idolatry, could be pleased with the idols she intended to make? Can she really think that the restoration of the money on which her soul doated, could compensate for the sin of stealing it? or that the man whom the law of God condemns as a thief, could really be blessed of the Lord as a saint? How true it is that sin infatuates, and blinds, as well as hardens and destroys the soul.

Consider the character of this Levite. He ought to have known better: Considering what was his office and employment, he ought to have known that the whole thing altogether, the design of the mother, and the conduct of the son, and the unanimity of both in furthering the scheme, was a most detestable abomination. Did he see it in its proper colours? If he did, did he tell them so? Did he start with horror at the wicked

proposal? Alas! no; his god was his belly Whether an idol, or the God of Israel, he could bow down before both as occasion offered, and bless himself that he had fallen into such good hands. Are there not many like him? Are there not many like the man who employed him? Are there not many who flatter themselves with hopes of safety and impunity, because they have such miserable characters to sit at their table, and wink at their impieties? What must the end be but death and eternal misery?

CHAPTER XVIII.

1 The Danites send five men to seek out an inheritance. 3 At the house of Micah they consult with Jonathan, and are encouraged in their way. 7 They search Laish, and bring back news of good hope. 11 Six hundred men are sent to surprise it. 14 In the way they rob Micah of his priest and his consecrate things. 27 They win Luish, and call it Dan. 30 They set up idolatry, wherein Jonathan inherited the priesthood.

and in those day's the tribe of the Danites N those days there was no king in Israel: sought them an inheritance to dwell in; for unto that day all their inheritance had not fallen unto them among the tribes of Israel.

2 And the children of Dan sent of their family five men from their coasts, 'men of valour, from Zorah, and from Eshtaol, to spy out the land, and to search it; and they said unto them, Go, search the land: who when they came to mount Ephraim, to the house of Micah, they lodged there.

3 When they were by the house of Micah, they knew the voice of the young man the Levite and they turned in thither, and said unto him, Who brought thee hither? and what makest thou in this place? and what hast thou here?

4 And he said unto them, Thus and thus dealeth Micah with me, and hath hired me, and I am his priest.

5 And they said unto him, Ask counsel, we pray thee, of God, that we may know whether our way which we go shall be prosperous.

6 And the priest said unto them, Go in peace before the LORD is your way wherein ye go.

7¶ Then the five men departed, and came to Laish, and saw the people that were therein, how they dwelt careless, after the manner of the Zidonians, quiet and secure; and there was no magistrate in the land, that might put them to shame in any thing; and they were far from the Zidonians, and had no business with any man.

8 And they came unto their brethren to Zorah and Eshtaol: and their brethren said unto them, What say ye?

against them: for we have seen the land, and, 9 And they said, Arise, that we may go up behold, it is very good: and are ye still? be not slothful to go, and to enter to possess the land.

10 When ye go, ye shall come unto a people secure, and to a large land: for God hath given it into your hands; a place where there is no want of any thing that is in the earth.

11 ¶ And there went from thence of the family of the Danites, out of Zorah and out of Eshtaol, six hundred men appointed with weapons of war.