SAMSON & DELILAH:
Judges 16:4-6,15,17,19-22,30
[4]Afterward it happened that he loved a woman in the Valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah.
[5]And the lords of the Philistines came up to her and said to her, “Entice him, and find out where his great strength lies, and by what means we may overpower him, that we may bind him to afflict him; and every one of us will give you eleven hundred pieces of silver.”
[6]So Delilah said to Samson, “Please tell me where your great strength lies, and with what you may be bound to afflict you.”
[15]Then she said to him, “How can you say, ‘I love you,’ when your heart is not with me? You have mocked me these three times, and have not told me where your great strength lies. ”
[17]that he told her all his heart, and said to her, “No razor has ever come upon my head, for I have been a Nazirite to God from my mother’s womb. If I am shaven, then my strength will leave me, and I shall become weak, and be like any other man.”
[19]Then she lulled him to sleep on her knees, and called for a man and had him shave off the seven locks of his head. Then she began to torment him, and his strength left him.
[20]And she said, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” So he awoke from his sleep, and said, “I will go out as before, at other times, and shake myself free!” But he did not know that the Lord had departed from him.
[21]Then the Philistines took him and put out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza. They bound him with bronze fetters, and he became a grinder in the prison.
[22]However, the hair of his head began to grow again after it had been shaven. Samson Dies with the Philistines
[30]Then Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines!” And he pushed with all his might, and the temple fell on the lords and all the people who were in it. So the dead that he killed at his death were more than he had killed in his life.
DAVID & BATHSHEBA:
2 Samuel 11:2,4-5,24,26-27
[2]Then it happened one evening that David arose from his bed and walked on the roof of the king’s house. And from the roof he saw a woman bathing, and the woman was very beautiful to behold.
[4]Then David sent messengers, and took her; and she came to him, and he lay with her, for she was cleansed from her impurity; and she returned to her house.
[5]And the woman conceived; so she sent and told David, and said, “I am with child.”
[24]The archers shot from the wall at your servants; and some of the king’s servants are dead, and your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also.”
[26]When the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah her husband was dead, she mourned for her husband.
[27]And when her mourning was over, David sent and brought her to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son. But the thing that David had done displeased the Lord.
AHAB & JEZEBEL:
1 Kings 21:4-6,14-15,17-19,23,25
[4]So Ahab went into his house sullen and displeased because of the word which Naboth the Jezreelite had spoken to him; for he had said, “I will not give you the inheritance of my fathers.” And he lay down on his bed, and turned away his face, and would eat no food.
[5]But Jezebel his wife came to him, and said to him, “Why is your spirit so sullen that you eat no food?”
[6]He said to her, “Because I spoke to Naboth the Jezreelite, and said to him, ‘Give me your vineyard for money; or else, if it pleases you, I will give you another vineyard for it.’ And he answered, ‘I will not give you my vineyard.’ ”
[14]Then they sent to Jezebel, saying, “Naboth has been stoned and is dead.”
[15]And it came to pass, when Jezebel heard that Naboth had been stoned and was dead, that Jezebel said to Ahab, “Arise, take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, which he refused to give you for money; for Naboth is not alive, but dead.”
[17]Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying,
[18]“Arise, go down to meet Ahab king of Israel, who lives in Samaria. There he is, in the vineyard of Naboth, where he has gone down to take possession of it.
[19]You shall speak to him, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord: “Have you murdered and also taken possession?” ’ And you shall speak to him, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord: “In the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth, dogs shall lick your blood, even yours.” ’ ”
[23]And concerning Jezebel the Lord also spoke, saying, ‘The dogs shall eat Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel.’
[25]But there was no one like Ahab who sold himself to do wickedness in the sight of the Lord, because Jezebel his wife stirred him up.
TODAY'S PRAISE SONG:
THE GOODNESS OF GOD:
CECE WINANS:
https://youtu.be/7T5qi7QqOMc?si=IttMd-qyyH4HoPcJ
