Death by a Thousand Lies | Judges 16:10-14

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Our text today is Judges 16:10-14:

“Then Delilah said to Samson, ‘Behold, you have mocked me and told me lies; please tell me how you might be bound.’ And he said to her, ‘If they bind me with new ropes that have not been used, then I shall become weak and be like any other man.’ So Delilah took new ropes and bound him with them and said to him, ‘The Philistines are upon you, Samson!’ And the men lying in ambush were in an inner chamber. But he snapped the ropes off his arms like a thread. Then Delilah said to Samson, ‘Until now you have mocked me and told me lies. Tell me how you might be bound.’ And he said to her, ‘If you weave the seven locks of my head with the web and fasten it tight with the pin, then I shall become weak and be like any other man.’ So while he slept, Delilah took the seven locks of his head and wove them into the web. And she made them tight with the pin and said to him, ‘The Philistines are upon you, Samson!’ But he awoke from his sleep and pulled away the pin, the loom, and the web.” — Judges 16:10-14

Delilah wasn’t subtle anymore. By now it was obvious: she was working with the Philistines to trap Samson. She asked, and he answered with half-truths and games. She tested him, and he kept breaking free. Over and over again, Samson played along.

Why? Because repeated lies dull our senses. At first, you know it’s a setup. You laugh it off, you toy with it, you think you’re still in control. But the more you tolerate it, the less dangerous it feels. Eventually, what once seemed unthinkable becomes normal.

That’s exactly how sin and culture work today. We’re told the same falsehoods so often, people start to believe them:

“You be you.”
“You've got this.”
“Truth is whatever you feel.”
“Gender is just a choice.”
“Faith doesn’t belong in the workplace. Keep it to yourself.”

Repeat a lie long enough, and people let their guard down. Israel did it with Gaza—tolerating an enemy they should have driven out—and generations later, that compromise still haunts them.

We’ve seen the same thing in our time. Take marriage. Marriage was once honored in our culture as a covenant between a man and a woman. Now it’s redefined, mocked, and replaced with hookup culture and hyper-sexualism in nearly every movie, ad, and classroom. Lies repeated long enough become the air we breathe, and if we’re not alert, we start to tolerate what God never intended.

Samson thought he was just playing games. But every laugh, every half-truth, every little compromise was softening him up for the kill. That’s how lies work—they don’t strike all at once; they wear you down. And we face the same danger. You can’t toy with deception and expect to stand strong. Every time you entertain a lie, it dulls your discernment, lowers your guard, and prepares you for a bigger fall. Left unchecked, small lies become chains—and eventually, those chains own you.

ASK THIS:

1. Where are you letting repeated lies numb your discernment?
2. Which cultural “half-truths” are you tempted to tolerate because they’re everywhere?
3. How has compromise in small things weakened you in bigger battles?

DO THIS:

• Identify one lie you’ve started to accept without thinking.
• Hold it up against Scripture—what does God actually say?
• Replace that lie with a verse of truth (write it, memorize it, share it).

PRAY THIS:

Lord, open my eyes to the lies I’ve started to tolerate. Give me discernment to see through deception and strength to stand on Your truth, no matter how often the world repeats its lies. Amen.

PLAY THIS:

“Voice of Truth.”