The Final Words of the Strong Man | Judges 16:28-31

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Our text today is Judges 16:28-31:

“Then Samson called to the Lord and said, ‘O Lord God, please remember me and please strengthen me only this once, O God, that I may be avenged on the Philistines for my two eyes.’ And Samson grasped the two middle pillars on which the house rested, and he leaned his weight against them, his right hand on the one and his left hand on the other. And Samson said, ‘Let me die with the Philistines.’ Then he bowed with all his strength, and the house fell upon the lords and upon all the people who were in it. So the dead whom he killed at his death were more than those whom he had killed during his life. Then his brothers and all his family came down and took him and brought him up and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the tomb of Manoah his father. He had judged Israel twenty years.” — Judges 16:28-31

Samson’s life was a rollercoaster of wasted potential—flashes of power, but riddled with pride, lust, and compromise. He fought enemies, but mostly on his own terms. Until now.

In his final moments, blind and humbled, Samson prayed: “O Lord God, please remember me and please strengthen me only this once.” Then, the text says, “he bowed with all his strength.”

That line changes everything. Samson finally used all his strength in God’s way. For the first time, his power wasn’t about proving himself, chasing pleasure, or showing off. It was about surrender. With his final act, Samson lived out the calling God gave him from the beginning—to deliver Israel from the Philistines.

This is what surrender looks like: using all you have, not for yourself, but for God. And ironically, it was in death that Samson accomplished more than in life. His final words and final act remind us that true strength is never self-made—it’s God-given, and it’s God-directed.

Our culture teaches us to spend our strength proving ourselves, building platforms, or chasing tolerance and applause. But in God’s economy, your greatest strength shows up when you bow. Your calling is fulfilled when your strength is finally surrendered to His purpose.

And Samson’s story points us forward to Christ. Jesus, too, stretched out His arms, surrendered His life, and in what looked like defeat, He fulfilled His mission. In surrender came victory—once for all.

ASK THIS:

1. Where have you been using your strength for yourself instead of God?
2. How does Samson’s final act of surrender redefine what true strength looks like?
3. What would it mean for you to “bow with all your strength” today?
4. How can your surrender fulfill the calling God placed on your life?

DO THIS:

• Pray for the courage to bow low and surrender it to Him.
• Write down one way you will use your strength for God’s purpose this week.

PRAY THIS:

Lord, may I not waste the strength You’ve given me. Teach me to bow with all my strength—not for myself, but for You. May my final words and daily actions echo a surrender to Your purpose. Amen.

PLAY THIS:

“Yet Not I But Through Christ in Me.”