Again and again Samson found himself in trouble on account of Philistine women. The Book of Proverbs, with its wise counsel, had not yet been written, but as a Nazirite of God, Samson should certainly have been on the alert. Alas, he was a Nazirite most of his life outwardly, but was his heart ever truly in this full dedication to God?

“Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life” (Prov. 4:23). When Scripture speaks of the heart it is not referring to the physical organ inside a person’s chest. The heart, as Scripture uses the term, is rather the seat of one’s feelings, affections, and understanding. The believer’s heart should be the Lord’s, but the world wants it, and delights to play upon the feelings and affections especially. So it was with Delilah. She realized, as she tried unsuccessfully to find out the secret of Samson’s great strength, that he was really just playing games with her and that his heart was not with her.

Delilah coaxed and pouted and pestered him until finally he told her all his heart. She recognized that he had done so. Now she had him where she wanted him! She called the Philistine lords to come with the reward she had earned. Lulling him to sleep on her knees, she had a man shave the seven locks of his head. Is our heart wholly the Lord’s or for another?