Judges 14 talks about Samson seeing a Philistine woman and asking (demanding) his parents get her for his wife. When they hesitate--"Isn't there an acceptable woman among your relatives or among all our people? Must you go to the uncircumcised Philistines to get a wife?"--Samson answers, "Get her for me." Verse 4 then notes, "His parents did not know that this was from the LORD, who was seeking an occasion to confront the Philistines."
So God was guiding Samson's bad behavior to accomplish his will? Actually, yes. To be clear, God did not cause Samson's bad behavior; that was Samson's fault. But, as the Concordia Self-Study Bible says, "the Lord even uses the sinful weaknesses of men to accomplish his purposes and bring praise to his name." Reading further, that seems to be the theme of Samson's life...
Thanks for your post. It's one more facet of God's amazing mercy. How gracious he is to us! I'm reminded of Isaiah 55:7-9 (New International Version, ©2011):
ReplyDelete7 Let the wicked forsake their ways
and the unrighteous their thoughts.
Let them turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on them,
and to our God, for he will freely pardon.
8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,”
declares the LORD.
9 “As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.