vengeance

There’s a lot I don’t understand about prayer. I was reminded of that this morning when I read the end of Samson’s story, in Judges 16. The Bible contains some odd prayers, and one of them is the one Samson prayed, in Judges 16:28.


“Then Samson prayed to the Lord, ‘Sovereign Lord, remember me. Please, God, strengthen me just once more, and let me with one blow get revenge on the Philistines for my two eyes.’”


Samson is one of the more troubling judges of Israel. He never seemed like he was obeying God; in fact, he seemed to go out of his way to flout God’s prohibitions for his people. He willingly touched the dead lion and served some of the honey from the carcass to his mom and dad. He partied with Israel’s enemies and consorted with their women. He married outside the faith. His actions seem governed mostly by his appetites and his rage.


Even so, his humiliation, maiming  and death aren’t easy to read about. Those things didn’t change Samson much, though. In the end, when he turned to God, he prayed not for God’s will to be done but for vengeance.


God answered that prayer. Why? If I prayed to God for the power to avenge myself on an enemy, I wouldn’t expect God to listen. I’d advise against it if anyone asked me. Vengeance isn’t something you pray for. You pray for the strength to love your enemies, not hate them. Vengeance belongs to God.


Except that may be why God gave Samson what he asked for. God was taking vengeance on his own enemies, and Samson was the deliverer of that vengeance. In that way, Samson’s prayer, self-centered though it was, may have been a prayer for God’s will to be done.


Can God use even the misguided prayers of a wayward son to work out his plans? This story suggests that he can. In the end, maybe Samson’s recognition of God’s sovereignty was all that was needed. No matter how twisted his motivations or how wrong-hearted his desires were, he knew only God could grant them.


I wish I understood prayer better, because maybe I’d be motivated to do more of it. But then, maybe if I did more of it I’d understand it better.