Dear Delilah,
Your name is so sweet sounding,
That it got Samson’s heart pounding,
A love story which could have been beautiful,
But it had an ending so dreadfully painful
I wonder if you ever loved him,
or was it pretend or casual whim,
Did you do it to know his secret,
Or was it all part of a bet?
You nagged him day after day,
This was not love, this was just a play,
His strength you wanted to slay,
but never did he think you would betray.
Wasn’t love supposed to make him stronger?
The elixir that would make him live longer,
But, I am sure, of these things you do not know,
‘Cos you had no love, you were just so low,
Like the valley where you were raised,
Like a drug that had him mazed.
Beauty, misused,
Trust, abused,
Deceit, diffused,
And love, confused.
Your pretty face sure fooled Samson,
And you killed him without a gun,
I wonder what you were thinking,
When you saw Samson sinking.
Thank you, Delilah for showing me,
How pretentious a woman can be,
For telling me that she can destroy,
Every strength, even the smallest joy,
that she can treat you like a silly toy,
She is a beautiful trap, a decoy.
This story could have been something else,
If only you saw his love, how his heart melts,
But for eleven hundred shekels,
you sold your love, like some worn-out pelts.
One thing you taught me,
is how not to be,
How love blinds you
and all its deceit that you cannot see.
Love,
The Pretentious Woman
Honestly, I hate how women are vilified in love stories—the beauty, the deceit, the charm, the drama. Samson and Delilah’s story sounded like a typical Indian soap opera to me. However, let me point out that there are Samsons who act like Delilah—pretentious. I have shaken hands with a couple of them and trust me when I say, the end wasn’t pretty. The funny thing is that God had orchestrated several ‘red flag moments’ in the initial phase of associating with this kind but I did not take heed. Lies, deceit, vested interests, selfish motives and other synonymous factors fuelled interactions. Cutting the story short, I was in shatters when the associations ended. The Word says, “the thief comes to steal, kill and destroy” (John 10:10). In my case it was to steal my peace, kill my joy and destroy my esteem. It took me a good two years to completely come out of it. The journey was painful and shameful to say the least but through this season I learned a valuable lesson—Take God’s signs!
Interestingly, it was not only Delilah who was pretentious, Samson was also not what he posed to be. He kept the external features of his Nazirite vow zealously, while at the same time sinning blatantly with a prostitute. Despite his sin, God gave Samson supernatural strength to escape from the Philistines. God did this because God’s purpose was bigger than Samson himself, and because God used Samson despite Samson’s sin, not because of it. Even in Samson’s case, God gave him signs.
So, Delilah said to Samson, “Please tell me where your great strength lies, and with what you may be bound to afflict you.” And Samson said to her, “If they bind me with seven fresh bowstrings, not yet dried, then I shall become weak, and be like any other man.” So the lords of the Philistines brought up to her seven fresh bowstrings, not yet dried, and she bound him with them. Now men were lying in wait, staying with her in the room. And she said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” But he broke the bowstrings as a strand of yarn breaks when it touches fire. So, the secret of his strength was not known.
-Judges 16:6-9
Samson could have easily seen Delilah’s heart by the way she immediately tried to bind him with what he deceptively said he could be bound with. The fact that he did not tell her the truth proved that he knew she had a vested interest. He lied about it not once, not twice but thrice and still he did not understand what Delilah was trying to do. God gave all the ‘red flag moments’ and that too, blatantly. Numb-headed, you may say. His story ends on a tragic note with a suicidal mission that not only killed him but also many Philistines.
There are so many people and things that suck our energy and leave us gasping for breath. Like kryptonite to Superman, these associations are poison to us—sucks power, weakens the spirit and tortures the mind. While the whole experience can result in bitterness, it also teaches us to be more sensitive to God’s voice. Most times, troubles come in shiny packages—very deceiving. But God in His mercy gives us nudges and warning signs when something or rather, someone is wrong for us.
Time to detect some kryptonites!
P.S: The red flags come in the strangest ways and sometimes, from the most unexpected people.