“Then the Philistines said, “Who has done this?” And they said, “Samson, the son-in-law of the Timnite because he has taken his wife and given her to his companion. And the Philistines came up and burned her and her father with fire.”
– Judges 15:6
This verse is one of those examples and the Book of Judges of horrible evil. In this case, Samson’s wife and her father being burned with fire. Like you read some of these verses in the Book of Judges and you just think, “How horrible, how evil, like unspeakably evil.” It’s so painful even just to read, but this is the point.
The effects of sin are disastrous and deadly.
Judges 15:6 Shows Us the Deadly Effect of Sin
The effects of sin are disastrous and deadly. The effects of people doing what is right in their own eyes are disastrous and deadly. And there’s so much that goes into this particular story to lead to this point, but this verse alone should cause us all in our lives to say to God … So let’s just go ahead and start praying in the light of how heavy a verse like this is. God help us to hate sin. God help us to flee from sin in every way in our lives that you might save us from ourselves and you might save us from evil.
Jesus, we praise you, we exalt you for coming to us for living a life of no sin. And then even though you had no sin for which to die for dying the death we deserve to die, for enduring the worst, most evil act in all of history. You, God in the flesh being crucified on a cross at the hands of sinful men and women. We praise you, we thank you for dying on the cross to pay the price for the sins of anyone who trusts in you. For all of us who are praying this right now who know you as savior and Lord of our lives.
Judges 15:6 Leads Us to Praise Jesus
God, we praise you. Jesus, we praise you for making the way for us to be forgiven of all our sin and free from its power in our lives, free to live the life that you’ve created us to live, O God, life of righteousness and holiness. And so we say in a fresh way today, we want to live fully in that life. Keep us from sin. Help us to hate even what we might be tempted to classify or qualify as a small sin. It’s not that big a deal. God help us to hate all sin to run from it, not to flirt with it, not to rationalize it, but to run from sin to live in obedience to you.
And God, we pray in a world of sin and suffering and evil that you would help us to make the good news of your grace and your mercy and your forgiveness, your salvation known. God, we pray that you would by the power of your spirit, cause us to share the gospel today with somebody else. We pray that people would come to know Jesus as we gather for worship in churches. We pray that people would come to know Jesus in our midst near us and far from us.
Praying for the Pashtun of Afghanistan
God, we pray today for the Pashtun of Afghanistan and Iran. We know so much of the Taliban in Afghanistan is Pashtun. God, we pray for your grace and your mercy and your salvation and your love for the name of Jesus. And the truth about Jesus to be made known among the Pashtun of Afghanistan as well as those who have come over into Iran.
God, we pray that they would know your mercy, that you would save them from sin even as we need your salvation from our sin. We praise you, O God, for not leaving us alone in our sin and the judgment we deserve. We praise you that though the wages of our sin is death. You have given us the free gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. And we pray according to Judges 15:6 in His name, all of these things in His name. Amen.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
