Achsah was a wise woman. Delilah was not!
Which one am I?
Pr 14:1 "Every wise woman buildeth her house: but the foolish plucketh it down with her hands."
Note the differences in the following two passages of Scripture:
Achsah's Way:
Joshua 15:16 And Caleb said, He that smiteth Kirjathsepher, and taketh it, to him will I give Achsah my daughter to wife. 17 And Nathaniel the son of Kean, the brother of Caleb, took it: and he gave him Achsah his daughter to wife. 18 And it came to pass, as she came unto him, that she moved him to ask of her father a field: and she lighted off her ass; and Caleb said unto her, What wouldest thou? 19 Who answered, Give me a blessing; for thou hast given me a south land; give me also springs of water. And he gave her the upper springs, and the nether springs.
Delilah's Way:
Judges 16:16 "And it came to pass, when she pressed him daily with her words, and urged him, so that his soul was vexed unto death; 17 That he told her all his heart, and said unto her, There hath not come a razor upon mine head; for I have been a Nazarite unto God from my mother's womb: if I be shaven, then my strength will go from me, and I shall become weak, and be like any other man."
The“young” bride, Achsah got her husband to do something by “moving” him. (See the results v.19) Wicked Delilah got her husband to something by “pressing” him (daily). (See results Judges 16:21) What is the difference between these two words? “Pressing” did not mean ironing his shirts! It probably means the same thing as nagging.
Another interesting word in the Bible, and one that is in reference to women (yikes) is the word "brawling". It actually says it is better to live in a corner of a housetop than to live in a wide house with a brawling woman. (Prov. 21:9; Proverbs 25:24) That word "brawl" means to beat or drive away. (Sometimes looking up the actual meaning of a word is a little scary!) It sounds like this is what Delilah evidently did this to Sampson daily until she beat him down. Yes, today it is called "nagging".
Prov. 31:12, says, “She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life.”
We will not get anywhere with our husbands by nagging, by brawling, by anger and contention, but we might be able to "move" him by a meek and quiet spirit. 1Peter 3:4 says, "But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price." I think if we tried this more, we might be pleasantly surprised!
Let’s don’t do evil to our husbands, but let's do them good “all" the days of our lives!
Let's don't be a "brawling" wife and drive our husband away and beat them down. Let's build them up! (Prov. 14:1)
Let's don’t "press" our husbands as Delilah did , but "move" our husbands as Achsah did!
I came across this devotional from a year or so ago. I thought it would be good to share on "Sunday Favorites"; that maybe it would be a help and blessing to someone. As I was editing it, I realized that I needed it too! That's the way the Lord works! I hope it is an encouragement to someone.
