Samson, strong and foolish
“Samson called to Yahweh, and said, “Lord Yahweh, remember me, please, and strengthen me, please, only this once, God, that I may be at once avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes.””Judges 16:28 · WEB
Samson has every advantage: an angel announces his birth, God's Spirit comes on him, and his strength is legendary. He also has almost no self-control. He marries for looks, kills out of temper, settles scores instead of leading a nation, and tells a woman the secret of his strength after she has already betrayed him three times. Blinded and shackled, grinding grain in a Philistine prison, he becomes the entertainment at their festival. And there, at the very bottom, he prays — the only real prayer of his life — and asks for strength one last time. Judges lets you feel the waste. God used him; God never pretended he was a good man. The book ends soon after with the verdict on the whole era: everyone did what was right in his own eyes.