Unexpected Scars: Finding Hope When You’ve Been Dropped | 2 Samuel 4

You're listening to the Bridgetown Church Podcast with

Pastor Casey Kendall, where our vision is Jesus, our mission is

people, and our cause is love. Thanks for tuning in.

Let's dive in. Amen.

Thanks for joining us this morning.

We are in a series through Second Samuel.

If you have your Bible handy, turn to Second Samuel chapter 4.

2 Samuel 4 · chapter mention

Second Samuel chapter 4. We're going to go through all of

2 Samuel 4 · chapter mention

the verses in Second Samuel chapter 4.

2 Samuel 4 · chapter mention

It is a very long chapter. It's 12 verses long and I'm

glad. I pray you can give me about 5

minutes each per verse. That will be about 60 minutes.

Just kidding. You were thinking, no way,

Pastor Casey, I could sit through a three hour movie, but

I can't sit through a 45 minute message.

But we're excited you're here. That's a good spot to drop the

mic and walk off the stage. But this is the this is the the

title this morning is unexpected scarves, Finding hope when you

have been dropped. I want to just pinpoint one

verse and we're going to go through the whole chapter

together. Second Samuel chapter 4 verse 4

2 Samuel 4:4

in this story is one small story that God pinpoints in His

narrative of the history of the nation of Israel to be an

encouragement and to breathe hope and life into US today.

The Bible says in Second Samuel chapter 4, verse four that

2 Samuel 4 · chapter mention

Jonathan, Saul's son, had a son who was lame in his feet.

He was five years old when the news about Saul and Jonathan

came from Jezreel, and his nurse took him up and fled.

And it happened as she made haste to flee that she fell.

He fell, excuse me, and made became lame, so his name was

Mofibosheth. I want to read that last

sentence to you again. And it happened as she made

haste to flee, that he fell and became lame.

So his name was Mofibosheth. Let's say that to your neighbor.

His name was Mofibosheth. Yeah, that's a good word to say

in the morning that kind of gets your your tongue moving, your

mouth moving in the right direction.

But this is a story of a little boy who's five years old who's

accidentally dropped in the midst of bad news.

And in that midst of hearing this bad news and being dropped,

he is forever lame and he can no longer walk again.

Will you look at your neighbor this morning and say, neighbor,

my neighbor? I didn't expect that.

I didn't expect that. I didn't expect that.

I was recently asked again at Starbucks if I wanted a straw to

drink my iced tea and it reminded me why I don't drink

out of straws of the story. A very traumatic one if you

would follow with me that I endured through the great state

of Texas in a city called New Braunfels.

As I was leaving, taking my wife on a bucket list trip from

Magnolia Farms with Joanna Gaines and Chip Gaines, we made

our way down to the city of Austin.

And from the city of Austin off of 6th St. we made our way down

to San Antonio. And making our way down to San

Antonio we wanted to stop in this small German town called

New Bronze Fells. They said it had a cool river

and some cool thrift stores, but it felt a little oppressive

there and now I know why as I made my way into this barbarian

food hall. I bought a barbarian pretzel

with barbarian cream cheese and my wife got a water and I got an

iced tea. I always drink out of a straw

until that day. Take my straw, put it in the cup

and I began to try to sip on my iced tea.

It was blocked. Something was blocking the tea.

I thought it was a piece of ice. I thought it was maybe a tea

leaf. So I sucked harder.

When you are drinking tea through a straw and it's not

going through, stop. Don't suck harder on the straw.

Do not move forward. Hit pause before you go any

other direction. As I sucked harder on the straw,

everything started flowing through the straw and it made

its way all the way back to the throat and I began to gag.

It wasn't a mint leaf. It wasn't iced tea.

As I reached all the way as far as my hand could go to the back

of my mouth, I pulled out like this someone's hair.

My wife was laughing, I was crying, I was gagging as I

brought this to the server and she had the audacity to laugh

and asked me if I wanted a new fresh cup.

I stopped drinking that day out of a straw.

And because of that, I think to my life, I just didn't expect

that. And there's some of you, and I'm

not talking about your iced tea. I'm talking about the life that

you have now been given, the news that you actually heard.

That life sometimes feels like that glass of iced tea.

That once what you're receiving is not actually what you were

expecting. Oh, you didn't expect that story

to come from them. You didn't expect that with your

money. Oh, yeah.

You didn't this year expect that with the job that you were in.

You didn't expect that with the boyfriend or the girlfriend.

You didn't expect that to happen at work.

You didn't expect that to happen with your wife.

You didn't expect that to happen with your husband.

And now you find yourself in 2026 in the midst of friendships

and marital adversity and single identity and what you have you

just did not expect today. And once you had peace, but now

in your heart, it feels like there's panic once because

you're receiving something that you did not expect.

It was fantastic as you were moving through 2026, but now

there's a lot of fear rising up within you.

Maybe it's not even that, but maybe you thought everything was

wonderful and now it's simply filled with worry.

You didn't expect that. And when we're hit with the

things we do not expect, we often choose to exit out of what

God is calling us to enter into. And because of that, we find

ourselves in a place where we are filled with decisions that

are based upon our own disturbance.

And because of the disturbance, we begin to make decisions out

of a disrupted soul rather than a devoted soul.

I love what Louis Giglio wrote. He wrote in his book, These

Words. So often when we are asked how

things are going, we reply things like, man, I don't know

if I'm going to make it through this season.

Did I get an Amen there? I'm not sure I'm going to

survive this semester. I don't know if I am ever going

to get through this time, he writes.

Have you ever heard yourself saying something like that?

Where did you get that kind of thinking?

Where did you hear those words of gloom and doubt?

Not from the Good Shepherd of your soul.

You likely heard them from the enemy sitting at your table.

See, your God has just told you that even though you walk

through the valley of the shadow of death, you don't need to fear

any evil. Did you catch the operative word

in the sentence through the valley?

Your shepherd didn't just say you're going to the valley, he

said you were going through the valley.

In other words, you are going to make it.

Can you just say that to your neighbor and encourage them this

morning? You are going to make it.

You were going to make it through the season.

You will not find, he writes the Good Shepherd telling you that

you are not going to make it. You will never find the Good

Shepherd telling you that life is hopeless.

There's no way out. May as well Chuck it all and

quit and die. That is not the voice of the

Good Shepherd. Jesus, the Good Shepherd says

we're going through this valley and I'm going to be with you all

the way through it and guess what?

You're going to have a story to tell on the other side of it.

Listen, it's in this moment that we're in, in Second Samuel,

2 Samuel 4 · chapter mention

chapter 4, that Saul has died, that Jonathan has died, that

David has only been given one part of the tribes of the

Kingdom, and that is the tribe of Judah.

He's going against another king who is now put into position by

a man by the name of Abner. Abner puts this man into the

position of king and his name is Ashibosheth, not Mephibosheth.

Let's say those really fast together Shibbasheth and

Mephibosheth. And Shibbasheth finds himself at

a place where now Joab gets revenge on Abner because Abner

killed Joab's brother Asael. So Joab takes Abner to the side.

He doesn't backstab him, he front stabs him.

He kills him right in the stomach, stabbing him through.

And there in the midst of this, Abner dies.

And now in our story, we come to Second Samuel chapter 4, and the

2 Samuel 4 · chapter mention

Bible tells us that as Shabashat finds himself not expecting

what's about to happen. And through all the narrative,

it's about a Shibasheth and two other men, one by the name of

Bana and the other by Rakab. That's what the story and the

narrative is all about. But tucked into this story is

verse 4. There is always going to be a

verse 4 in your life. There's always going to be this

verse four that seems that the verse is out of place.

The verse doesn't seem to go with the theme of the narrative

of the story in chapter 4. And here in verse 4, all we read

about is a situation that happened weeks or months prior

with Saul and Jonathan being killed and the frightening

aspect of the servant grabbing Mephibosheth and running away.

And as they're grabbing Mephibosheth chef, he falls to

the ground, he hurts his legs and now he can never walk again.

I don't know if you have a small story or you feel like it's

small and you don't really feel like God is seen verse 4 in your

life. I don't know if you've ever

found yourself here in this moment where it feels like this

verse 4 is awkward. It feels like it's not going to

be a place of understanding for you.

And in this moment, it's something that you just didn't

expect. You actually feel dropped.

You actually find yourself at a place in life where where

there's no peace at all in your life.

But here's what I want to submit to you.

First Samuel and second Samuel tells us about the kings of the

nation of Israel. We started with the man by the

name of King Saul. We went to a man by the name of

King David, and David is pointing us to the greatest of

king of all, who is Jesus. He is known Jesus as the Prince

of Peace. And in the place that you're at

today, the peace that you will experience might not be found in

the place that you are in, but it can be found in the person

who is with you at the place you are in.

And this is what Jesus says. I give to you my peace.

Listen to what Jesus says. In this world you will have

tribulation. But be of good cheer.

I have overcome the world. And he says these things.

I say to you that in me you might have peace.

Listen, the Bible tells us that Jesus spoke to the storm.

He said these words be still. And I wonder if he wasn't just

speaking to the storm, but he was actually speaking to the

disciples hearts in the midst of the storm.

Because you can be in a storm and still be still, even though

the storm isn't still. And I think our souls have to

actually calm down so we can learn in the storm what God

desires to teach us. Because the storm isn't breaking

you necessarily, it's just revealing you.

And so God gives to us a place in our life where things you

just didn't expect happen. And that is the narrative all

throughout Scripture. All throughout Scripture, you'll

read of men and women who face things they just didn't expect.

Can you imagine hearing the news that your son killed your other

son? You just didn't expect that,

Adam and Eve. Can you imagine when God calls

Noah at 640 years old to build an ark?

640 years old is when you're retiring.

You don't do that in the age of retirement.

Build an ark. He's didn't expect it.

He didn't expect what was happening in the midst of

everything that he was facing in his life when God had called

Abraham to go to a place he did not know of.

He didn't expect it when God would call him to now sacrifice

his son, his only son Isaac, on the altar.

Can you imagine being Moses and leading the people of Israel out

of Egypt? You would think and expect

everybody would be happy. I'm sure he didn't expect the

complaining. Oh, take us back.

It was a little bit more comfortable.

And he probably didn't expect to be at the Red Sea and watch it

separate. Can you imagine, Ruth?

She didn't expect that she would lose her husband and move to a

new city called Bethlehem. She just did.

Scripture is filled with things and people that did not expect

certain situations. But I submit to you today that

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

Even in the things that you just didn't expect to happen in your

life. You didn't expect the cancer

diagnosis, you didn't expect this with your health.

You didn't expect this in your marriage.

You didn't expect this in 2026. You are actually writing a whole

different narrative. And then God throws in a verse

4. What do we do in the midst of

things that we don't expect? How can we be in a place where

we can now a lot like this narrative in Second Samuel, find

ourselves even processing the story and still living for the

glory of God. Here's what I want to just tell

you today. If you if you take note, and

that is this, if you would we, we all, we all need an anchor.

Would you just write that down somewhere?

We all need an anchor. We all need an anchor, and that

anchor leads us to stability. No, no, notice what happens.

And when Saul's son, we know his name is Ashibosheth.

When Saul's son Ashibosheth heard that Abner had died in

Hebron or Hebron, he lost heart and all of Israel was troubled.

Look at look at what happened. Abner dies.

The commander of that army and now a Shiba chef, because of

Abner's death, loses heart, and then all of Israel is troubled.

We all need an anchor. We all need to find where we can

have stability in our lives. Joab gets his revenge that we

heard from Judah a few weeks back.

We heard that Judah shared that Joab got his revenge and then

Joab calls Abner to the side. He stabs him in the front.

And then when a Shiba sheth hears that Abner is dead, he

loses heart. Now, that's not a term in

Glendora that you're often using via text message and instant

messaging on WhatsApp. You're not normally asking

people in your life, have you lost heart?

You're not hearing that a lot of times in in the local malls and

shopping centers that we're in. We're not hearing about, hey,

did you lose heart today? What does that mean?

The term lose heart, Here's what it means.

The term lost there means that he became helpless.

And the word their heart is where we get the same word,

courage. He felt helpless with his

courage. Can I just say that again to

you? Come on, we're small enough in

here so we can all say Amen. And we're loud enough in here to

where we could say Amen. He, he was helpless with his

courage. Now, look, look, look, this is

so important. His courage and what he lost was

only dependent. Not on the anchor of the

Almighty God, but he lost his courage because he lost his

disconnection and his dependence on Abner.

And because now Abner has been dead and Abner has died, he is

actually lost and feels helpless with his courage.

Abner leaving left in a Shibashet a great disruption and

disturbance in a Shibashet's life.

And at this point in time, Abner wasn't the king.

He was just simply the commander.

A Shibashet was the king. The King of Israel was called to

depend upon the God of Israel, and in this moment we can see in

a Shibashet's life that his anchor was Abner.

So much so I submit this to you today.

If we wrongly anchor ourselves to people thinking that they

alone will give us stability, we lose our ability to move

forward. I just want to submit that to

you again. If we wrongly anchor ourselves

to people thinking that they alone will give us stability

will lose our ability to move forward.

I I want you to understand this in the text.

Just because Abner was dead did not mean that Saul's son could

not live. And this is many times what

happens is we become what they call Co dependent on people.

And because we become Co dependent on people, that

doesn't mean that I can't have good relationships.

That does not mean that I can't have trusted friendships.

That doesn't mean that things don't hurt and pain does not

arise in my relationship. This is what it does mean

though. Codependence is simply depending

on the person fully for your peace, your satisfaction, your

life and your hope. And without them, without an

Abner, then I lose all of that in my life.

I love what Lisa Turkish wrote in regards to her facing a

husband who wouldn't stop drinking and wouldn't stop

committing adultery and she was afraid to disrupt that water of

their marriage because of their children.

This is what she writes. It is possible to be a good

friend, a supportive team member, a loving spouse, and a

dependable Co worker, but we are never meant to become someone's

savior. And Abner became a Shiba chefs

savior. And because this is now dead,

Abner is gone. So a shibashet feels like he

can't go forward. Someone wrote once wrote that

codependency is compassion gone too far.

And that's exactly what happens. And here's the problem.

We set Abner's on the throne, where only Jesus as King

deserves to be. No wonder why I have anxiety.

Abner is gone. No wonder why I panic.

Because my peace depends upon the position of Abner.

No wonder I'm worried about this.

Because if they're not in my world, I don't know how I'll

keep working in my life. And that's exactly what happens

to a Shiba Shet in this story. And we all have anchors and we

all throw them in turbulent waters of our life every single

day. I remember when my mom died and

I asked that same question. How can I actually move forward

from this situation? Because she was the stability.

She was the voice of peace. She was the voice of hope.

She was the voice of life, she was the inspiration along with

my dad. They were both the examples.

How do you move forward when just a few months later your

mother-in-law dies of brain cancer?

And the question rose up again in my heart and I began to throw

out more anchors in this direction.

And then again, Lisa's dad dying and us finding him at that place

in his room. How do you actually move

forward? When my youth pastor left, I

asked the same question. How do I actually, as a

teenager, move forward from these things?

And it became for me to realize that there are multiple anchors

that I throw in multiple different situations.

And what often times happens, I throw them back on people that

did not agree to hold the stability of my soul.

And in that, this brings me to this place of realizing this,

where can I anchor myself? Where can I find stability?

And so I just wrote a few things down.

Anchor yourself. Anchor yourself and say this, I

am not in control. Anchor yourself and say I'm not

in control. Stop managing outcomes.

Stop managing outcomes in your life.

If you want to write this down, anchor yourself in Scripture.

Anchor yourself in scripture. Deep life issues need to be need

deep seated truths of God's Word.

Anchor yourself in scripture. Can I encourage you this?

Anchor yourself in God's past faithfulness to you.

Anchor yourself in God's past faithfulness.

Trace back God's work and see what He has done and what He's

promised to do. Can you write this down?

If you take note, Fix your hope solely on Jesus.

That doesn't mean again, you can't have good friends.

That doesn't mean you can't have great relationships.

But if you can fix your hope solely on Jesus Christ, can.

I encourage you to write this down.

Communicate in your community about these things.

We need to anchor. We need to anchor ourself into

friendships that birth unchanging hope and security.

And I anchor myself through and in community to the character of

God. And as I anchor myself into the

character of God, I find that in Him alone, no matter if Abner

lives or dies, I will not lose heart and I will not be

troubled. And many times when we read

this, we think that the feeling of losing heart and being

troubled is the sin. Just because you feel that way

doesn't mean that you're necessarily in sin, but it

absolutely means that you're human.

You should feel in your life the pain and the agony and the the

the wrestling of what it means to not have the heart in a

matter or to feel troubled. Now, what I do with losing heart

and being troubled can lead to sin, but feeling that way is not

sinful. I just want to clarify that.

But if you anchor yourself in the Lord, it doesn't mean that

the pain goes away. It means that you walk the right

path in the pain that you're in. We all need anchors.

And I want to encourage you in this moment that it just feels

like you just didn't expect that.

We need the stability and then it leads to this.

We need righteous actions. We need righteous actions.

We need righteous actions and notice this story if you would.

Saul's son had a two men in verse 2 who were captains of the

troops. The name of 1 was Bana, and the

name of the other was Riqab and the sons of Rahman the berophyte

of the children of Benjamin. For Berath also was part of

Benjamin. And because the Berathytes fled

to get AIM and have been sojourners there until this day.

Jump down to verse 5. Then the sons of Rahman, the

Berathyte Riqab and Banana set out and came at about the heat

of the day to the House of a Shiba chef who was lying on his

his bed at noon. And they came there all the way

into the house as though to get wheat, and they stabbed him in

the stomach. Who did they stab?

They stabbed A Shiba chef. Does this sound like a soap

opera? This feels like you're watching

reality TV. You're like, I wish I was back

in the Old Testament. There wouldn't be this much

drama in my life now. There is tremendous drama in the

Old Testament. Sometimes PG, sometimes PG13,

sometimes even rated R. It is.

It is just this aspect of craziness all around.

They go and they stab a Shibasheth.

Then Rakab and Bana, his brother, escaped.

When they came into the house, he was lying on his bed in his

bedroom. And then they struck him and

killed him, beheaded him and took his head.

And we're all night escaping through the plain.

It's probably not a show I'm going to watch with my my girls.

And they brought the head of a Shibashet to David at Hebron and

said to the king, here is the head of a Shibashet, the son of

Saul, your enemy, who sought your life.

And the Lord has avenged my Lord the king this day of Saul and

his descendants. Then David answered Rakab and

Bana his brother, the sons of Ramon the Bereathite, and said

to them, as the Lord lives, who has redeemed my life from all

adversity. When someone told me, saying,

look, Saul is dead, thinking to have brought good news, I

arrested him and had him executed in Ziklag.

The one who thought I would give him a reward for his news.

How much more when wicked men have killed a righteous person

in his own house on his bed. Therefore shall I not now

require his blood at your hand and remove you from the earth?

So David commanded his young men and they executed them.

They cut off their hands and feet in the hang them by the

pool in Hebron, but they took the head of a Shibasheth and

buried in the tomb of Abner of Hebron.

This is just crazy. And does your life ever feel

like this? Does it feel absolutely crazy?

It feels like there's too much happening all around you.

Just because it feels crazy does not give you the right to have

sinful conduct. Just because you feel lonely

does not allow you and afford you the opportunity as a born

again follower of Jesus to go out and do what you're doing.

Just because you feel the pain does not give you the ability or

the right actions to go get drunk and numb your pain.

Just because you find yourself at this spot in your life

doesn't mean that you should kill a Shiba chef.

And these guys, listen, they had great intentions, but they had

horrible actions. And that's many times what we

say, well, my intentions were good, but your actions were

horrible. And because of that, listen,

David executes judgment upon these men.

These men thought that they were doing David a favor.

Verse 8 says that they came to David and they said, here's the

head of a Shiba chef. They thought they were actually

doing what was right. But I want to contrast Banaa and

Rakab's response to David's response.

I want you to see their response was made out of haste and fear

and revenge and anxiety and worry.

David had the opportunity to kill Saul and he withheld his

sword. Notice the response of these two

people. They put their hands into the

work instead of committing it into the hands of God.

And I think many times what I can do over my life in these

areas is have the wrong actions. And instead of putting this

outcome in the hands of God, I take it into my own hands and I

mess everything up. And listen, you might be asking,

well, how can I have good actions?

Can you write some things down if you love to take notes?

And that's this. Your obedience is more important

than your intention. Your obedience is more important

than your intention. And then I want you to write

down this. Get a full understanding over

misguided zeal. Get a full understanding over

something rather than having a misguided zeal.

And then I want you to write this down.

Look at God's plan over your outcome.

Consider God's plan over your outcome.

And then I want you to pair your wisdom with obedience.

Why do I need to do this in these types of situations when

you don't expect it? Because I am prideful and I

presume things I shouldn't, I'm arrogant and I begin to have my

own perspective. And then I live in misplaced

priorities. And then because of this, I have

a lack of foresight into the situation that I just didn't

expect. But notice this, if you would

notice this small verse and notice this little story of

verse 4, Jonathan. Jonathan was the friend of

David. David loved Jonathan.

Saul's son had a son who was lame in his feet.

Being lame in his feet, the son could not walk.

I'm sure the son did not expect this.

He was only five years old when the news about his dad and his

grandfather came to the scene. And this was the scene that Saul

and Jonathan were now dead. His nurse took him up.

She took him up and fled and noticed this and it happened.

She made haste to flee, but he fell and he became lame.

This wasn't even Mephibosheth's decision.

It was the nurse's decision. And in the nurse's decision, she

picks up this little boy and because of the quickness of her

response, she trips, she falls, and Mephibosheth is lame for the

rest of his life. I don't know if your pain has

been caused by your own decisions or possibly your pain

has been caused because of somebody else's decisions.

Here's what I submit to you. Is there still is anticipation

and in this moment, I have to live with responsibility.

Did you get that? You have to live with your

responsibility. There's a call of God in your

life over your own responsibility.

You have to carry your own responsibility.

I was telling a friend who is a coach and I was telling him,

man, I feel so overwhelmed in my life.

I feel so overwhelmed. He said, listen, he said, Casey,

you, you are the only one that gets to put a title on that

chapter. He's well, how about we re title

that chapter. Just say this is new and hard

and I often will spin these things in a negative light

rather than a positive light. But what we can do in the midst

of all that is we can live in this negative pool of our own

doubts and our own weaknesses and our own abilities rather

than in the power of God to work in this painful situation to say

I have my own responsibility. Here's the responsibility.

So his name was Mephibosheth. He became lame.

What? What does he do now?

Mephibosheth has to be carried around wherever he goes by these

people. And this is just a foreshadowing

of Second Samuel Chapter 9. In Second Samuel Chapter 9,

2 Samuel 9 · chapter mention 2 Samuel 9 · chapter mention

you're going to hear how the king brings the lame man to his

table. And that's exactly what Jesus

has done for you and I and everything that feels like is

dying and everything that feels like it's just these quick

responses here of these men of everything that feels like I've

been dropped and now I'm hurting.

Notice you weren't a burden. God was actually bringing you to

the King's table. Can you imagine if Mephibosheth

said I, I no longer in my life, I, I can't keep going anymore.

I won't keep going. I'm just too hurt, I can't even

walk anymore. Can you imagine?

He would not in chapter 4 have experienced Chapter 9.

But because he was willing to keep moving, even though he was

unable to keep walking, He experiences the King's grace.

And what I submit to you today and everything that you just

didn't expect was take the next step and be obedient to God and

say to him in the midst of everything that you are going

through now in this place, to say, I will take the next step

and not stop in this area of my life.

You didn't expect that, but that doesn't mean it's the end of

that. Amen.

We hope you enjoyed this message and we'd love for you to join us

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