Heart | 2 Samuel 2:1–7

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. We're in Second Samuel chapter

2 Samuel 2 · chapter mention

2, and we're going to be looking at the story of David.

So if you have your Bible handy, Second Samuel chapter 2,

2 Samuel 2 · chapter mention

beginning in verse 1 all the way through verse 7, we'll begin to

read it together. The Bible says it happened after

this that David inquired of the Lord, saying, shall I go up to

any of the cities of Judah? And the Lord said to him, Go up.

And David said, where shall I go up?

And he said to Hebron. And so David went up there, and

his two wives, a high Noam, the Jezreelite, and Abigail the

widow of Nabal the Carmelite. And David brought up the men who

were with him, every man with his household.

So they dwelt in the cities of Hebron, and the men of Judah

came, and there they anointed David king over the House of

Judah. And they told David, saying the

men of Jabesh Ghalid were the ones who buried Saul.

So David sent messengers to the men of Jabesh Ghalid and said to

them, You are blessed of the Lord, for you have shown this

kindness to your Lord, to Saul, and have buried him.

And now may the Lord show kindness and truth to you.

So also I also will repay you this kindness because you've

done this thing. Now therefore let your hands be

strengthened and be valiant for your master.

Saul is dead and also the House of Judah has anointed me king

over them. As we enter into Second Samuel

2 Samuel 2 · chapter mention

chapter 2, we've entitled this whole series heart because God

gets to the heart of the matter in choosing his king.

David is known as a man after God's own heart.

But I want to give you the timeline in which first and

second Samuel were written in context.

This is happening right after the book of Judges.

In this time where the Bible says that every man did that

which was right in his own eyes. You remember the story of a

woman by the name of Hannah. Hannah was a woman who was

barren and could not have children.

So she sought the Lord and Eli. The priest looked at Hannah

thought she was drunk and Hannah said, I'm not drunk, I'm just

grieved of heart. I want a child.

So God blessed Hannah that moment with a son, and where

Hannah thought she was bringing a son to her family, God was

bringing a prophet to the nation of Israel, a prophet and a

judge. And in this moment Samuel is

hearing these calls of the Lord. And in that moment Eli said to

him at a young age, just tell the Lord, your servant is

listening. And as Samuel says this to the

Lord, he makes himself available to the work of God.

And in that moment we hear that Samuel is raised up to be the

prophet of the Lord, the judge of Israel.

All of Israel in this context is crying out for a king like all

the other nations. So God gives them a man by the

name of King Saul. King Saul's name means asked

for, and that's exactly what they got.

They got a man who was head and shoulders above everybody else.

And God raises up the first king of Israel.

His name is King Saul. King Saul bleeds into King David

and David points us to the greatest king of all and that is

King Jesus. As we enter into first Second

2 Samuel 2 · chapter mention

Samuel chapter 2, we realize that the battle has taken place

and from first Second Samuel chapter one we remember that

Saul and Jonathan had died and Israel has been defeated by the

Philistines. So now we get into Second Samuel

2 Samuel 2 · chapter mention

chapter 2. If you would just look at your

neighbor and say neighbor, my neighbor, I don't want you to

fail. I don't want you to fail.

I don't want you to fail. So today I want to give you a

formula for failure. If you ever wanted to fail in

2026, I want to give you the formula in which you could do

that. The year for me was 1991, the

same year that Metallica came out with a song called Enter

Sandman. It's the same time that Michael

Jackson would write the song Black and White.

It was the same song time that Nirvana would come out with

Smells Like Teen Spirit. It was a great year.

It was my junior year at Cajon High School and as I found

myself in my junior year, I was seeking to play varsity

baseball. I wanted to move from JV up to

varsity. I loved baseball, but I hated

geometry with a passion. All I needed to do to make the

team was to make the grade in geometry.

So it was my midterm final. Geometry had hit and I had taken

the test and I had studied the best that I could for geometry.

I took the test and I waited for the results and I waited and I

waited and I waited and I waited and I waited and I waited.

And I remember walking into my geometry class in my junior year

and the teacher had a smirk on his face and he looked at me and

he pointed at me when I went up to his desk and he said these

words. You failed smiling.

You failed by one percentage point.

I said. Can you help me gain a

percentage point so I could play baseball this spring?

He said. Nope, you're stuck right where

you were at. You actually have failed your

test and thus you have failed this class.

I think if there is ever a class in our Christianity that we have

failed at in our progress report, I, I think church, we

get an A in the class of serving.

I think that we get an A+ in the class of worshipping.

I think that we're getting a B in the class of going out and

witnessing for the Lord. But if there was ever a class

that we have failed at and I have failed at as a Christian,

it is in the class of waiting. I think there is a constant in

my life, this F grade, where I have failed in the class of

waiting. I have failed in the class of

waiting in anticipation for something.

I have failed in the class of expectation for someone.

I have failed in the class where I have been waiting and watching

for this to happen at some time. Oh church, I love it when God

says yes. I've learned to understand

sometimes when God says no. But I hate the word wait.

I mean I love quick results. I want quick calls, I want a

quick nap. I want my kids to take a quick

shower. That's a good spot for an Amen.

I want quick thinking, quick acting.

I want quick transformation. I want quick weight loss for

2026. I want in my life when it comes

to a crisis that God would make it quick, but when it comes to

life it seems like the trials that God puts us in, He will

often put us in the crock pot rather than the microwave.

Because what God is not trying to establish is quick heat, but

long term holiness in my life. And so He allows me to go

through things in my life in this class of waiting.

And I have often failed in this area.

I have failed in waiting with the Lyme's disease.

I have failed often times in waiting with a house.

I failed in my marriage. I failed with my kids many

times. I failed in my own pain, my job,

my finances because I couldn't see him working.

I often wondered what was the purpose in waiting.

But I'd like to share something with you in 2026.

That while you are waiting that God is still working.

And while you're waiting, he takes you through something.

But He also promises to make you someone, and He's promised to

take you somewhere. Do you see it in the heat of the

moments? God is establishing my heart

that in my greatest struggle, my soul could sing its greatest

song. Not that the road is too long,

but that Jesus Christ is still Lord.

You see, in all of these moments that we're in, if there is ever

a man who knew this, it was this man David.

In our story, David was a man who is known in Scripture as a

man after God's own heart. You can read that in First

1 Samuel 13:14

Samuel chapter 13, verse 14. So what is a man after God's own

heart pinned to us in song and song?

Write them down if you're taking note.

This is what David, a man after God's own heart pin for all of

us. Psalm 27, verse 14 wait for the

Psalms 27:14

Lord. Be strong and take heart and

wait for the Lord. What does a man after God's own

heart give to you and give to me in the moment that we're in

Psalm 40, verses one through three.

I waited patiently for the Lord. He turned, turned and he heard

my cry. What is the man after God's own

heart say to us? He says Psalm 37, verse 7.

Psalms 37:7

David writes, be still before the Lord.

How's that going in 2026? Be still before the Lord and

wait patiently for Him. One author put it this way.

Wait on him and see amid trials that are hard, temptations that

are strong, troubles that are constant, that a true faith is a

waiting and persevering faith for the glory of God.

So what in your life in 2026 have you actually been waiting

for? Write it down, highlight it.

There's areas in our lives that all of us are waiting in 20,

2026 for God to do something in our lives.

And I want to give you this morning the formula for failure.

I want you to be aware of how you can actually fail in 2026.

Here's the first one. If you're ready, just say I'm

ready for this. OK, That was just half of the

room. I'm ready for this.

Here we go. If you want to fail, make delays

denials. If you want to fail in your

life, make delays your denials. Can I say it again?

If you really want to fail in 2026, make God's delays in your

life his denial for your life. Listen to what the Bible says in

verse one. And it happened after this.

Would you just stop there? It happened after this.

After what? After Saul and Jonathan have

just died. It happened after this.

It happened when the children of Israel were routed by the

Philistines. It happened after this.

Another version puts it this way, and it came to pass after

another Bible version says afterward David, and then

another version says some time later, and in the NIV it says in

the course of time. I often believe that in the

middle of the promise of God is the process of God to take you

to the place that God actually wants.

And I think we miss it in the course of time.

We stop walking on that course because we're in the course of

time. The process of God is just as

much as the plan of God as is the place in which God is taking

you. And sometimes in our lives we

receive the report that some things have died and the

Amalekite seem to be winning, and the Philistines are

defeating. And notice this.

The king is gone, the throne is empty.

And look at what David does in this moment when the king is

gone and the throne is empty. David waited for this moment.

He waited for this moment. Some scholars believe 15 years.

He has waited for this, happened after this for 15 years.

He's waited in this course of time for 15 years. 15 years is a

long time for some of you in this room.

You're not even 15 years old yet.

For some of you, you've been waiting 15 days.

For some of you, it's been 15 weeks.

It's been 15 months. It's been 15 long years that you

have been waiting for this. David had already had the

promise of God. David had the proclamation of

Samuel over his life. David already had the anointing.

But he has made by the Lord to wait.

He is made in this moment to wait at this time for 15 years.

Could I submit this to you, that God does His greatest work in

your waiting? Waiting could be the most

productive thing that you do in your life, but it's the hardest

thing that we're called to do in our life.

God's greatest men and women were called to wait.

Highlight them all throughout the Bible.

They all lived in this course of time.

Abraham waited 25 years for a son.

Jacob waited 14 years to marry Rachel.

Joseph waited 13 years for his dream to be fulfilled.

Moses waited 40 years in the desert with people who were

complaining. The Israelites waited 400 years

for the Word, the Living Word, Jesus to be mentioned, and God

to speak again all throughout the Bible.

I don't know how long you've been waiting for, 15 days, 15

weeks, or 15 months or 15 years, but the length of this time will

not determine the fulfillment of His promise to you.

Two people believe that. That's great in the room.

Listen, God's delay is not His denial over your life.

And maybe what we need is to see this.

Not that God has stopped, but maybe we need to slow down.

When we, my wife and I and our kids flew into Tennessee, we got

a rental car and I never had a rental car agent or attendant

walk me to the car and describe all the features on the car.

He said, listen y'all, I'm about to give you all a upgrade.

And in his southern twang, he's, he's telling us all about the

car, this VW. And so as he's telling us about

the car, I, I just rattle off 5 quick questions.

It's all stop, stop, stop man. It's all you need to slow down.

I'm still trying to answer your first question.

And I think sometimes we like to move so quickly that we missed

the answer for question #1 and because we're not willing to

slow down. What often times happens in our

lives is we begin to leave the course that we're called to walk

on because we're not willing to wait the course of time and what

God is doing. God's delays are not His

denials. But if you want to fail in your

life, take His delay as a denial and you will make choices to

come off the path that God has called you to.

I believe there's three reasons why we take delays as denials.

If you would just write these down because we're going to need

these for 2026 A letter A. If you're taking note, we have a

limited perspective. We have a limited perspective,

and so the reason why we take God's delay as a denial is

because we have a limited perspective.

Our human perception is limited to the present, while divine

timing considers the bigger picture and the best outcome.

We see only what is in front of us, but we fail to see what God

is doing all around us. I think there's another reason

why in the course of time or right after this, that we take

God's delays as denials. Letter B, if you're taking note,

we have a lack of trust. We have a lack of trust.

The struggle to trust in God's plan after years of waiting

leads to discouragement when results are not immediate.

And discouragement leads to doubt, and doubt leads to

depression, and depression leads to despair.

And so because we have a lack of trust, we often find that in our

lives we do not trust the control of God and his

sovereignty over us. We say we do, we sing about it,

we preach about it, but we will not rest in the hands of the

Almighty God. I think there's another reason

why we take God's delays, his denials, is we misunderstand

God's love. We think that God's love is a

pampering love, not a perfecting love.

In our Christian life in America, we want to be pampered

but not perfected. And what God uses in the midst

of the time is a perfecting work in each of our arts to make us

the men and the women that he's called us to be, to understand

this in in our lives. It's hard to reconcile a loving

God with a situation that feels like rejection or a no, even

when the daily or the delay, excuse me, is meant for your own

protection. His slowness is not a lack of

action. It's a deliberate tool for your

transformation. Can I say that again?

His slowness is not a lack of action.

It's a deliberate tool for your transformation.

So we like to put it this way here.

It is the wisdom of God that knows what's best for you.

It is the love of God in your life that will accomplish what

is best for you. It is the power of God in your

life that will again prove what is best for you.

And so I'm not going to take my delay as a denial.

Like the life of David. He was willing to wait if you

would, take a #2 down if you would.

Not only is this formula a failure, We take God's delays as

denials. But but write this down #2 we

make position more important than the posture.

We make our position more important than our posture.

Notice the Bible says it happened after this, that the

Lord, that David, excuse me, David, notice this.

He inquired of the Lord. Notice what David does not do.

The king is gone, the throne is empty, and David does not rush

to the throne. Notice the first thing that

David does was not about his position as king, but his

posture is God's son. Notice the Bible says that David

inquired on the Lord. He doesn't Sprint, he

surrenders, He doesn't rush, He makes a request.

He's in Ziklag, and the promise is that he should be in

Jerusalem, reigning over all of Israel.

But instead of running there, he inquires of the Lord.

The word inquire in Hebrew is sha all.

I think we need some sha all. Can we just say that out loud?

Sha all. We we need some sha all in our

life. For some of us we need sha all

in our marriage we need some Shaw.

All in our jobs we need some Shaw.

All in the 210 freeway we need Shaw All on the 10 we need some

Shaw all on the 71 we need some Shaw all on the 57 we need some

Shaw all. When you walk into school and

your teacher has not had a good day, we we need some Shaw all.

So we, we, we need more of this Shaw, all that, that we would be

the people in our marriage and our singleness who are willing

to have some. Shah, go away.

Just say that with your family this coming week, man, I learned

some Hebrew. Shah, what does this word

inquire mean for us today? It means this.

It means to make an urgent request.

Did this word means not just an urgent request, but an earnest

plea? It was like Moses when God had

called him to go back to Egypt, that he told the Lord, If you do

not go with us, I will not move. It's that same heart of David to

say, unless Lord, you are with me, I will not go back.

And I think so often I'm praying for peace and provision when

God's already promised me presence.

Because if I did the presence of God that I have, because of the

Holy Spirit, I do get peace and I do get provision shawl.

It's us coming to the Lord and not making a decision yet for

ourselves, but we are going to inquire of the Lord.

Notice David went to the Lord. The Bible says he didn't go to a

his wife. He didn't go to a friend, he

didn't go to his best friend. I think we are quick to take

action because we're more quick to talk to our friends, our

boyfriend, our best friends, our girlfriends friends, rather than

the most faithful friend, The Lord.

The word in the name of the Lord is Jehovah.

This is the term that is used of Yahweh.

Who did David go to with his request?

Who did he urgently ask for direction from the Lord?

The Lord. He got all of his counsel from

the one who was in control. He got his request made to the

one who really rules. He got his awareness and what he

was asking for to the one who had the ultimate authority over

the universe. He came to the Lord.

David did not make his position more important than his posture.

His position was to take the Kingdom.

His posture was to seek the king.

Did you see that? And so in this moment of our

lives, we come to the one who is the Lord.

It's like when Moses said, Who shall I send?

Say to Pharaoh that the one who has sent me and God said I am

who I am has sent you. Tell him that I am, has sent

you. I am, I am.

I am the same that Jesus, Jehovah, if you take note, the

actively present one, the actively present one in your

pain, Satan doesn't fill you with a hatred of God.

He fills you with a forgetfulness of God in your

pain that you're going through. We forget that God is actively

present even in the midst of everything that we are facing.

I am Jesus said the bread of life.

If you're hungry, Jesus said, I am the light of the world.

I am the door of salvation. I am the Good Shepherd.

I am the resurrection and the life.

I am the way, the truth and the life.

I am, Jesus said, the true vine making himself out to be equal

with God the Father. I am, I am.

Listen, the silence of God does not equal the absence of God in

your life. And so many times because we

don't see it, we don't hear Him, we think to ourselves.

We make our position more important than our posture.

Maybe the goal is not for you to be quick to act, but quick to

ask. Maybe the goal is to be like

David. David asked 2 specific questions

of the Lord. Look at them in verse one.

Shall I go up to any of the cities of Judah?

Judah in the Bible is where David comes from.

That's his tribe. Judah in the Bible is known as

the place of praise. So where does God say?

He says, notice this, go up. He asked the question, should I

go up? And the Lord said, go up.

Look at the second question. And the Lord said to him, go up.

And David said, where shall I go up?

And notice specifically the Lord said to Hebron, notice if you

would, the motivation is go up from the Lord, but there's also

a destination from the Lord. There's Hebron.

The Lord gave him motivation and a destination when his posture

was in the right place. And as he goes up, the Lord

directs him into where he's going to go.

Now Hebron is a very important city.

Hebron is where Abraham went in Genesis 13, verse 18 to bury his

Genesis 13:18

wife Sarah. That this was that this was a

place of faith. This was the place that the

friend of God would go. The word Hebron in your Bible

means friendship. It means to bind or it means to

unite. Notice David does not give his

logically fleshly action. He gives his spiritual awareness

and attentiveness to God. This is where God would bind and

unite David with his plan in Hebron.

He would do it in Hebron. Now, Hebron is a place that is

small, so small. Hebron at this time is only 7

acres big. Jerusalem, on the other hand, is

at this time 12 acres. I think we are looking through a

lens of things that are bigger, we think more significant.

But when you posture yourself in the right place, you see

everything that is small as significant.

And when you're willing to see everything that is small that is

significant, this is what happens in our lives.

We stop rushing what God is actually redeeming.

And because of that, David's posture was in this place.

And when we choose position over posture because it's our way,

because it's our time, because it's our fix, we're saying to

God what our answer is has to be better than the God who holds

the universe in the span of his hands.

And when I'm willing to take the right posture, that is when God

opens the doors for provision and position.

I love what Corey Tim Boone wrote.

She wrote these words in regards to how the enemy works.

She said if the devil can't make you sin, he'll make you busy.

And that's what happens when we want position over posture is we

busy ourselves and we equal our busyness as the worth and

identity of our lives. I've done it as a pastor, I've

done it as a Christian. I've equaled my service to God

as my identity. Thus my identity was found, not

in Christ redeeming me, but how I served Him.

And So what happens in that moment is this.

Can you just write these things down?

And if you want to read a great book, read the book ruthlessly,

eliminating hurry out of your life.

Listen, the author writes. Attention is the beginning of

devotion. Your attention is the beginning

of your devotion. If you would just write this

down. Hurry and love are incompatible.

Hurry and love are incompatible. The author then writes this.

Give yourself margin, That is the space between your load and

your limits. Listen, if you want to fail,

make position a priority over your own posture to the Lord.

Notice this. If we really want to fail in our

lives, force outcomes instead of walking by faith and obedience.

If we want to really fail in our lives, force the outcome instead

of walking by faith and obedience to the Lord.

Look at verse 2. So what did David do?

He heard from the Lord, and the Bible says that David Notice

this. He went up there.

Where did he go? He went to the place that the

Lord had told him to go. Notice David's ask came before

his action. Normally what I do is I put my

action 1st and I ask later. David does it a whole different

way and the Bible says that he went up from there.

His two wives also a hinoem, the Jezreelite, and Abigail, the

widow of Nabal the Carmelite. Which isn't it interesting?

The Bible shares the flaws of its heroes.

You shouldn't have two wives like all the other nations

should be holy and separate. And the Bible says that David

not only went up, but he brought up the men who were with him in

verse 3, every man with his household.

So they dwelt in the cities of Hebron.

Notice what happens in David's life.

David comes to this place that the Bible says.

Then the men of Judah came and there they anointed David king

over the House of Judah. Notice that that's very

significant and they told David saying the men of Jabish Ghalid

were the ones who buried Saul. Now notice what happens.

David didn't force the outcome. He walked by faith and obedience

to what God had said. God said to go to Hebron.

David went to Hebron and notice he not only went up, but he

brought up the people. And the Bible says in verse

three that they dwelt in the cities of Hebron.

Where was David before? He was in the Philistine country

of Ziklag and now he's going back to his home town.

Remember, Hebron is 7 1/2 acres large.

I would have been asking the Lord why not Jerusalem?

Lord give me all of it at this time.

I want the whole picture. But notice this, God does not

call David yet at this moment to the be the king of all of

Israel. This is interesting.

He is only the king of one tribe.

Why God? You already promised this

through Samuel. You already said this.

God isn't 15 years long enough and God says I'm going to give

you 7 more years to wait. David waited to be the king of

all of Israel. He waited 22 years, 22 years.

I, I, I, I would take it as my plan that but, but God, Saul is

gone. Saul's gone.

I'm the king now. David waits for the Lord, and

God chooses to put David over one tribe, signifying to us that

the greatest place of transformation has to begin, to

wait with preparation and all that God has for us.

Why would God do this? Because now we look back and we

go, wow, God, that was a great plan, but have you ever been in

the thick of it? And you're going Lord, this,

this is not right. This is not well that I don't I

don't agree Lord I in the middle of it all I could see is the

forest. I can't even see outside of

these trees and everything that I'm facing in my life and then

notice what God does. Why would you do this?

I believe as the Bible says that God is working all things

together for good for those who love him and those who are

called according to his purpose. God is working everything

together for good. Why would God do this?

Well, I think there's a political strategy.

This allowed David to build support and avoid an immediate

civil war and allowed him to consolidate his power.

There was also a symbolic importance to this and what God

was going to do. It is here.

God made his covenant with Abraham.

Hebron was a place of safety and a place of security and a place

for David to dwell. He provided David the safe,

secure place. And notice.

What if God's know was for your protection?

What if God's know for you right now was actually for your

protection? I think we often try in our own

power to put a quick fix over deep problems that lead to

greater and deeper problems. My first automobile was a 1965

VW Bus. I love that car as much as I

loved it. It never worked.

If any of you've had a bug or drove in a VW, you're driven avw

you know the the pain of a VW engine.

I was on the freeway and I had this big steering wheel, you

know, and this metal dash. And I'm driving down and my VW

sign flies off of my van. And then in the same time on the

freeway, on the 215 freeway in the city of San Bernardino, my

left, my driver's side mirror flies off with it.

That's the kind of car it was. So I realized I had an oil leak

in that, in that bus. And everyone was telling me, you

got to get this fixed. You have to fix this right now.

And I thought to myself, I have time.

I have time. So I took what they called JB

Weld. JB Weld is this secure like goo?

And you put it over the crack that was in my engine where it

was leaking oil. And you just take the JB Weld

and you squirt it in there and you rub your hand over it and

you let it settle and it hardens and it plugs the leak.

So I thought it worked for a time, but I never dealt with a

real issue. The issue wasn't necessarily the

crack. The issue was I needed a new

engine, but it was too costly. I had the money, I just wanted

to pay the price. And because I didn't want to pay

the price, I chose what was cheap to fix it and choosing

what was cheap to fix it. I put a JB Weld over something

that needed a whole transformation from the inside

out. And I think sometimes in our

lives what often times happens. Is we lose our drive because we

did not deal with the root of the issue and because we were

unwilling to deal with the real issue.

What we needed was not JB Weld over that issue, but what we

really needed was a complete overhaul of the whole engine.

And what often times happens is, is because I want this to be

quick fix and I can get back to what is familiar and I equate

what is familiar to that which is free, I put a quick fix over

it. What you need is not just a JB

Weld situation. You need a whole brand new heart

in that area. We need to repent in that area.

We need to confess in that area what we need in our own hearts

and our own lives to come to a spot in our lives where we are

not going to force the outcome. We're actually going to walk by

faith and obedience to what God says, like David coming to the

throne. So how can I do that?

Write this down. This is for husbands.

This is for wives. This is for teenagers.

This is for young adults. This is if you've been married

for years. This has been this is for you.

If you're battling a disease or an injury in your life, write

this down. Remember this, you ready No

matter the day, you simply need to obey.

Write that down somewhere. No matter the day that you're

having, you simply need to obey. Some of us think I can send more

on Monday. It's Monday.

It's Monday at the workplace. We, we often will even determine

the level of our sin by a cycle that we're going through or we

determine the level of our sin if we were able to have coffee

yet. Here's here's the thing.

I'm this way because I didn't get my cup of coffee.

Now you're that way because you're that way.

Well, no, no, no, no, I'm not awake yet.

No, no, no. You opened your eyes.

You're awake. You took a breath.

You're awake. Well, I'm.

I'm this way because I'm tired. No, no.

You're that way because you just need to say you're that way.

I've learned some bad habits and I've taken on some bad things,

and I need to ask God to forgive me.

It doesn't matter the day. Well, it's Friday, man.

Let's go get drunk. No, no, no, no, no, no, no.

It's Saturday. It's Sunday.

No, no, listen. No matter the day, you just

simply have to obey. Would you write this down?

Also, if you take note when you're going through something

you don't understand, do what you do understand.

When you're going through something you don't understand,

do what you do understand. Well, I don't understand this

right now. I don't get while, while I'm

going through this. Well, listen, listen, please

just do what God says. You understand that?

How about this one love one another, love one another.

I don't understand what I'm going through.

How about do you understand this?

Love one another? How about this?

Do we understand this? Be holy?

Do we understand this in our lives?

Honor with humility other people before yourself.

Listen, write this down. Delayed obedience is

disobedience to God. Delayed obedience is

disobedience to God. David heard from the Lord and he

immediately went up there. And notice what David does.

It doesn't have to make sense for you to take the next step in

obedience. You just have to take it.

So in your lives, if you really want to fail, make God's delays

your denials. Make position more important

than your posture, and also in your life force the outcome

rather than walking by faith and obedience to what God has.

And lastly, if we really want to fail, will you write this down

somewhere? Care.

If you really want to fail, care more about your reputation than

you do your character. If we really want to fail, care

more about your reputation than your character.

Listen to this. David sent messengers in verse 5

to the men of Jabesh Khalid and said to them, You're blessed of

the Lord, for you have shown this kindness to your Lord and

to Saul and have buried him. So here's these men of Jabesh

Khalid. They take Saul's body and they

bury him. And now may the Lord show

kindness and truth to you also. I also notice this.

I will repay David says. Notice David is not seeking

revenge on the people that followed Saul.

He's repaying them not with revenge, but with get this

kindness. Christians are not called to be

nice. They're called to be kind.

It's the difference being nice. You let people step all over.

You don't really have any boundaries in your life.

You just let people just kind of ride right all over you.

Being kind is being truthful and loving at the same time.

We are able to hold both of those tensions equally in the

capability of the Holy Spirit to be kind to each other.

And being kind to each other doesn't mean that you're always

perfect, but it does mean that when you're not perfect, we

realize it and we come back and ask for forgiveness.

So David repays this kindness because they've done this.

Now, therefore, let your hands be strengthened.

Listen to what David says. Let your hands be strengthened

and be valiant for your master. Saul is dead.

Also, the House of Judah has anointed me king over them.

Notice David says something to these people.

Notice he says let your hands be weak.

You idiots. Why would you ever follow Saul?

I can't believe it. I waited for you for 15 years.

No, no, he doesn't say that. He says let your hands be

strengthened. And then he says, be valiant of

good courage for your master. Saul is dead.

And also the House of Judah has anointed me king over them.

Notice out of the abundance of David's heart his mouth speaks.

And often times when we're waiting for something out of the

abundance of our heart, our mouth speaks.

Notice what David says. And here's the end of the crux

of it all. I was reading about a man that

you might all know by Ernest Hemingway.

I didn't realize this about him. He was injured in World War One

while working as an ambulance driver.

Doctors pulled 237 pieces of shrapnel out of his body, 237

pieces of shrapnel out of his body.

He spent six months in a hospital ward recovering.

He was surrounded by other patients recovering from their

wounds and became fascinated by how differently they waded

through the seemingly endless days of recovery.

Some distracted themselves with small entertainments, others

cried out and lament, and still others pondered the depths of

their lives. It may, the author said, have

been during this time that the that he figured out plot lines

that depicted a lead character waiting for combat to begin, or

waiting for a bull to start charging, or waiting for rescue

at sea. Hemmings weighs thesis is that

this? Listen to this.

Waiting did not break you. It revealed you.

Waiting did not break you. It actually revealed you.

Because sometimes we're thinking, well, the the the

storm is just breaking me. Yeah, Yeah, I understand that.

But it's also revealing you, and what the storm reveals or the

waiting period reveals often times is who we really are.

And I believe God reveals it so he can redeem it because he's

not done with you yet. He's still moving in your life.

But I think there's a lot of people that have wounds.

They have shrapnel, 237 pieces of shrapnel, they've been

bombed, they've been hit, and all of these things are sticking

into their body. And we speak out of our wounds,

we act out of our wounds, we respond to people out of our

wounds, we drive out of our wounds.

We allow ourselves to watch things out of our wounds, and I

believe this is true about our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,

who was wounded for our transgression, who was wounded

for my iniquity. My chastisement fell upon him,

and the one who was wounded for me allowed himself to continue,

not to stay wounded, but to bear scars that we're completely

healed. Jesus will be the only person in

all of heaven that will have scars on his body.

Why? Because scars tell a different

story than a wound. And some of us are still so

wounded and it's getting infected.

We need to look to the King, not David to Jesus, and say, Lord,

by your grace, would you heal this wound?

Will you touch this in my life? And Lord, would you build my

character? And as you build my character,

my reputation will take care of itself.

Jesus was wounded and he still makes himself present to the

ones who wounded him. Jesus was wounded and he still

shows up to church. Jesus was wounded and he told

the soldier on the cross and he cried out for them.

Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.

Oh, how we need to turn our attention back to Jesus Christ

and allow the wounds that we have faced to be made into scars

by His redemption, by His grace, by His mercy, bringing us to a

spot where we are willing to wait because He's still working

while we wait on Him. We hope you enjoyed this message

and we'd love for you to join us in person every Sunday at 10:30

AM. For more information and

updates, visit wearebridgetown.com.

Thanks for tuning in and we'll see you next week.