Let It Go | 2 Samuel 1

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've been in the book of First

Samuel, if you've been following along with us, and we've been

studying through the book of First Samuel, chapter by

chapter, verse by verse. And we've taken a little bit of

time off during Christmas. Then I was in Redlands preaching

for a friend, and then I flew out to Tennessee with my family

to speak to 300 youth out there in Tennessee, in the middle of

Tennessee. And God's doing a great work all

over the world and we get to be a part of it.

But I was just trying to think of three words to start your

2026 off right. And as we're going through the

series called Heart through Second Samuel chapter 1, if you

2 Samuel 1 · chapter mention

have your Bible, I wanted to give you a three words in 2026

to start your year off right. And that is Let it go.

Let it go. I'm not talking about Disney.

I'm not talking about Elsa and Olaf and the team.

I'm talking about these 3 words that will help you move forward

in 2026 and that is let it go. So with that being said, we're

going to read chapter 1, verse 27 and we're going to bring it

back through the whole chapter. We're going to go through the

whole chapter of of Second Samuel chapter 1 this morning.

2 Samuel 1 · chapter mention

But it's good to be back with all of you.

And I pray that you're having a great entrance into 2026.

All right, this left side's having a great year.

We'll pray for the right side. We're with you.

We're going to weep with those who weep and rejoice with those

who rejoice. So First Samuel, Second Samuel,

excuse me, chapter one, verse 27.

The song is written there in the middle of the war.

How the mighty have fallen and the weapons of war perished once

again. How the mighty have fallen and

the weapons of war have perished.

As we always do. I write at the top of my notes

every time I preach anywhere at any time.

Preach is never sure to preach again as a dying man to dying

men and women. And I write that down.

It's a quote from Samuel Rutherford.

And because I know the brevity of life, and I don't want to

leave this spot today without some urgency for eternity's

sake. And I want us to come to a spot

in our lives where we would be able freely to look at your

neighbor and say, neighbor, my neighbor.

Just tell him I want to give you the three most powerful words

for the new year. Yeah, I want to give you the

most. I want to give you 3 of the most

powerful words for the new year. All right.

You ready? Let it go.

Let it go. I think the definition brings

the mission into clarity and to focus.

When we talk about this term and these 3 words, let it go.

Here is the most powerful truth written in one sentence for the

year of 2026. If you're taking note, write

this down. Put this in your phone.

Put this in your Bible. Here is 2026 and I know we're

already 3 weeks in, but I want to just highlight this for you.

To let it go means to relinquish one's grip on someone or

something. Once again, to let it go means

that you are going to be willing to relinquish one's grip on

someone or something. I've learned a lot in this past

week. I've learned that I love to

travel, but I hate airports. Once again, I love to travel.

New adventure, new places, new people, but I just don't like

airports. It seems like in airports that

people give themselves a license to be rude and unkind and act

foolish. That's what I learned in this

past week. I don't know if you've ever

found yourself there waiting behind someone that thinks at

TSA they could bring a gallon of lotion on their carry on and

they slow the whole security lying down as you're waiting for

them. I don't know if you've ever seen

one, someone act like a fool when they had found themselves

running to their gate and then they find out that their flight

has been delayed and then they're cussing out the agent at

the gate that doesn't have any control of any of these flights.

I don't know if you've ever found yourself there where

you've seen someone that can really walk.

They're in a wheelchair because they want to be the first person

online in the plane. I don't know if you've ever

found yourself. I learned this this this week.

I, I saw a lady, she went to the gate and as she went to the

gate, she had four carry on baggage bags in her hand.

Now, if you're traveling, you're only allowed to carry one carry

on in a backpack normally or a purse.

She had four. And she was so upset when the

agent at the gate told her, ma'am, you're going to have to

leave some baggage behind because if you want to fly on

this flight, you can't take all that baggage with you.

I would like today to kindly be your agent at the gate.

We are all boarding Flight 2026. We're heading to a place of

glory. We are going to an amazing

destination. We're heading towards holiness

and things that are better and more excellent for us.

And as we get there, I want you to know beyond a shadow of a

doubt that you're going to have to leave some baggage behind in

the year, the former year of 2025.

What you went through in 2025 you cannot carry into the flight

of 2026. I want you to hear me this

morning as we've joined together that you are going to have to

leave some baggage behind you in where we are headed in this new

year and all that Jesus has for you in 2026.

You're going to have to leave the baggage of hurt behind from

2025. You're going to have to leave

the weight in the baggage of the bitterness that you're carrying

from 2025 into 2026. You're going to have to leave

behind the baggage that you've been holding on to of

resentment. You're going to have to let go

of unforgiveness. You're going to have to let go

of the wrath. You're going to have to let go

of the frustration that you've been carrying, of unmet

expectations. You're going to have to let it

go. You're going to have to let go

of the hatred and the jealousy that you're feeling inside of

your heart. You're going to have to let go

of the outburst of anger. You're going to have to let go

of the abusive speech. You're going to have to do what

else is saying for us. Let it go.

You're going to have to let it go because if you continue to go

and carry the baggage with you, you will not go further in your

life. You will stop at the gate

because of the amount of weight that you're choosing to carry.

If I could say anything to you as we enter into 2026, that is

the words of Jesus. In Matthew Chapter 11 verse 28,

Matthew 11:28

Jesus said, come unto me, all you who are weary and heavy

laden. He said, take my yoke upon you

and learn from me, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

I want you to hear the words of the writer of Hebrews in Hebrews

Hebrews 12 · chapter mention

chapter 12 verse one, who said, Therefore, since we have such a

great cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us run this

race with endurance, the race that is set before us, laying

aside every sin and weight that so easily entangles us.

I want you to hear the words of Peter in first Peter chapter 5

1 Peter 5 · chapter mention

verse seven, who said these words, casting all your cares

upon him, because he cares for you.

Listen to what AW Tozer once said.

He said these words. He said the reason why many are

still troubled and still seeking, still making little

forward progress, is because they haven't yet come to the end

of themselves, he writes. We are still trying to give

orders and we are interfering with the work that God is doing

in US. Let it go.

If there was any man who knew this, this was the man by the

name of David. You remember David from First

Samuel. You remember his story as we end

in First Samuel 31 where Saul is still seeking the life of David

and here is Saul out of jealousy over David and David's calling

that David finds himself now watching this battle unfold as

the Amalekites are coming against the nation of Israel.

If there's ever a man that had to let some things go, it was

this man by the name of David. You remember as we study the

book of First Samuel and second Samuel, the timing of this is

right after the book of Judges where the the Bible says that

every man was doing that which was right in his own eyes.

Sound like California, sound like America, sound like Gavin

Newsom, sound like our government, sound like this

California movement here that's happening.

We noticed this. Every man's doing that which was

right in his own eyes. And in this moment, Israel asked

for a king like every other nation, and they asked for a

man, and God gave them what they asked for.

Up above everybody else was a man who was head and shoulders

above. Everyone else's name is King

Saul. His name actually means asked

for. God gave them a king like every

other king, but Saul did not measure up.

Thus God called another king. His name was David, and we see

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

is King Jesus. In this moment we see that David

is rejected by his family, he's abandoned by his brothers.

He goes to the valley of Elah and he fights a man by the name

of Goliath. He wins the battle because the

battle is the Lord's. He now goes into this victory,

but as victory happens, he enters into the greatest valley

of his life. He begins now for the next 15

years of his life, to run from King Saul, who was trying to

kill him. So if there's ever a man who

knew that he needed to let things go, it was this man's

David. He knew it, but he purposed

himself in this posture. He gained some vision in the

valley in the the pain of David's life would not be

wasted. And although the journey seemed

too long for David, he knew that the Good Shepherd was still Lord

of David. And so as we come to this second

2 Samuel 1 · chapter mention

Samuel chapter 1, we're in the heat of the battle.

The war is happening all around and this is how we're leaving

2025, entering into 2026. We're going to do something in

our lives this morning. We're going to let it go.

As some of you are tired this morning.

I understand Rachel put out the spread this morning on the

hospitality table with the team. You're a little bit tired.

You might need a little bit of coffee in you, but I need you

this morning. All right, let me try that

again. I need you this morning.

We're going to let it go. Just look at your neighbor and

say I'm going to let it go. I choose to let this go.

I choose to let this go. Now, that doesn't mean that you

act like that didn't happen. That doesn't mean that you don't

act like that herd. That doesn't mean that you bury

your hand in the sand and you don't prepare for your future.

That doesn't mean that you just don't.

You just, like you just like wipe everything away.

It's part of your story, but it's not your whole story.

And now because of that, we're going to come to a place in our

lives and we are going to let it go.

And I'm glad you're asking this as you're sitting there right

now. Casey, Pastor Casey, how do we

let this go? How do we let this go?

Can you write this down for me somewhere in your notebook, in

your Bible, on your phone? You have to write this down.

Grieve what is gone. You have to grieve what is gone.

I want to read you just this portion in First Samuel chapter

one. Now it happened.

Now it came to pass after the death of Saul.

Notice that when David had returned from the slaughter of

the Amalekites, and David had stayed two days in Ziklag, that

on the third day, behold, it happened that a man came from

Saul's camp with his clothes torn and dust on his head.

And so it was when he came to David that he fell to the ground

and prostrated himself. And David said to him, Where

have you come from? And so he said to him, I have

escaped from the camp of Israel. And then David said to him, How

did the matter go? Please tell me.

And he answered the people that fled from the battle, many of

the people are fallen and dead, and Saul and Jonathan his son

are dead also. So David said to the young man

who told him, How do you know that Saul and Jonathan his son

are dead? And the young man who told him

said, as I happened, by the chance to be on Mount Gilboa,

there was Saul leaning on his spear.

And indeed the Chariots and horsemen followed hard after

him. And now when he looked behind

him, he saw me and called to me, and I answered, Here I am.

And he said to me, Who are you? And so I answered him, I'm a

malachite. And he said to me again, Please

stand over me and kill me, for anguish has come upon me, but my

life still remains in me. So I stood over him, the man

said, and I killed him. Notice these wordings, because I

was sure that he could not live after he had fallen.

And I took the crown that was on his head and the bracelet that

was on his arm. And I've brought them here to my

Lord. Then David.

David took hold of his own clothes, sense the emotion of

David, and tore them, and so did all the men who were with him.

No notice, if you would, please. If we're going to really let

some things go, we're going to actually have to grieve what has

been gone. I'm going to grieve what's gone

in 2025. I want you to see the

seriousness of this. And if you would just highlight

this in your Bible, look at verse one.

Look at the wording. Now it came to pass after the

death of Saul. No, no notice if you would

notice the the wording. And on the third day, behold, it

happened that a man came from Saul's camp with his clothes

were torn and dust was on his head.

No, notice the wording if you would in verse 4.

Then David said, how did the matter go?

And please tell me the answer. Notice this, the people have

fled the battle and many are fallen and many are dead.

Notice the wording if you would not just in verse 4, but notice

he says Saul and Jonathan are dead in verse 5.

Notice it if you would in in your Bible.

David begins to ask him, OK, tell me exactly what happened.

And in verse 6, he says these words that Saul was leaning on

his spear committing suicide. And notice the wording Saul said

to the man, stand over me in verse 9 and kill me.

Notice again the the wording in verse 10.

So I stood over him and I killed him.

No notice the words in in this this section.

Death fled. Dead, standing over the sword.

Kill me now. That's not the message you want

to hear in 2026. I don't want to hear a message

of death. But if you're going to move

forward into 2026, you're going to have to grieve what has been

gone from 2025. Now, understand this if you

would. There's been death.

This is dirty. The people are running for their

lives and maybe you find yourself in the same spot this

morning that what you thought was alive was killed right in

front of you. I can't imagine the emotion that

David must have felt within him. His best friend is gone.

Jonathan, the man that he wanted to honor, saw has now been taken

from him. And maybe today, in this spot

that you're in, your dreams have died.

Your life has been dirty, not holy desires have died within

you, and everything that was anything has been killed right

in front of you. Can we get a little bit more

practical? Your marriage has died, your

friendships have died, your health has died, your finances

have died, your job has died, your joy has died.

You've lost people that you've loved.

You've been in dry places and deserted spaces.

And how do I respond to all of these things that are dead?

I was taught in my church, you should be like a duck that's

like water off of his back right now.

All of this death and all of this pain and all of this agony

and all of this grief, Just let it just roll right off of you.

Don't don't absorb any of it because as a Christian, you can

have the highest of joys, but you should not experience the

depths of despair. But that would.

Cut out what it means to be human.

If you can have the highest joys in Christ, you should be able to

have the lowest despairs. And I believe as a follower of

Jesus Christ, we have the power to hold them both.

And here is the moment that we're in.

How do I handle all that has happened in 2025?

Do I act like it's water on a duck's back and just let this

pain roll off of me? Do I deny that this is even hurt

me at all? How do I do this?

Do I just, maybe you've been taught, shove it down, put it

underneath the dirt, act like it's really now it's buried and

once it's buried, it will never come up again.

How do I handle this? Do I cover it with no new

alcohol and more alcohol? How do I handle this?

Do I overwork and get busy and now in my busyness, I don't have

to think about things that were painful.

Look at what David does in the midst of this.

Look at what he does. The Bible says in verse 13 or

verse 12 that he mourned and he wept.

He mourns and he weeps. The word mourning there means

that he's he's crying out loud. This is painful for him.

This is heartbreaking emotion of David.

And then the Bible says he wept. Not only is he wailing, but he's

shedding tears that are just coming down his face.

And then the Bible says these words that he fasted in verse 12

until evening. The pain was so great, he

couldn't even eat. You've been there, you know, you

know what it's like in 2025, Be socked in your stomach and

something sudden that you didn't even expect.

You know what it's like to be at a place where you lose someone

that you've loved so much that the pain of that you can't even

eat a meal because you're mourning so much about it.

Some of you, you know that pain. You know the agony.

You know what it means to mourn, to weep, and to fast.

Notice what David does not do. David does not numb the pain.

David does not avoid the pain. David does not distract himself

from the pain. He expresses his pain.

I was always taught don't express that.

If you express it, your tears are a sign of your weakness.

So if I express any type of emotion to you, and you all know

me already, I'm an emotional guy, I'll cry up here on stage

all the time. You're like, come on, Pastor

Casey, you just, you got to stop crying up there.

There's a book in the Bible that if you think weeping shouldn't

happen in your Christian life, read the book of Lamentations.

And I think it's just as holy to praise God and lament with God.

Read the book of Psalms and see that David said that my bed has

become filled with my tears. When did we ever think that

weeping was weakness? When did we ever begin to

believe that we cannot express our anger, our hurt, our pain,

our questions, our doubt, our grief back to the Lord?

And This is why some of us don't move forward in 2026 is because

we don't think it's godly and good to grief.

And I'm not saying that we land our plane in the grief, but what

I am saying is if you continue to hide it and bury it, you're

never, you're never going to heal from it.

And we have to come to a spot in our lives where we're, we're

willing to grieve what is gone. We're we're willing to bring our

weeping, not as weakness to the Lord, but as worship to God.

And we must bring everything that we're carrying and carry it

to 1st his throne. Jesus invites us to bring it.

He calls us and commands us to bring it, to approach His throne

of grace with boldness, to find help in our time of need.

Don't ever tell anyone in this world that has lost someone that

they've loved and a friendship has died or whatever it might

be. Don't ever look at them three

weeks in and tell them to get over it.

Don't ever tell them to get over it, because you don't get over

stuff like that. You walk through stuff like

that. You don't come to this mountain

peak and then say, oh, it's all over.

You walk through the valley of the shadow of death and you fear

no evil because the Lord is with you today.

And because of this, I can grieve all of these things that

are gone. I can face it, I can walk

through it, I can express it. And maybe we're not moving

forward today in our lives, not because we're not strong enough,

but we're afraid to admit that we're struggling.

When did we ever begin to think? That it's not right for us to

cry. It's not OK for us to weep.

It's not OK for us to ask questions, to fast.

For heaven's sakes today, stop holding it.

Stop holding it, stop holding this weight, because if you

continue to hold it, it will crush you.

But when I find that I'm willing on a daily, minute by minute

basis to bring it to the Lord, what He does in my life is He

brings me to a place of freedom. You can have a nice face this

morning in a broken heart, and maybe we need some men that

would be willing to weep over some things.

Maybe we need some men that would fall on their face before

the Lord and worship and say, God, I'm hurting, I'm

struggling. Maybe we need some women that

would have their eyeliner running down their face because

they're tired of holding it in. Maybe we need to come to a spot.

We're in church. It's not awkward for people to

come and bring these things to the Lord.

It is the healing process that we all embrace as a community To

say that today I will grieve these things that are gone.

Can you remember this? When when we're doing this, I'm

going to lay this down. I'm going to be willing to get

this out. And I want you to remember this.

Grief is messy. Grief is messy.

David tore his clothes. Tearing David's clothes meant

that David would bear his nakedness.

It's messy. They're fasting.

This guy has dust on his head. It's messy.

Grieving is messy. It's a messy process.

But not only is grieving messy, grieving can be embarrassing,

because grieving puts you in a vulnerable spot for people to

see you for who you really are. I had this young girl named

Charlene wrote me this letter. In 2004.

She came to a concert at Calvary Chapel with the band Hawk

Nelson, this punk band, she said.

I don't like this music. I don't even know why I'm here,

but my friend invited me, She said I was raped by someone very

close to me, She said I don't trust church and I don't trust

any adults, she said. But on this day in September,

September the 12th of 2004, she said I surrendered it all to

Jesus. She said I'm known as the shy,

goofy girl who cares too much and I wear so many masks.

She wrote me, she said. But on that night of September

12th, she said on that night that she gave her life to Jesus.

She no longer has the nightmares that she had every night because

of what she faced. And she said on that night, my

life was changed. She said these words because I

gave it all to God. And maybe you've come in here

and maybe you just need to be a little bit vulnerable and maybe

like a Charlene, you just have to give it all to God.

But but can I just tell you this also, grief has no timetable.

No timetable. I cannot look at your grief and

go, OK, you are now here. Grief is like this.

It's all over the place. And what happens in that is I

realize that I can bring it to the Lord and I can let it go.

I can let it go. Chapter 1 of David's life was

followed by chapter. This is really deep and very

theological. Followed by chapter 2.

That was good, huh? I'm exegeting the text.

You're like bastard Casey. That's that's fire.

Chapter 1's not the end of David's story.

The grief was part of David's story, but it wasn't the whole

story of David's life. Can you write this down?

If you're going to let it go, deal with what's destroying you,

deal with what's destroying you. Notice this in verse, verse 13.

The Bible says these words. Then David said to the young man

who told him, where are you from?

Where are you from? And he answered, I'm the son of

an alien, I'm an Amalekite. Oh, if you would just highlight

that for a minute. Notice.

And David said to him, how was it you were not afraid to put

forth your hand to destroy the Lord's anointed?

You remember David would when he cut the King's robe off that he

was so convicted in his heart that he would be the person that

would be willing to say, stop, we're not moving any anywhere in

forward in this motion. And notice the Bible says these

words. And David said to him, how was

it you were not afraid in verse 14 to bring forth your hand to

destroy the Lord's anointed? And then David called one of the

young men and said, go near and execute him, and he struck him,

and so he died. And so David said to him, your

blood is on your own head, for your own mouth is testified

against you, saying, I've killed the Lord's anointed.

This man was an Amalekite. That might not mean anything to

you right now, but in the Bible in First Samuel chapter 15 verse

1 Samuel 15:3

3, when God called Saul to be king, the reason why Saul lost

his Kingdom was because he would not destroy the Amalekites.

Notice verse three. You can look it up for Samuel 15

verse 3. Now go and attack Amalek and

utterly destroy all that they have and do not spare them.

Interesting, isn't it? The first thing Saul was called

to do he didn't fully get rid of them, and what he didn't get rid

of eventually got rid of him. The Amalekites throughout

Scripture are a type of the flesh, my fleshly nature, which

would be fornication, lust, which would be abusive speech

coming out of my mouth, which would be a lack of holy living

before the Lord. It would be wrath, it would be

bitterness, would be unforgiveness.

They're all dealing with the flesh now.

Theologically, we've been delivered from the power of sin

theologically through Jesus. Theologically, though, we still

struggle with the presence of sin.

So because we struggle with the presence of sin, I have to

continually put to death these things in my life where I am

prone to go towards. And because I'm prone to go

there, I realize I'm going to deal today with the things that

are destroying me. Can you make it your goal in

2026? This is a good this, this is

good. You ready?

Can you make it your goal in 2026 not to aim to be happy, but

to be holy? I've met a lot of people in the

last year that sought. I just want to be happy.

So in your marriage right now, your wife's not giving you what

you need or your husband's not giving you what you need.

And So what often times happens in that moment is we begin to

seek validation from outside relationships, which the Bible

calls adultery. We like to cover it and put

sugar on it and call it an affair.

The Bible says it's an adulterous relationship, but we

get ourselves into that. And this is what people have

told me in 2025, Pastor Casey, I just want to be happy.

You don't like your job, so you begin to cut corners at your

job. You begin to do things behind

your boss's back because you really don't like your job.

And your goal in 2025 was just to be happy.

So you cut corners. And cutting corners eventually

means that your walls will fall down around you.

So we now make a choice in our lives to bring ourselves to a

place where, hey, I'm single, I'm ready to mingle, hop on apps

like Hinge and Tinder. We just, we got to find the

right person. No, no, no, no, listen, listen.

I have heard this year from singles, I just want to be

happy. You're a teenager in here and

you can't stand your parents. I mean, they're old school.

They're so old school. You asked them to drop you off

like at the parking lot of the mall, not at the front of the

mall. They're embarrassing.

They say things to you that cut to the core of who you are.

They don't let you have certain, like, color of hair.

They tell you what time you have to come home at night.

They even encourage you to hang out with certain friends that

you're. And this is what teenagers have

said to me this past year. I just want to be happy.

And So what you do as a teenager is you lie to your parents about

where you're going and who you're hanging with because you

want to be happy. You're so frustrated at your

parents. You run down the hall, you slam

the door of your room, and you say things like this.

I wish I was never part of this family because if I was at

another family I would actually be happy.

No, no, no, listen, listen. It doesn't come back to the

level of your happiness. It comes back to the your level

of holiness and all that. We are called to deal with the

lying, to deal with the cheating, to deal with the

jealousy, to deal with the insecurity, to deal with the

drinking, the dope, the the, the, the shadows of our lives

together. We find ourselves living in

places without living in the covenant of the blood of Jesus

Christ. I'm meeting a lot of couples in

2025 that want to move in together without being married.

And there's it's, this is what I hear.

It's just easier for us. And this is what the guys have

been saying to me. This is bothering me.

Can I just preach about this for a minute?

Well, I need to test drive the car before I actually commit to

the purchase. You have just lowered a soul to

an automobile. I'm just trying it out, Pastor

Casey. No, no, no, you're not trying it

out. You're using God's daughter.

You're using God's daughter, and you need to stop now.

Well, come on. I just.

I just want to be happy. No, no, no, no.

Listen, you're like the guy who is siphoning gas out of the

mobile Home Park and he reaches to that long RV, he grabs his

hose and he puts it in the hole and he sucks on it to get the

gas out. But he put it in the wrong hole.

He didn't put it in the gas tank.

He put it in their sewer system. So he did get gas, but not the

gas he was thinking. And that's exactly what you will

get when you do these things. Oh, yeah.

Is this hard to hear? I do want to say some hard

things. I do want to talk about sin.

I do want to share about us coming to a spot where we deal

with things in my own heart, my own life, my own insecurity, my

own issues of abandonment and unworthiness, my issues of

identity that I'm not fighting my identity in Jesus.

I want to deal with those in my life because they'll end up

destroying me and everybody else around me.

And so this is what I want you to do if you're going to move

forward. I want you to remember some

things. Can I just go through these real

quick because I'm running out of time.

I want you to remember this. I want you to remember the

character of God when you're not dealing with things that are

destroying you. I want you to remember how good

God is, how holy God is. I want you to remember the

sinfulness of sin in what sin does to you.

I want you to remember these things.

I want you to remember the work of Christ, that He paid the

price for you on the cross. I want to remember the character

of Satan is the deceiver and the liar.

I want to remember the sorrows of the past and how it was never

really fulfilled doing those types of things.

I want to remember the blessings of obedience.

I want to remember there's a cloud of witnesses surrounding

me. I want to remember the Church of

Jesus Christ. I want to remember that I have a

witness before the world. I want to remember the power of

the Holy Spirit. It was Dietrich Bonhoeffer who

once said that in your moment of temptation, Satan doesn't fill

you with the hatred of God, he fills you with the forgetfulness

of God. I want us to deal with it.

And if we're going to really let it go, we're going to have to

grieve what's gone. We're going to have to deal with

what's destroying us. And then thirdly, if you take

note, we're going to have to worship in the war.

We're going to have to worship in the war.

Notice this David lamented in verse 17 with his lamentation

over Saul and Jonathan, his son. And he told them to teach the

children of Judah this song of the bow.

You remember Judah. It is the, the, the, this place

of praise. Indeed, it is written in the

book of Jasher. Notice these words.

The beauty of Israel is slain on your high places.

They're singing this song. How the mighty have fallen.

Tell it not in Gath, proclaim it not in the streets of Ashkelon,

lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice, lest the

daughters of the uncircumcised triumph.

O mountains of Gilboa, let there be no dew, nor let there be rain

upon you, nor fields of offerings.

For the shield of the mighty is castaway there, the shield of

Saul not anointed with oil from the blood of the slain, from the

fat of the mighty. The bow of Jonathan did not turn

back, and the sword of Saul did not return empty.

So Saul and Jonathan were beloved and pleasant in their

lives and in their death. They were not divided.

They were swifter than eagles, they were stronger than lions.

So, daughters of Israel, weep over Saul.

Excuse me. Who clothed you in scarlet with

luxury? Who put ornaments of gold on

your apparel? How the mighty have fallen.

In the midst of the battle, Jonathan was slain in your high

places. I am distressed for you, my

brother Jonathan. For you have been very pleasant

to me. Your love to me was wonderful,

surpassing the love of women. Now people take that verse and

they say that David and Jonathan were entering into a homosexual

relationship. He they weren't.

That's not the context of that. Homosexuality is sin and God

doesn't. This is not the basis.

So that's a whole another Bible study in the context of the

Scripture, how the mighty have fallen and the weapons of war

have perished. Notice this twice David says

that the mighty have fallen. What does David do in the midst

of the war? He sings a song.

So what does that mean to me? That means to me I'm going to

bow before the battle in 2026. That means to me that pain

doesn't stop my worship towards Jesus, it actually flavors my

worship towards Jesus. Notice, just because the mighty

have fallen doesn't mean that God is finished with you.

Let it go. Let it go.

And I don't know, as you're sitting here this morning in

week 3 of 2026, what is it that you need to let go of?

What is it that you need to bring it to the cross of Christ

and realize, as Paul said, I've been crucified with Christ and

is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me in the life

that I now have. I live by faith in the Son of

God who loved me and who gave himself up for me.

Is there anybody in this place that needs to let some things

go? 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.