Here We Go Again

Here We Go Again

The Weight of Repetition

Family, I want to lay a foundation in God's holy word that prepares us for what God needs to speak in this season. We begin in 2 Samuel 21, a passage that may be unfamiliar to many of you.

The Philistines had war again with Israel. David went down with his servants to fight against them. But David became faint—exhausted, weary, ready to give up. One of the giants' sons, Ishbenab, whose spear weighed 300 shekels of bronze, thought he would kill David. But Abashai came to his aid and killed the Philistine.

After this, there was war again with the Philistines. Then Sebisai slew another descendant of the giant. There was war again at Gob. Elhanan slew Goliath the Gittite. And again there was war at Gath, where a man of great stature with six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot defied Israel. Jonathan, David's nephew, slew him. These four descendants of the giant fell by the hands of David and his servants.

Here we go again.

I must speak of Nolan Xavier Wells. He should be an unknown name—just a young man heading into his sophomore year at Southwest Mississippi State Community College, a star receiver on the football team. But on July 4th, he went to a party on Horn Island off the Gulf Coast and never returned. Three days later, his body was found.

When I heard of his death, I cried. I prayed for his parents. I was frightened, thinking how easily this could have happened to my own children. But as I kept listening—hearing how he was the only Black boy in what he thought was safe company, hearing that all the others got home safely with his cell phone, hearing they couldn't remember what happened, learning that one of their stepmothers was a judge in that county—my sorrow turned to anger and disbelief in justice.

Here we go again.

We've seen this before. Mike Brown. George Floyd. Trayvon Martin. Tamir Rice. Kendrick Jackson. Cyrus Belton. Emmett Till. That mixture of agony and anger, of sorrow and disgust, of frustration—wondering how we could still be doing this in 2026.

The Character of David's Weariness

This is exactly where King David is in 2 Samuel 21. He's in the hill country called Shephella, on the outskirts of Judah. The year is 975 BC. But this is not the young, vigorous David we know. This is not the David who praised the Lord until his clothes fell off. This is not the David who said, "I will make a joyful noise unto the Lord all ye lands." This is not the David who encouraged himself when no one else was by his side.

This is a different David—an older, mature David who has become faint.

One translation says he's grown weary. Another says he's exhausted. The original Hebrew word is oof—which literally means to fly away. Here is the warrior king of Israel who defeated Goliath at seventeen, who wrote more psalms than anyone else, who praised the Lord all the time. And he's ready to oof. He's ready to fly away. He's ready to give up. He's had enough.

What Pushed the Warrior King to the Edge

What would push this warrior king to a place of oof? What would make David want to give up fighting?

Remember, when we first met David, it was 40 years ago. He was 17, facing Goliath. And for four decades since, he's continued to have battle after battle after battle with the same enemy. The same folk. The same issue. Trying to take the same thing.

For 40 years, he's had to fight the same battle with the same folk over the same issue. Can you imagine how he would feel? Can you imagine how many funerals for his own people he had to stand at? Can you imagine how many nights he stayed awake wondering, "God, when is this going to end?" Can you imagine how many times he prayed and asked God, "Can this please stop?"

I can tell you what pushed David to oof. One singular word made David want to quit. Look at the scripture:

• Verse 15: "The Philistines had war again with Israel."
• Verse 18: "After this there was war again with the Philistines."
• Verse 19: "There was war with the Philistines again."
• Verse 20: "There was war at Gath again."

Again. Again. Again.

The Exhaustion of "Again"\n

Again will infuriate you. Again can discourage you. Again can make you want to throw up both your hands and walk away. We doing this again. We got to deal with this again. This is happening to us again.

Have you ever had "again"? Again can wear you out. Again can make you not enjoy a peaceful moment because you know it ain't going to last long. Again will have you skeptical about progress because you know for every one step you take forward, they're going to push you two steps back. Again leaves you feeling like you can never catch a break. Again makes you feel like there's always another—because again implies another.

Have you ever felt like another battle was coming? Another heartbreak. Another setback. Another rejection. Another failure. Another lost election. Another untrustworthy friend. Another bad relationship. Another disappointing Supreme Court ruling. Another dead Black body.

Again can wear you out. And that's why the enemy is relentless in his attack against the people of God. The enemy is counting on the fact that sooner or later, after enough "agains," you will want to oof.

After enough agains, you'll say, "Ain't no point in voting because ain't nothing changing." After enough agains, you'll be tired of taking the high road, trying to be a bigger and better person when you're dealing with someone who likes to stay in the gutter. After enough agains, you'll stop biting your tongue. After enough agains, you'll stop praying because you think God ain't answering. After enough agains, you won't come to church because ain't nothing ever changing. Again will push you into the dark space of believing nothing never changes.

Here we go again.

The Harsh Truth About Victories

Let me tell you why this "again" is so discouraging to David. Go back to 1 Samuel 17 when he fought his first battle. Remember the terms? David said, "If Goliath beats me, we will be your servants. But if I beat Goliath, the Philistines will be our servants, and that's the end of it."

The battle with Goliath was supposed to settle the matter. David beat Goliath.

And the Philistines kept coming and coming and coming.

David learned one of the most difficult lessons about walking with God: Your past victory does not prevent a future battle.

I come to tell you the truth, and you ain't going to like me, but I got to tell you: Your last battle was not your last battle. Your last enemy is not your last enemy. Your last struggle was not your last struggle. Your last problem was not your last problem. Your last storm was not your last storm.

Just because God brought you through that doesn't mean you won't have something else you've got to go through. Someone on your pew is real frustrated right now because you thought when you came through that, you'd never have to deal with it again. You thought when it went into remission, it was going to stay there. You thought after you got them right last time, they would act right next time. You thought after you proved they were lying on you last time, they would stop lying on you next time.

Only to find out that battles keep coming. Even though you dealt with it yesterday, there's no guarantee from God that you won't have to deal with it tomorrow. Because your past victory does not prevent you from having a future battle.

Goliath's Descendants

Let me tell you who this new battle is with. There are four folk in this battle: Ishbenab, Saf, Goliath (the brother of the first Goliath, now wearing his brother's name), and a man with six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot—we'll call him 24.

The Bible tells us in verse 22 that all of them were descendants of the giant from Gath. The first Goliath.

So Ishbenab, Saf, Goliath's brother, and 24 are all descendants of Goliath. David has realized that just because he beat Goliath does not mean the battle is over. Because Goliath has descendants. Goliath got kinfolk. Goliath has generations that come after him that act just like him. Goliath has folk in his lineage that still got his spirit. Goliath has kinfolk that got the same messed-up mentality that Goliath had.

And just because I beat Goliath doesn't mean I don't have to fight his descendants.

I'm going to upset somebody, but I came to tell you a real hard truth: Goliath has cousins.

Slavery had a cousin named Jim Crow. The Dred Scott decision has a cousin called the attack on diversity, equity, and inclusion. Those who enslaved our foremothers and forefathers have cousins called ICE agents. The lynching of Black folk has a cousin called police brutality. Sharecropping has a cousin called mass incarceration. The KKK got cousins called the Patriot Front and the Proud Boys. Segregation has a cousin called redlining in the mortgage industry. Carolyn Bryant, who lied on Emmett Till, has a cousin called Karen. Uncle Tom has a cousin called Clarence. George Wallace has a cousin with orange skin in the White House.

Goliath has cousins.

The trick of the enemy is to make you think that once you beat Goliath, the Philistines are going to sit down. But it didn't go away with the Emancipation Proclamation. It didn't stop at Brown versus Board of Education. It didn't disappear with the passage of the Civil Rights Act. It didn't just stop at the election of Barack Obama.

The cousins keep coming.

When the Warrior Grows Weary

But before you get weary like David, let me share with you the good news: Israel wasn't defeated.

Because when David got weary, some other folks stepped up.

When the enemy Ishbenab stepped up, Abashai said, "I got him." When Saf started acting a fool, Sebisai said, "Don't worry, I'll take him." When Goliath's brother jumped up, Elhanan said, "I'll take care of him." When 24 jumped up, Jonathan said, "I'll battle him."

Because when David grew weary, God didn't give him more power. God gave him more people.

I don't know who needs to hear this, but when you grow weary and you're tired of all of this stuff, God says, "I got to put you around some more people who remind you that when the people of God call on the name of God and stand in the power of God..."

I don't know who needs to hear this, but you need some more people in your life. And let me make a solicitation: That's why you got to belong to somebody's church. You got too much hell Monday through Saturday just to think you're going to deal with this all by yourself. You need someone who reminds you that God is still good, that God is still on the throne, and He's worthy to be praised.

That's why you ought to take a walk down that aisle and say, "Sign me up. I'm down. I'm all in. Because God wants to put you with some people who help you win this battle."

Training the Next Generation

Let me tell you who the helpers were: Abashai, Sebisai, Elhanan, and Jonathan. Jonathan is the son of Shemma, one of David's brothers. That means Jonathan is David's nephew. Goliath got cousins. And we got nieces and nephews.

David had trained the generation after him to know when it is their turn to step out on the battlefield and fight the same fight that David had to fight. Because at some point, David gets weary. At some point, MLK was assassinated. At some point, John Lewis went home to be with the Lord. At some point, Malcolm is no longer around.

And there's got to be a generation that comes up after us who we have trained to know you are in this battle.

I came by Alfred Street on this Sunday morning to let us know our assignment is to raise up some Jonathans and Jennifers, some millennials and some Gen Z's who understand God has brought us too far for you to sit at home and not vote on Election Day.

I am begging you, brother millennial and sister Gen Z, to fight this fight and get in this battle. Don't sell us out for a stimulus check. Don't let an HBCU close while you got money in your pocket.

This is your time to step on this battlefield.

The God Who Does It Again

Watch what happens. The Bible says that Ishbenab, Saf, Goliath's brother, and 24 are all descendants of the giant. And watch how verse 22 ends: "And they all fell at the hand of David and his men."

The same God who brought David victory 40 years ago was the same God that gave this generation victory over Goliath's cousins.

I came by to encourage someone. Remind you that the God we serve is not only the God who did it yesterday, but He's the God that'll do it today. The battle may change. The enemies may change. The tactics may change. But our God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He's God from everlasting to everlasting.

Great is Thy faithfulness, oh God, my Father. There is no shadow of turning with Thee. He's the same God.

Somebody was discouraged when I said your last battle was not your last battle. But since our God is the same, can I give you some good news? If your last battle was not your last battle, then your last victory was not your last victory. And the God who did it back then is the same God who's able to do it again.

Somebody holler, "Do it again." God heal again. God deliver again. God make a way again. God fight this battle. God give us strength again. God do it again.

A Father's Promise

Let me close by telling you what happened one day when I went home and Cooper was about three or four years old. When I walked in the house, Cooper ran up to the door. I had my bags, so I put them down, picked him up, tossed him in the air, flipped him over, and sat him down.

While I was walking away, I heard him holler, "Daddy, do it again!"

So I picked him up, tossed him in the air, flipped him over, and sat him down. And while I was walking away, I heard him holler, "Daddy, do it again!"

So I picked him up, tossed him in the air, flipped him over, and sat him down. And when I walked away, he had the audacity to say, "Daddy, do it again!"

The next time you get weary, I want you to holler a Cooper prayer: God, do it again. Lord, do it again. Father, do it. Do it?

Won't He do it again? Won't He make a way again? Won't He see you through again? Won't He fight for you again?

When your enemy has another, God has again. God will do it again.

Because whenever your enemy has another, God has again.

Here we go again is not a declaration about our enemy. It's a statement of faith in our God.