David Is Penitent

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Opening Prayer

God of peace, thank You that I have peace with You through my Lord Jesus Christ. Thank You for his peace that pervades my life.

Read 2 Samuel 24:1-17

^[1] Again the anger of the LORD burned against Israel, and he incited David against them, saying, “Go and take a census of Israel and Judah.” ^[2] So the king said to Joab and the army commanders with him, “Go throughout the tribes of Israel from Dan to Beersheba and enroll the fighting men, so that I may know how many there are.” ^[3] But Joab replied to the king, “May the LORD your God multiply the troops a hundred times over, and may the eyes of my lord the king see it. But why does my lord the king want to do such a thing?” ^[4] The king’s word, however, overruled Joab and the army commanders; so they left the presence of the king to enroll the fighting men of Israel. ^[5] After crossing the Jordan, they camped near Aroer, south of the town in the gorge, and then went through Gad and on to Jazer. ^[6] They went to Gilead and the region of Tahtim Hodshi, and on to Dan Jaan and around toward Sidon. ^[7] Then they went toward the fortress of Tyre and all the towns of the Hivites and Canaanites. Finally, they went on to Beersheba in the Negev of Judah. ^[8] After they had gone through the entire land, they came back to Jerusalem at the end of nine months and twenty days. ^[9] Joab reported the number of the fighting men to the king: In Israel there were eight hundred thousand able-bodied men who could handle a sword, and in Judah five hundred thousand. ^[10] David was conscience-stricken after he had counted the fighting men, and he said to the LORD, “I have sinned greatly in what I have done. Now, LORD, I beg you, take away the guilt of your servant. I have done a very foolish thing.” ^[11] Before David got up the next morning, the word of the LORD had come to Gad the prophet, David’s seer: ^[12] “Go and tell David, ‘This is what the LORD says: I am giving you three options. Choose one of them for me to carry out against you.'” ^[13] So Gad went to David and said to him, “Shall there come on you three years of famine in your land? Or three months of fleeing from your enemies while they pursue you? Or three days of plague in your land? Now then, think it over and decide how I should answer the one who sent me.” ^[14] David said to Gad, “I am in deep distress. Let us fall into the hands of the LORD, for his mercy is great; but do not let me fall into human hands.” ^[15] So the LORD sent a plague on Israel from that morning until the end of the time designated, and seventy thousand of the people from Dan to Beersheba died. ^[16] When the angel stretched out his hand to destroy Jerusalem, the LORD relented concerning the disaster and said to the angel who was afflicting the people, “Enough! Withdraw your hand.” The angel of the LORD was then at the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite. ^[17] When David saw the angel who was striking down the people, he said to the LORD, “I have sinned; I, the shepherd, have done wrong. These are but sheep. What have they done? Let your hand fall on me and my family.”

Meditate

“Now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known” (1 Cor. 13:12, KJV). This text surely applies to this passage.

Think Further

When disaster strikes, some people ask what kind of a God can let this happen. We would all like an explanation. Reading this rather puzzling passage, most of us would like a clearer understanding of what is going on. What had caused the Lord’s anger against Israel? Why did he incite David to count his soldiers when it was wrong (but in 1 Chron. 21:1 it is Satan who incites David)?

Why did God offer David a choice that was no choice at all? If we had only this chapter, how would we picture God? We are given some helpful clues. In verse 10, David is conscience-stricken and repentant. “I am in deep distress,” he says in verse 14. “Let us fall into the hands of the Lord, for his mercy is great; but do not let me fall into human hands.” Then he finally takes full responsibility for his people’s suffering and bows before the Lord in penitence.

Maybe the people of Israel had been turning to the idols and gods of the surrounding nations. Maybe David wanted to make sure he had the soldiers battle-ready for possible trouble. If Joab knew this was a mistake, then so did David. David had to take responsibility for the consequences, and of course the innocent suffered with the guilty. We see that happening in all wars, plagues, and famines. We see it in Syria as I write. A German friend of ours, a Christian, was a teenager at the end of the Second World War. He saw a divided Germany, with the east under a harsh Communist regime, as a form of judgment. God’s justice and love, judgment and mercy do not necessarily take away the consequences of sin at a personal or national level. We have to trust what we cannot understand.

Apply

Illness, job layoffs, divorce–someone you know may be asking, “Why me?” How can you bring God’s love into such situations?

Closing prayer

Lord, I need wisdom to know when I should work and when I should pray. If I do put forth effort, may it be so that You will have the glory.

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