David doesn't completely put his trust
in God, so he takes a military census of the men in Israel in order to see if
he has a force large enough to take into battle. Before God even has a chance to rebuke him,
David realizes that he has sinned. He
repents and acknowledges the foolishness of his actions. The prophet Gad comes to him with a message
from God, telling him that he will be punished for his actions. David is given three options for punishment.
All are punishments mentioned in the third chapter of Deuteronomy for Israel's
failure to keep their covenant with God.
The choices are: 3 years of famine, 3 months of fleeing before their
enemies, or 3 days of pestilence at the hand of God. David chooses the last
option, not because it is the shortest length of time, but because it is God
who will administer the punishment directly.
David would rather suffer at the hand of God than at the hands of man.
He has more trust in the mercy of God than in the mercy of man.
It’s ironic that David wanted to take a
census to determine the strength of a potential fighting force, and now due to
his sinfulness and the sinfulness of Israel, those forces have been reduced by
70,000 men who were killed by the pestilence.
Yet, as God poured out his wrath on the people of Israel, he takes
compassion on them and orders the angel of the Lord to stop the killing. David is willing to take the punishment
himself and for his ancestors if God would spare his nation further bloodshed.
As we hear this story from the Old
Testament, may we ourselves repent for those times that we ourselves blatantly
disobeyed the will of God in our lives.
May we place our trust in the God of our ancestor, in our God of love
and mercy.
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