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 has a chance to rebuke him, David realizes that he has sinned. He repents and acknowledges the foolishness of his actions. Yet, he is forced to accept a punishment for what he has done. 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.
We might recall the warning that the prophet Samuel gave to the people of
Israel when he warned them about their desire to have a king like the other
nations around them, telling them that they would lose their property and their
freedom. The people got what was coming to them, as they disregarded the warnings from
the Lord. We also may think of the times that we blatantly and willingly disobey the will
of God in our lives. We can put our trust in a lot of things, but we are called to put our trust in
the Lord.
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