April 9, 2024

For an unknown reason, King David decided to take a census and count all the people of Israel and Judah. God knew David’s heart and attributed it to pride and, therefore, a sin against Him. Why did he need to know? Maybe David wanted to see if God had delivered on His promise to Abraham that they would be more than the stars of the heavens. Even if David wanted to see how many fighting men he had, it was wrong because God was the only reason they would win at war, not by their own hand. God gave David three choices for punishment: famine, war, or pestilence. David chose the shortest, which was three days of pestilence. Seventy thousand people died. David repented and bought a property from Araunah the Jebusite to build an altar for a burnt offering to God. David could see the angel preparing to pour out God’s wrath on Jerusalem, but because David repented, God ceased the execution by telling the angel to stop. God is just. Don’t think David’s sin was the only reason for the punishment; the people were also sinning and needed correction; otherwise, they wouldn’t have needed their sins rectified. God is gracious and has given us Jesus as our Savior to keep us from eternal damnation, but he will punish us if necessary to bring us into submission and teach us to avoid sin. I suggest repenting daily, but more so if you recognize your sin, iniquity, or transgression. 

It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Hebrews 10:31 

And David built there an altar unto the LORD, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. So the LORD was intreated for the land, and the plague was stayed from Israel. 2 Samuel 24:25