Day 155 – David’s Foolish Census

• Today we reach the end of 2 Samuel, and the passages you’ve read may need a little explaining. Make sure you’ve read all three passages and thought about them yourself before continuing with these notes.
• We don’t know why the “anger of the Lord burned against Israel”, as it stated in the first verse of our opening passage today. It could have been because the people’s reactions to the rebellion of Absalom, perhaps. It certainly wouldn’t have been because of David’s worship from day 153, or the stories of his mighty men in yesterday’s events!
• What, as explained in both the passages in 2 Samuel 24 and 1 Chronicles 21, did David decide to do? Do you know why this was wrong? At the time, a man was only allowed to count what he owned. Israel didn’t belong to David; it belonged to God. David’s sin may have been his pride at having such a large army. Or he could have been worried about the size of it, not remembering God’s promise to be with him. Notice that Joab questioned David’s decision in verse 3, increasing David’s guilt.
• The passage in 2 Samuel 24 said “God incited David”, whereas in 1 Chronicles 21 it says that “Satan” did it. God will never cause anyone to sin, but God does sometimes permit Satan to act (remember when this happened to Job in the early days of our reading plan?), which seems to be what is happening here.
• Have you ever been given a choice of punishment when you were being told off? What options did David have ? Which did he pick, and why?
• What does David say in verse 2 Samuel 24:17? Who is David concerned for?
• What does David do at Araunah’s house? Why was it important that David’s sacrifice cost him money, rather than sacrificing a free gift?

Spend some time thinking about that final question. How does the cost of sacrifice link in with what Jesus did for us? How can the idea that our offerings to God should be sacrificial to us be applied in our own lives?

We might look at what David did in today’s readings as nothing much, but the reality is that David made a foolish choice, and he (and the country) suffered the consequences. We did, however, see the repentant side of David, both at his confession to God and in the costly sacrifice he made in the last few verses. David’s good at repentance, isn’t he?

This is an attitude that I really would encourage you to foster too. You will make foolish mistakes from time to time, and rebel against both other people and God. Anyone can do that. It takes courage and a real trust in God to admit those poorly made choices, accept that they are wrong, and to turn from them. Think of a situation in your life where you are being challenged on your behaviour from the Christians around you, or where you know you would be challenged on if it’s something only you know about. Do you have the courage to admit what you’re doing is wrong, and turn from it, or do you just make excuses to yourself to allow the sin to continue?

If this is a real struggle for you, don’t forget that this isn’t just a moral exercise of discipline just to please others. Focus in on why you’re turning away from your sin; by turning away from the sin you’re turning to Jesus! Jesus’ death brought freedom for you, but what a cost! Do consider that when challenging yourself. Through Jesus, and what He did, we have the power and the freedom to turn from sin with thankful – yes, thankful! – hearts. Does that help to change the perspective of whatever battles you’re facing?