"KNOW WHAT YOU SOW; SO YOU WON’T WEEP WHEN YOU REAP!”
“Now David’s heart troubled him after he had numbered the people. So David said to the Lord, ‘I have sinned greatly in what I have done. But now, O Lord, please take away the iniquity of Your servant, for I have acted very foolishly’” (2 Samuel 24:10).
Sin is always a tragedy! We see here in this chapter that God is angry with Israel (v.1) A few things we know He was angry about—the fact that they followed Absalom when he rebelled against David. Also, that the majority of Israel went after Sheba (2 Sam. 20:1-2). It may have been that their hearts were lifted up in pride over all their victories (2 Sam. 23). God used Satan to move David to do what was already in David’s heart. God is not and cannot be the author of sin! Whatever the reason, God was angry with them and allowed Satan to tempt David and David, in his anger, sinned by numbering the people. The lesson for us to remember here is that you had better be careful when you are angry! You will make mistakes you will want to take back later.
What is wrong with a census? This is a good question and we are not offered a complete answer. Maybe David wanted to see how many people he had under his command so that he could strut around in his pride a little. The fact is, David is acting in pride! Pride is always the root of our sins! Beware of your pride it will never lead to the Lord, only father away! Our pride separates us from our God and from others! Joab tries to warn David about what he is going to do, but David sinned in the face of that good advice. A lot of the time we get into trouble because we will not stop to listen to the good advice of others. People who love us will warn us that we are headed down the wrong road, but we plow ahead anyway. The Word of God warns us, but we carry on in the face of what God has to say about the matter. Actions like that can only end in disaster! (Prov. 16:25).
No one sins in a vacuum. David’s sin affected him, but it also touched his people. David’s sin unleashed a traumatic time in the nation of Israel. David confesses his failure and asks for forgiveness. Conviction tore his heart apart. It was too late—David would pay for that sin and so would so many others. Conviction is one of the most amazing things about being saved. When we sin, it does not take all day for us to know about it. As soon as the thought is finished, or the deed is done, we feel His conviction on our heart. How tender is your heart? Do you desire to quickly seek forgiveness? Conviction hurts, but we should praise the Lord for it. It is one of the greatest assurances of salvation we possess—see Hebrews 12:8.
David was given a choice of punishment for his disobedience in doing a census of Israel when God told him not to. The prophet Gad comes to him and presents a strange message from the Lord. God allows David to choose his punishment. He is offered three choices: 1) The nation can experience seven years of famine; 2) Israel’s enemies can have victory over them for three months; or 3) Israel can face three days of pestilence. David does not know what to do. Regardless of the choice David made, the people of Israel were going to suffer terribly. He chooses to place the fate of Israel into God’s hands. David had rather fall into the hands of a just, holy, good, gracious God than into the hands of sinful men. God does not offer us such choices. I thank God that He does not. But, He has already warned us that our sins have consequences—Gal. 6:7, 8. The Lord constantly reminds us to “consider our ways.”
So God sends some sort of plague upon the people and seventy thousand die in three days. Imagine the grief and that shock as seventy thousand people die; seventy thousand families are plunged into grief. Why? Because one man committed a sin in his pride. I believe this should be a warning to all of us. You never know what the outcome of your sin is going to be. You might affect a few and you might affect many. Affecting just one is too many! How close to God do we really desire to be? How right with God do we want to be? Sin always has consequences. Learn to deal with your sin quickly—confess and seek forgiveness. David became “a man after God’s own heart” because he quickly confessed and his deepest desire was to walk with God. He immediately wanted to repent and get right with the Lord. That is a lesson that we all need to get a hold of. Yes, we will sin, and yes, sometimes, we will sin big. When we do, our natural tendency is to try and hide that sin away and pretend that it did not take place. God’s way is different! He is always watching the heart. God expects us to confess and forsake our sins—Proverbs 28:13; 1 John 1:9.
Take the blame when you are wrong.—this is where the Lord wants to bring us when we fail. He wants us to reach the place where we get honest about what we have done and how if affects those around us. When we get honest about sin, we will stop making excuses; we will stop playing games; we will stop pointing fingers; we will stop hiding in the shadows. It’s not someone else’s fault! We are guilty and we need to deal with it! When we get honest, we will come out and deal with our sins by forsaking it, and by dealing with the consequences it has brought into our lives. When we get to this point, God can bless us, forgive us and restore us again. God will receive and bless the person who comes with a right heart!
In verses 18-25 of this chapter, David seeks out Araunah and purchases a threshing floor and the equipment needed to make a sacrifice. David refuses to allow the owner to just give him the property and what he needs. David knows that real worship is costly. He knows that getting things fixed up with the Lord carries a high price. He buys the threshing floor and the oxen, he builds an altar and he offers a sacrifice. God is pleased and all is well again. What is the lesson here? Faith is like a threshing floor. It winnows out everything from our lives that is not pleasing to the Lord. It cleans us up, if it is followed and obeyed. But, faith that costs you nothing is not faith at all! Worship that costs you nothing is not worship at all. Repentance that cost you nothing is not repentance at all. Your commitment to God is going to be costly to maintain. It may cost you relationships, habits, etc. There is always a price to pay when sin has been committed, if you want to be right with the Lord again. Never forget that! You see, serving God and enjoying His blessings comes at a price. Serving God is a costly business. We cannot cut corners on Him and expect Him to bless us!
Did you notice that David’s sin was not completely dealt with until there was blood shed? That is the clear teaching of the Bible, see Hebrews 9:22. Listen, it was on this same hill that Abraham had offered Isaac all those years ago. It was here that the Temple would be built in just a few years. It was here that one thousand years later Jesus Christ would hang on an old rugged cross to pay for sin forever. Your sin and my sin are going to cost us big. But, it has already cost God more than we could ever imagine. He gave His Son on the cross to save us and with that salvation comes forgiveness and cleansing. Thank God we do not have to offer a sacrifice that has been done once for all. But, we have to get honest about our sin and pay the price of confession and repentance so that our sins can be forgiven.
The challenge for all true believers is to get right with the Lord. Are you saved and enjoying close, intimate fellowship with Jesus? Are you dealing with a sin problem? Do you need to come before the Lord and deal with some sin or problem in your walk with Jesus? Are you ready to pay the price so that God might continue to move in your life and bless you? The altar is open and Jesus is ready to receive all who will come to Him. All we need to do is get on the altar and allow Him to start the fire. Remember in just three days, 70,000 people died due to David’s sin. The results of the things we do to each other do not just evaporate because we ask for forgiveness. The pain that we have inflicted on someone does not disappear, however diligent our prayer. The anguish that we caused when we lashed someone with our tongue, the heartache that we created when we lied about a friend—these things remain. And these things have to be dealt with. Seventy thousand deaths for which David was responsible! Sin has consequence, but most of us thrash about, looking for cheap and easy answers.
Forgiveness always comes with a price—Jesus paid it all. Never approach the throne of God in a careless fashion–always mean business and remember who you are talking to. God moved David to do what was already in his heart. The sin is there already and God is not the author of sin—God does not cause sin to happen. Sin was not apparent to David until the count was finished after 9 months and 20 days and the results were reported—800K in Israel and 500K in Judah – total of 1.3 million able-bodied fighting men. David then knew his pride. Despite David’s repentance—God still punished David and the people for their sin as well. God is a Just God and a Loving God! Even when we are truly sorry for our sins there are still consequences.
Psalm 51:17, the sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. Someone has said God can do much with broken pieces—but he has to have all the pieces. David was a man after God’s own heart because he was willing to give all of his brokenness back to God and allow him to restore him. The example of the census reminds us that God is not in the business of punishment—but in restoration.
