David’s Census
We now
turn to take a second look at David’s administration. In this chapter we see that David
falters. While I’m not pleased that
David makes a mistake, it is nice to see that even the great ones among us don’t
always get things right. Even the great
ones among us make a bad judgment call.
Even the great ones among us cross God’s will. I’m not glad that this happened to David, but
ironically it does bring me some comfort.
David calls
for a census. He’s incited by Satan, but
that doesn’t remove any guilt. Joab
argues against the action, as Joab can see where this is headed. Joab is a military general. He knows that if David goes around counting
the men who can draw swords he wants a tally of the military might. Joab can tell where this will lead. David’s head will swell with his human might
and he will stop trusting in God. The
slide into sin almost always begins with taking our focus off of God, doesn’t
it?
This
conversation between Joab and David also reminds us about the importance of
having and listening to advisors.
Everyone will make an error of judgment.
When multiple people are allowed to think through a problem, mistakes
become less likely because each person will see a different perspective and
help avoid pitfalls from different angles.
The trick, of course, is knowing as a leader when to listen to our
advisors and humble ourselves. That’s
what David gets wrong. He has the
opportunity to avoid a mistake and fails to do so.
But,
David repents! As soon as David hears
the word of God, David knows his fault. Give
David some credit. He might not get it
right before the mistake is made, but David isn’t slow to repent. David acknowledges his sin before the
Lord. When a leader can’t make the right
decision in the beginning, at least the leader can repent of it quickly.
God gives
David an interesting choice. God allows
David to choose between three slowly painful years of nature disaster, three
months of human disaster, or three days of divine disaster. I don’t know about you, but I might have been
tempted to pick the famine. Like David,
I wouldn’t want to be subject to the vicious nature of human opponents. And I may have feared the angel of the Lord
for three days more than I feared 3 years of famine. After all, just look at what the angel of the
Lord did in Egypt in a single night just prior to the Exodus! {Keep
in mind here … this is an angel of the Lord bringing destruction, not a servant
of the Devil.}
However,
David makes a great theological claim here.
While God is certainly the scariest of the options, God is also the only
option where mercy might be encountered.
David throws himself into the will of God. If David is to die, let it be at God’s
hand. If David is to be spared, it
certainly shall be at God’s hand! Peace –
even in the face of a guilty verdict – can only be found in God. What an incredible theological claim made by
David!
The angel
of the Lord comes. The angel of the Lord
approaches Jerusalem but the Lord relents.
David is spared. David’s plea for
mercy in the face of judgment is heard by the Lord. Grace triumphs over judgment. Granted, thousands of people still died. But the complete tally was reduced.
Again we
see David repent. Now we see David take
full ownership of the action. David
knows that it was his sin that caused the angel of the Lord to come upon the
Hebrew people. Innocents died because of
his sin. Unfortunately, this is often
the case with leaders. Bad decisions
sometimes lead to collateral damage. It’s
never okay, but it is often a reality.
Only in God’s gracious hand will any of this ever make sense.
Altar
David then
goes to the place where the angel of the Lord turned aside from God’s
wrath. David goes to Ornan the
Jebusite. David desired to take his
space and build an altar – of course compensating Ornan properly. However, let’s look at this from Ornan’s
position. He was likely the very next in
line to receive the judgment at the hand of the angel of the Lord. If I were in his position – having just been
saved from being the possible next victim – I’d be willing to give up a healthy
amount of sacrifices in thankfulness!
Eventually
a price is determined and Ornan is properly compensated. The altar is constructed. Burnt offerings and peace offerings are
given. The Lord Himself sends fire down
from heaven and consumed the sacrifice.
The event is over. The wrath has
been atoned. The judgment of the Lord is
stayed and the threshing floor of Ornan becomes a holy place for David. He begins to worship and inquire of the Lord
in that place.
God takes
offenses against Him rather seriously.
Sin is no laughing matter in anyone’s life. When leaders get involved in sinful behavior,
the potential for harm grows rather large.
We must be careful. We cannot
avoid sin entirely; but we can be quick to atone for the sin we do
accomplish. Our pride must take a back
seat to our humble repentance for the sake of others involved.
<><
No comments:
Post a Comment