Thursday, October 20, 2016

Year 6, Day 293: 1 Chronicles 21

Theological Commentary: Click Here


Discipleship Focus: King

  • King: This is the pinnacle of the Kingdom Triangle.  When we look towards God’s position in the universe, we acknowledge that He is an omnipotent king.  Authority comes from Him.  Power comes through His authority.  He is looking for representatives for His kingdom.

David is incited to make a census.  What is behind this act?  Of course, Satan incites David.  But I’m not laying the blame for the census at Satan’s feet.  Satan comes to all of us to tempt us away from the Lord.  We all have the choice to resist Satan or listen to Him.  Satan will be held accountable for desiring to tempt David.  But David is at fault for wanting the census.

In fact, it is really David’s ambition that wants the census.  Why would a king take a census of all the men in his land?  Certainly David is ambitious to know how strong his nation is.  He is ambitious to know how he ranks in terms of power to the nations around him.  But the core reason that a king takes a census is because he wants to know if he can do one of two things: wage war or collect taxes.  Both of those reasons speak against David’s ambition.

So why are we looking at God as king in this analysis?  Look at how God responds to David’s ambition.  God allows David to choose his punishment.  That is something a king would do.  Furthermore, notice that God has the power and authority as king to enact punishment.  He can send a plague upon His people because He truly is king.

However, there is something more that I see, perhaps the deepest reason of them all.  When David is asked to choose, do you hear why he makes the decision that he makes?  He would rather be placed in the hands of the Lord when it comes to punishment than to be in the hands of men.  God is king of David’s life, because when push comes to shove it is God into whom David’s places his life and judgment. That’s why God is king.  He is righteous judge.  He is the one that all of us are best to rely upon.

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