2 Samuel 24 records the sin of David in numbering the fighting men of Israel and Judah. The “counting” itself was not wrong because earlier in Israel’s history, God had ordered the numbering of the people (cf. Numbers 1:1-2), But there was a sinful motive involved in David’s census — Satan moved David to the task (1 Chronicles 21:1), and God used the occasion to punish Israel (2 Samuel 24:1).
But we ask. “What was the sin?” David’s commanding general Joab may have sensed the error when he observed: “Now may the Lord your God add to the people a hundredfold more than there are, and may the eyes of my lord the king see it. But why does my lord the king desire this thing?” (2 Samuel 24:3; cf. 1 Chronicles 21:3).
David’s pride in numbers was an echo of the sin of the people who desired a king in place of Samuel the Judge (1 Samuel 8:1-9). They feared the Ammonites, and desired a king “like all the nations” to “go out before us and fight our battles” (1 Samuel 8:19-20). However, the Lord had delivered them in times past, and stood ready to protect the faithful. (1 Samuel 12:6-14) Trusting in horsemen and chariots was equal to rejecting Jehovah and His all-powerful arm (Isaiah 30:1; Isaiah 31:1; cf. Daniel 9:1-15).
Even though David recognized his error and repented saying, “I have done very foolishly” (2 Samuel 24:10), his sin brought great pestilence upon the nation (2 Samuel 24:15). Our pride and trust in carnal strength, are often the unsuspected causes of problems that beset us. And sadly, we are seldom brought to attention by the ensuing punishment.
Beloved, let us have the same overwhelming sense of our sins as David did when we take matters into our own hands instead of being obedient to God’s will: “Let us fall now into the hand of the Lord; for his mercies are great: and let me not fall into the hand of man” (2 Samuel 24:14; cf. Hebrews 10:14).
—Mike Riley, Gospel Snippets
But we ask. “What was the sin?” David’s commanding general Joab may have sensed the error when he observed: “Now may the Lord your God add to the people a hundredfold more than there are, and may the eyes of my lord the king see it. But why does my lord the king desire this thing?” (2 Samuel 24:3; cf. 1 Chronicles 21:3).
David’s pride in numbers was an echo of the sin of the people who desired a king in place of Samuel the Judge (1 Samuel 8:1-9). They feared the Ammonites, and desired a king “like all the nations” to “go out before us and fight our battles” (1 Samuel 8:19-20). However, the Lord had delivered them in times past, and stood ready to protect the faithful. (1 Samuel 12:6-14) Trusting in horsemen and chariots was equal to rejecting Jehovah and His all-powerful arm (Isaiah 30:1; Isaiah 31:1; cf. Daniel 9:1-15).
Even though David recognized his error and repented saying, “I have done very foolishly” (2 Samuel 24:10), his sin brought great pestilence upon the nation (2 Samuel 24:15). Our pride and trust in carnal strength, are often the unsuspected causes of problems that beset us. And sadly, we are seldom brought to attention by the ensuing punishment.Beloved, let us have the same overwhelming sense of our sins as David did when we take matters into our own hands instead of being obedient to God’s will: “Let us fall now into the hand of the Lord; for his mercies are great: and let me not fall into the hand of man” (2 Samuel 24:14; cf. Hebrews 10:14).
—Mike Riley, Gospel Snippets
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