God allowed Satan to tempt David in taking a census of the people. And even though Joab was there to try to talk David out of this idea, David went ahead anyway. Taking a census is not wrong in itself, but David in that moment, was putting his trust in how many warriors he hand, instead of trusting in God. Also, the census took about ten months to complete, which wasted time and effort that could have been used for other things.
This event is recorded in two different places in the Bible by different witnesses (writers), so the facts are relayed with slight differences, but without contradicting each other, since all scripture is inspired by God, Himself. The portion found in 2 Samuel mentions God's anger, which lets us know that the people were being disobedient...
(2 Samuel 24:1, 3) Now again the anger of the Lord burned against Israel, and it incited David against them to say, “Go, number Israel and Judah.” ... 3 But Joab said to the king, “Now may the Lord your God add to the people a hundred times as many as they are, while the eyes of my lord the king still see; but why does my lord the king delight in this thing?”
Then in this portion of scripture, we are told...
(1 Chronicles 21:1-6) Then Satan stood up against Israel and moved David to number Israel. 2 So David said to Joab and to the princes of the people, “Go, number Israel from Beersheba even to Dan, and bring me word that I may know their number.” 3 Joab said, “May the Lord add to His people a hundred times as many as they are! But, my lord the king, are they not all my lord’s servants? Why does my lord seek this thing? Why should he be a cause of guilt to Israel?” 4 Nevertheless, the king’s word prevailed against Joab. Therefore, Joab departed and went throughout all Israel, and came to Jerusalem. 5 Joab gave the number of the census of all the people to David. And all Israel were 1,100,000 men who drew the sword; and Judah was 470,000 men who drew the sword. 6 But he did not number Levi and Benjamin among them, for the king’s command was abhorrent to Joab.
David's heart was troubled...
(1 Samuel 24:10) 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.”
From this we see:
- Satan and demons can influence us to sin
Personal experience: one afternoon, when our parents were not around, my one brother was watching TV, and I was doing homework, while my younger brother was doing his best to make that impossible. At first, I maintained a polite disposition to avoid a fight, but things escalated to the point where I thought I had to lash out and protect myself. I pummeled him with my fists and ran, while he grabbed a kitchen knife to chase me.
I ran into the bathroom because it was the only room in the house with a lock on the door. Of course, I knew he could pick the lock anyway, so I put my hand on the door knob in such a way that he could not do that. Enraged even more, he then tried to break the door down. I sat with my back to the door and braced my feet against the tub to keep that from happening - and then began to pray that Mom and Dad would get home!
A few minutes later, the car drove up and my younger brother hid in his room. All of us kids acted like nothing had happened. I don't know why we never said anything. Perhaps we thought our parents had enough things to worry about.
Years later, while I was still working on reconciling with my brother, I was thinking back to that situation, and realized that my actions were really uncalled for. In fact, I could not justify them at all. It was just - wrong! I had tried to rely on my own strength, INSTEAD OF starting with prayer and relying on God! It only caused things to escalate. My evil action led to another evil action. And although my punches probably didn't hurt my brother all that much physically, it would have hurt emotionally and psychologically.
After reading a book on reconciliation, I could see the benefits of apologizing! It said something like, "Even if you think your sin isn't as bad as the other person's sin - by apologizing first - this might just help the other person put down their pride and/or embarrassment in order to apologize to you."
I imagined how much guilt-ridden-weight my brother still might be carrying around with him, and I wanted to help ease his burden! So the next time I spoke with him, I apologized for things that had happened in our childhood. And this allowed him to apologize, as well. It was only with three words, but hey, this was not for my benefit. I didn't need tears or sackcloth and ashes. I didn't need him to recount specific things. I just wanted to have a great relationship with my brother!
And let's not forget, what I did was wrong! My brother deserved an apology from me. And I needed to apologize to him - for my own peace of mind - to ease my burden of sin!
Today's takeaway: so many bad situations could be avoided by NOT taking things into our own hands. Even when they seem right in that moment, they might be so very wrong. I know this sounds so cliche or cheesy - but we could easily ask ourselves - WHAT WOULD JESUS DO??? But more importantly, to pray - asking God to guide and help us in every situation...
(1 Peter 2:21-25) For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps, 22 who committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in His mouth; 23 and while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously; 24 and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed. 25 For you were continually straying like sheep, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls.
(Ephesians 5:1-2) Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; 2 and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.
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