David commands Joab to take a census of Israel and Judah. Once this is done,
Joab reports the numbers to the king. David realizes he has sinned and asksGod for mercy. - P157
Through the prophet Gad, the Lord tells David to choose oneof three options. David chooses three days of plague because he would ratherfall into God‘s hands than into human hands. - P157
14 David said to Gad, "I am in deep distress. Let us fallinto the hands of the LORD, for his mercy is great; butdo not let me fall into human hands." - P157
Against Joab‘s suggestion, King David commands him and the otherarmy commanders to take a census of the people of Israel. The censustakes almost ten months! - P158
We are not told why David wants to do this,
why God incited him to do so, or why God was angry with Israel. Butalthough we are not given these reasons, we do see Joab questioningDavid‘s motives. We also see David‘s disregard for his commanders‘
concerns. - P158
In our Christian lives, we may not know everything we wouldlike to know about our circumstances. - P158
However, we are encouraged toquestion our own motives to see if our intentions reflect our trust inGod and our faithfulness to Him, especially since God has first beenfaithful to us!
13 - P158
After the census of Israel is complete, King David acknowledges theweightiness of his sin. - P158
The author is less concerned with explaining tous why taking the census is sinful and more interested in showing usDavid‘s repentance. - P158
In this passage, we are shown what true repentancelooks like. David acknowledges his sin, confesses his sin, asks God toforgive him of his sin, and then turns away from his sin- - P158
we neveragain see David demanding another census. Let us follow this modelof repentance and lay down all of our sins at the foot of the cross whereJesus died so that we would be rescued from sin‘s ultimate penalty. - P158
Heavenly Father, I praise You for Your great mercy. I confess my sins, evil inten-tions, and wrongful motives. - P159
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