“David looked up and saw the angel of the LORD standing between heaven and earth with his sword drawn, reaching out over Jerusalem.
So David and the leaders of Israel put on burlap to show their deep distress and fell face down on the ground.
And David said to God, ‘I am the one who called for the census! I am the one who has sinned and done wrong! But these people are as innocent as sheep—what have they done? O LORD my God, let your anger fall against me and my family, but do not destroy your people.’” 1 Chronicles 21:16-17 (NLT)
Seduced by his success, David calls for a census to count all the men of military age. While it was not sinful to take a census, David ignored the specific directions given in Exodus 30:11-16 regarding a census.
Just as David sinned by using an oxen cart to transport the Ark of the Covenant rather than the way prescribed by Scripture. This time David also sinned because his motives were wrong. He was not taking a census for taxation or for contribution for the temple.
His motives appear to have been for the sake of knowing and trusting in his military strength rather than trusting in God. David recognized and repented from his sin. He took responsibility for his sin. He prayed for those who had been affected by his sin.
This is a great example for us.
“My dear children, I am writing this to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate who pleads our case before the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the one who is truly righteous.” 1 John 2:1 NLT
When recognize that we have sinned we need to repent and take responsibility (own up to the sin we have committed) for the act or acts that have broken God’s law. Then we need to make restitution to those we have hurt.
All too often we fail to recognize that when we sin, we hurt the cause of Christ and we hurt other people. Yes, we are forgiven and grace has covered our sin. However that does not excuse us from making things right with others.
David made a sacrifice before God on the field of Araunah. As King he could have just taken the field, the wheat, the oxen and tools, but Araunah offered them to David.
David refused to just take them; he paid for them saying, “No, I insist on buying it for the full price. I will not take what is yours and give it to the Lord. I will not present burnt offerings that have cost me nothing!” (See verse 24)
Restitution should cost us something if we really mean it. It may mean an apology or restoring what was broken. We need to pray for all who were adversely affected by our poor choices that led us to sin.
God redeemed the situation and from this sin of David the ground for the temple was purchased. Good things can come from repentance and restoration. Think about it.
By Debi Bell