1 Chronicles 21:1-30

David was a king who was far from perfect.  He did not obey the Word of the Lord or even follow the advice of his advisers when they warned him.  His heart desired God but it was also corrupt and vulnerable to the sins of men.  Today’s text gives us a clear illustration of his sinfulness but also gives us a glimpse of his tender heartedness before the Lord as well as his trust in the Lord.  There are no perfect men apart from Christ.  David is hero of the faith, not because of his perfection, but because of how he responded to sin in his life.  We must all realize that we will sin and that our sin will have consequences, but we must also learn from David to allow the consequences and guilt of our sin to drive us to our knees in worship.  Bitterness and anger at God because of the consequences of sin should have no place in our hearts.

DAVID SINS BEFORE THE LORD: David had been very successful up until this point of his reign.  He had brought he ark back to Jerusalem, he had united the nation and experienced great military victory.  Satan hates it when God’s people are blessed so he decides to tempt David with the sin of pride in order to hurt David and the nation of Israel.  David begins to think of how powerful and successful he has become and orders that the people be numbered.  God had told the people that they were not supposed to number themselves as He wanted the people to trust in His strength and not the power of their own army.  Joab, David’s general and the man responsible for counting the people knew that that this order was wrong and tried to do all that he could to persuade David not to do this sin.  David did not listen and the people were numbered.  He found out that he had over a million and a half fighting men, which was impressive, but God did not want David to trust in the size of his army.  We must guard our hearts from the sin of pride.  It is one of Satan’s most common and successful temptations.  God must be our only source of strength and hope.

DAVID SUFFERS BY THE LORD: Sin, no matter who commits it, has consequences.  David was a man after God’s own heart but he suffered greatly under the consequences of his sin.  Once he was confronted with his sin, he finally recognized it.  If only he had listened to Joab before he sinned he would not have had to listen to Gad confront him after he sinned.  However, in the face of sin, David repented and confessed his sin before the Lord.  God accepted David’s recognition of sin and forgave his sin, but that did not mean that there would be no consequences.  God gave David a choice as to what his consequences would be.  Three years of famine, three months of war or three days of God’s wrath.  David demonstrates his trust in the Lord by asking for the three days of God’s wrath because he recognizes and trusts in the mercy of the Lord.  God sends the angel of death over the nation and 70,000 of those men that were numbered were killed because of David’s rebellion.  This is yet another illustration of how sin costs us far more pain than any instant pleasure that sin might bring.

DAVID SACRIFICES TO THE LORD: When David sees the wrath of God being poured out upon his people, he falls before the Lord in worship.  He does not question the goodness of God or express hatred towards God; he recognizes the justice of God and throws himself at the mercy of God.  He proceeds to build an altar on the threshing floor of a citizen of that area.  The man offers the land, the sacrifice, grain and even the wood necessary for making this altar.  However, David refuses to make a sacrifice to the Lord that did not cost him anything.  He paid full price for the land and then worshiped the Lord.  God’s wrath subsided and David continues to worship and then declares that this would be the site of the temple.  David took his sin seriously.  We must never treat our sin flippantly or blame others for our sin.  The only right response to sin and the consequences of sin is repentance and worship.