I am in great distress...His mercies are very great.

1 Chronicles 20:1-21:27

Then it happened in the spring, at the time when kings go out to battle, that Joab led out the army and ravaged the land of the sons of Ammon, and came and besieged Rabbah. But David stayed at Jerusalem. And Joab struck Rabbah and overthrew it. ² David took the crown of their king from his head, and he found it to weigh a talent of gold, and there was a precious stone in it; and it was placed on David’s head. And he brought out the spoil of the city, a very great amount. ³ He brought out the people who were in it, and cut them with saws and with sharp instruments and with axes. And thus David did to all the cities of the sons of Ammon. Then David and all the people returned to Jerusalem.

⁴ Now it came about after this, that war broke out at Gezer with the Philistines; then Sibbecai the Hushathite killed Sippai, one of the descendants of the giants, and they were subdued. ⁵ And there was war with the Philistines again, and Elhanan the son of Jair killed Lahmi the brother of Goliath the Gittite, the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver’s beam. ⁶ Again there was war at Gath, where there was a man of great stature who had twenty-four fingers and toes, six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot; and he also was descended from the giants. ⁷ When he taunted Israel, Jonathan the son of Shimea, David’s brother, killed him. ⁸ These were descended from the giants in Gath, and they fell by the hand of David and by the hand of his servants.

Census Brings Pestilence

21 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.

⁷ God was displeased with this thing, so He struck Israel. ⁸ David said to God, “I have sinned greatly, in that I have done this thing. But now, please take away the iniquity of Your servant, for I have done very foolishly.”

⁹ The Lord spoke to Gad, David’s seer, saying, ¹⁰ “Go and speak to David, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord, “I offer you three things; choose for yourself one of them, which I will do to you.”’” ¹¹ So Gad came to David and said to him, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Take for yourself ¹² either three years of famine, or three months to be swept away before your foes, while the sword of your enemies overtakes you, or else three days of the sword of the Lord, even pestilence in the land, and the angel of the Lord destroying throughout all the territory of Israel.’ Now, therefore, consider what answer I shall return to Him who sent me.” ¹³ David said to Gad, “I am in great distress; please let me fall into the hand of the Lord, for His mercies are very great. But do not let me fall into the hand of man.”

¹⁴ So the Lord sent a pestilence on Israel; 70,000 men of Israel fell. ¹⁵ And God sent an angel to Jerusalem to destroy it; but as he was about to destroy it, the Lord saw and was sorry over the calamity, and said to the destroying angel, “It is enough; now relax your hand.” And the angel of the Lord was standing by the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. ¹⁶ Then David lifted up his eyes and saw the angel of the Lord standing between earth and heaven, with his drawn sword in his hand stretched out over Jerusalem. Then David and the elders, covered with sackcloth, fell on their faces. ¹⁷ David said to God, “Is it not I who commanded to count the people? Indeed, I am the one who has sinned and done very wickedly, but these sheep, what have they done? O Lord my God, please let Your hand be against me and my father’s household, but not against Your people that they should be plagued.”

David’s Altar

¹⁸ Then the angel of the Lord commanded Gad to say to David, that David should go up and build an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. ¹⁹ So David went up at the word of Gad, which he spoke in the name of the Lord. ²⁰ Now Ornan turned back and saw the angel, and his four sons who were with him hid themselves. And Ornan was threshing wheat. ²¹ As David came to Ornan, Ornan looked and saw David, and went out from the threshing floor and prostrated himself before David with his face to the ground. ²² Then David said to Ornan, “Give me the site of this threshing floor, that I may build on it an altar to the Lord; for the full price you shall give it to me, that the plague may be restrained from the people.” ²³ Ornan said to David, “Take it for yourself; and let my lord the king do what is good in his sight. See, I will give the oxen for burnt offerings and the threshing sledges for wood and the wheat for the grain offering; I will give it all.” ²⁴ But King David said to Ornan, “No, but I will surely buy it for the full price; for I will not take what is yours for the Lord, or offer a burnt offering which costs me nothing.” ²⁵ So David gave Ornan 600 shekels of gold by weight for the site. ²⁶ Then David built an altar to the Lord there and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. And he called to the Lord and He answered him with fire from heaven on the altar of burnt offering. ²⁷ The Lord commanded the angel, and he put his sword back in its sheath.

Today's text begins with the accounts of the Israelites continuing battles with the Philistines and with the giants, relatives of Goliath, who David had defeated as a boy. Over and over this familiar foe rises up to challenge Israel and David. We too can at times be faced with battles against an enemy we thought we had defeated. Whether the attack comes in the exact same form as the previous time or it just has some semblance to that prior battle, our enemy the devil will continue to attack us in similar and familiar ways. He does that in part to make us believe we really didn't gain the victory. But just as with the Israelites and the Philistines, God will continue to deliver us, through the battle, to victory 

The text then takes a turn. David and the Israelites go from victory over their enemy to having a problem with God. The text says:   Then Satan stood up against Israel and moved David to number Israel..... God was displeased with this thing, so He struck Israel.  David said to God, “I have sinned greatly, in that I have done this thing. But now, please take away the iniquity of Your servant, for I have done very foolishly.”      The reason this census displeased God was that it was rooted in pride. The devil changed his tactic. Rather than attack Israel from outside, he caused David to act in pride numbering the people of Israel. God didn't need the census, He already knew the number of the people. God also doesn't need to have the biggest army to defeat the enemy. In fact over and over in Israel's history, God delivered Israel against larger and more powerful enemies. In 1 Samuel 17:47, when David faced Goliath, he said:

and that all this assembly may know that the LORD does not deliver by sword or by spear; for the battle is the LORD'S and He will give you into our hands."

God also want's us  to depend on Him, not on our own strength or abilities. He wants us to rest in the truth of 2 Corinthians 12:9.  "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness."  Proverbs 3:5-6 says: Trust in the Lord with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding. ⁶ In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight 

When we, like David begin to look at our own strength and ability, becoming self sufficient rather than grace sufficient, we remove ourselves from God's covering and protection. In the text, David recognized that he sinned. It says:  David said to God, “I have sinned greatly, in that I have done this thing. But now, please take away the iniquity of Your servant, for I have done very foolishly.” 

1 John 1:9 says: If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.      God is faithful and does forgive our sins, yet sometimes we, like David and Israel will still have to suffer the consequences of our sin. David had great authority and responsibility and so many suffered as a consequence of his sin. We need to understand that our irresponsible actions can affect more than just ourselves. For this reason too, we should always pray for our leaders, both our spiritual leaders and our civil/government leaders. Their actions will affect us. We should pray that they will submit to the will and way of God.

David was given a choice as to how he and the nation would suffer the consequence of his sin. The text says:    The Lord spoke to Gad, David’s seer, saying,  “Go and speak to David, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord, “I offer you three things; choose for yourself one of them, which I will do to you.”’”  So Gad came to David and said to him, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Take for yourself ¹² either three years of famine, or three months to be swept away before your foes, while the sword of your enemies overtakes you, or else three days of the sword of the Lord, even pestilence in the land, and the angel of the Lord destroying throughout all the territory of Israel.’ Now, therefore, consider what answer I shall return to Him who sent me.”  David said to Gad, “I am in great distress; please let me fall into the hand of the Lord, for His mercies are very great. But do not let me fall into the hand of man.” 

David does the right thing, rather than to continue trying to stand on his own, he goes toward God rather than running from Him. Often when we have fallen into sin our natural tendency is to distance ourselves from God, trying, like Adam and Eve, to hide from God because of the guilt and condemnation we feel over our sin. We need to always, like David, go toward God not away from Him. His mercies are very great. Condemnation, guilt and shame are not from Him, they are feelings and words from the devil to try to keep us separated from God. Romans 8:1 says:  Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus  

Our text ends:  Then David built an altar to the Lord there and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. And he called to the Lord and He answered him with fire from heaven on the altar of burnt offering. ²⁷ The Lord commanded the angel, and he put his sword back in its sheath.     The surest way out of our trouble is to offer sacrifice to God in the midst of our trouble. Hebrews 3:15 says: let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name.   A sacrifice of praise, praising God not for our troubles but in them.  Verse 16 of Hebrews 3 continues: And do not neglect doing good and sharing, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.   

 In Romans 12:1, Paul says:  I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. 

All that we do and all that we are offered to God. The King James version says: I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.  It is reasonable that we give all to the one who gave all for us.

Thank You Jesus. You first sacrificed Your position in heaven to come to earth, then You sacrificed Your life to redeem me from sin and restore my relationship with God the Father. I give my life to You as my reasonable sacrifice. Thank You that Your mercies are indeed great.  Amen.