“Satan incited David to number Israel. So David said to Joab.., ‘Go, number Israel, from Beersheba to Dan, and bring me a report, that I may know their number.’ But Joab said, ‘May the Lord add to his people a hundred times as many as they are! Are they not… all my lord’s servants? Why require this? Why should it be a cause of guilt for Israel?’ But the king’s word prevailed…
“But God was displeased, and he struck Israel. And David said to God, ‘I have sinned greatly in that I have done this thing. Now, please take away the iniquity of your servant, for I have acted very foolishly… I am in great distress. Let me fall into the hand of the Lord, for his mercy is very great, but do not let me fall into the hand of man.’
“So the Lord sent a pestilence on Israel, and 70,000 men fell. God sent the angel to destroy, but… relented from the calamity. He said.., ‘It is enough; now stay your hand.’ The angel was standing by the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. David lifted his eyes and saw the angel of the Lord standing between earth and heaven, and in his hand a drawn sword stretched out over Jerusalem. Then David and the elders, clothed in sackcloth, fell upon their faces. David said to God, ‘Was it not I who gave command to number the people? It is I who have sinned and done great evil…’
“The angel of the Lord had commanded… that David go up and raise an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Ornan… King David said to Ornan, ‘I will buy for the full price. I will not take for the Lord what is yours, nor offer burnt offerings that cost me nothing.’ So David paid Ornan 600 shekels of gold by weight for the site. And David built there an altar to the Lord and presented burnt offerings and peace offerings and called on the Lord, and the Lord answered him with fire from heaven upon the altar. Then the Lord commanded the angel, and he put his sword back into its sheath.
“Then David said, ‘Here shall be the house of the Lord God and here the altar of burnt offering for Israel.'” 1 Chronicles 21:1-4a,7-8,13-18a,24-27; 22:1
Godly David was vulnerable to sin as any other. His folly of the census, spawned from a poison drop of pride late in his reign, brought hellish justice from God and a beautiful picture of sanctification. The very place of sin and judgment became the place of sacrifice and staying the hand of death, redeeming brokenness with the Lord into His temple of ongoing communion. How graciously the Lord works good from man’s uncontrolled depravity.
And oh, how Satan incites! We are never here on earth free from his wily plots, yet we have the sacred altar, the throne of grace, to which we can fly in time of need. Do we understand the calamity, the cost, the completion of the vindication? The moment of our sin is met with Christ’s mercy and power, the place of transgression is covered with His blood. (Hebrews 4:15-16; 1 Peter 5:8)
How sensitive are we to conviction from the Holy Spirit? Do we immediately humble ourselves and confess? What will we offer, of possession and praise, in gratitude for God’s grace?
Lord, help me remember and rejoice in Your perfect sacrifice, for Your glory.
As the rain and snow 