10/07/2020 – Day 143 – 2 Samuel 20 – 24 – This is repentance…
II Samuel 24:10 “And David’s heart condemned him after he had numbered the people. So David said to the Lord, ‘I have sinned greatly in what I have done, but now I pray, O Lord, take away the iniquity of Your servant, for I have done very foolishly. ‘
My footnote on 24:10: “We won’t need any one to condemn us at the bar of God, it will be our own conscience that will come up as a witness against us. God won’t condemn us at his bar, we shall condemn ourselves. Memory is God’s officer, and when He shall touch these secret springs and say, ‘Son, daughter, remember, – then tramp, tramp, tramp will come before us, in a long procession, all the sins we have ever committed.’ ” D.L. Moody
Chapter 24 hits us like a brick, to give us pause at the judgment on David’s sin for calling a census. 1 Chronicles , Chapter 21 gives us a parallel account. It points out clearly that Satan influences David in his call for a census. We might ask: “What is the big deal.”, but we see over and over through scripture, the evil in the pride of the heart. It all began with Adam and Eve at the garden. It seems so innocent, in this instance, but God knows our hearts, and David, must have been using that census as evidence of the power of “his” army, as opposed to “His” army!
Let’s look to Proverbs 6: 16-19 , a future reading on the day 173, for the six things that the Lord hates, and look at what leads the list:
“These six things the Lord hates, Yes, seven are an abomination to Him..”: A proud look, a lying tongue, Hands that shed innocent blook, A heart that devises wicked plans, Feet that are swift in running to evil, A false witness who speaks lies, And one who sows discord among brethren. ” Just a proud look?; and may that in itself feed the list that follows?
For David, we can contrast this pride with Chapter 23, where David’s yearning for a drink from the well of Bethlehem causes three of his “mighty” men to risk their lives to bring it to him. So, he pours it out with the cry: “Far be it from me, O Lord, that I should do this…” in 23:17. Rescued by the Holy Spirit, it is as if he is hit with Jesus’ proclamation to the Samaritan woman at the well that : “Drink the water that I provide, and you will thirst no more!” So, here too in Chapter 24 , the Holy Spirit, through David’s conscience, brings him to repentance for his pride.
Soli Deo Gloria!