David slips up again. Not a huge sin, it seems, but one with very bad consequences.
Battle with the Philistines
2 Samuel 21:15-22, 1 Chronicles 20:4-8
David speaks of human wickedness and God;’s goodness
Psalm 36
David numbers the people
2 Samuel 24:1-9, 1 Chronicles 21:1-6
Numbering hindered
1 Chronicles 27:23-24
David’s choice
2 Samuel 24:10-14, 1 Chronicles 21:7-13
The pestilence
23 Samuel 24:15-17, 1 Chronicles 21:14-17
David’s sacrifice
2 Samuel 24:8-15, 1 Chronicles 21:18-30
Welcome back Chronicles! After drawing a veil over the more sordid events in David’s reign, Chronicles comes roaring back to document his ill-fated census.
What actually happened with this census? 2 Samuel says God incited David to take a census, Chronicles blames Satan. And what’s so wrong with it anyway? Surely the problem with it is that it represents David turning his back on a lifelong attitude - he will always trust in God, not anything else. Now he wants to know just how strong his military strength is.
Joab suddenly appears as the good guy here, realising that this is a bad thing to do. I find the story confused and confusing, both in Samuel and Chronicles. People seem to be acting out of character. David has lost his assurance of what God is like, God is making impossible demands on him (Choose: famine, war or plague) and Joab has come over all pious.
David worships God on the land of Araunah and the plague is halted. All of a sudden, David seems to be acting like Saul did. He doesn’t know who God is and what he wants. He’s floundering around, he’s lost his moral compass. In the terms of Psalm 36, he is like the evil people who “fail to act wisely or do good.” (Ps 36:3) When talking of God he says, “ in your light we see light.” (36:9) But David has lost sight of that light for the moment.
Perhaps it’s reassuring that even the great heroes of the Bible lose sight of God from time to time.
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