The Notes

This coming Wednesday night, October 15, 2025, is the final week of our Bible study series called, "Journey with King David."   This week, week 15, we look at the final words of David and his appointment of his son Solomon to be the next King.   Join us at 6:30 p.m. for worship (we are online only this week) and some mid-week encouragement for the soul.

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This past Wednesday night, October 1, 2025, our Bible study series "Journey with King David" focused on an unusual event in the life of David.  It's told in 2 Samuel 24, and is the story of David's sin of taking a census.  As this story begins, there are 2 questions that arise .  Here is how it begins:  

"Again the anger of the Lord burned against Israel, and he incited David against them, saying, 'Go and take a census of Israel and Judah.'   So the king said to Joab and the army commanders with him, 'Go throughout the tribes of Israel from Dan to Beersheba and enroll the fighting men, so that I may know how many there are.' ”  (2 Sam. 24:1-2).  The census is eventually taken, and Joab reports back to David with the number of able-bodied men.  Then notice verse 10 - "David was conscience-stricken after he had counted the fighting men, and he said to the Lord, “I have sinned greatly in what I have done. Now, Lord, I beg you, take away the guilt of your servant. I have done a very foolish thing.' ”   It becomes apparent that David has sinned . . . but the question often asked is - what was his sin?  Taking a census??   And then that brings us back to the first verse - did God cause David to sin?  That idea goes against the Bible teaching that God doesn’t sin and, therefore, God doesn’t cause us to sin.  God is holy.  Perfect. There can be no sin in holiness.  God is good.  There is no evil in God.  James 1:13 – “And remember, when you are being tempted, do not say, ‘God is tempting me.’ God is never tempted to do wrong, and he never tempts anyone else.  Temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away.” 

That verse gives assurance that God does not tempt us to sin and certainly cannot lead us into sin.  And God’s nature is unchanging.  That’s why we can depend on Him… always pure, always good, always loving, always perfect.  So the first first of 2 Samuel 24 is confusing.  But when that is the case, we can look to other scripture to interpret scripture.  There is a parallel version of the events of David's life as told in 11 and 2 Samuel.  

1 Chronicles chapter 21 tells this same story.  Look at the opening verse - “Satan rose up against Israel and caused David to take a census of the people of Israel.” (1 Chron. 21:1).

So how can we reconcile those 2 statements?  Was it God or Satan?

The truth of this story is what we know to be true in every troubling situation of life.  That is - God is sovereign.  God allows certain things, certain events to happen in life.  But sin comes from within ourselves and we may be incited by Satan to take certain actions.  Satan plays on our emotions, our weakness, our fear.  But ultimately, God allows Satan to work.  Consider Luke 22:31 – here Jesus told Simon Peter - “Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift each of you like wheat.”  Hear that?  Satan asked.  He sought permission.  And in the well known story of Job's trials and suffering - Satan got permission to test Job.  God allowed it, but set limits.

Here, in the story of David, we see that God allowed the sin of the census because He was angry with Israel.  Why was God angry?  The Bible doesn't say, but maybe it was for rejecting David, the Lord’s anointed, when thousands of people supported Absalom in his rebellion.  The facts we learn in this story of David is that (warning - skipping ahead in the story here) 70,000 people would die.  If that is the reason God was angry, it matches with another truth - death is in store for those who reject Jesus, also the Lord's anointed . . . God's beloved Son.  The truth we can see in answering this first question is that God allows things to accomplish His purpose.   At the heart of God is love/ return to Him.  At the heart of us is sin, and our actions are led by imperfect hearts.  Don’t ignore our role in the evils that happen in life; it happens when we give into temptation.  The sin of murder follows hate.  The sin of robbery follows greed.  God doesn't stop every bad thing that happens as a result of human weakness when it comes to temptation. 

We said there are two questions that arise from this story.  The second question is what was the sin in taking a census?  In wrestling with this issue, some people have suggested that this is David’s pride.  He wanted to have the people counted to know about his support, to know that if his nation needed to go to warn, he could have assurance that they were up to the task.  The theory goes that this was sin because David would be relying on self, not God.  It's an interesting theory.  It could have some truth to it.  But let me share another idea with you - an answer perhaps - that lies in Exodus 30:11-16:

"Then the LORD said to Moses, 'Whenever you take a census of the people of Israel, each man who is counted must pay a ransom for himself to the LORD. Then no plague will strike the people as you count them.  Each person who is counted must give a small piece of silver as a sacred offering to the LORD. (This payment is half a shekel, based on the sanctuary shekel, which equals twenty gerahs.)  All who have reached their twentieth birthday must give this sacred offering to the LORD.  When this offering is given to the LORD to purify your lives, making you right with him, the rich must not give more than the specified amount, and the poor must not give less.   Receive this ransom money from the Israelites, and use it for the care of the Tabernacle. It will bring the Israelites to the LORD’s attention, and it will purify your lives.'”

This tells us that taking a census is not a sin - but doing it without having each person pay a ransom is wrong.  That is the sin.  David did not require the ransom, the payment of money.  That payment is referred to as the "temple tax" in the New Testament.  Remember the story of Jesus & Peter in Capernaum?  Jesus has Peter catch a fish, take the money that he will find in the mouth of the fish and pay the tax for both of them.  (See Matthew 17).  And another thing to note about this scripture - each persons pays the ransom, and pays the same amount.  We’re equal.  We're equal in God's eyes, and we should be equal in the eyes of each other. 

Another point to make is that the tax is used to care for the church - and each person has a responsibility to support it, whether we call it a sanctuary, temple or tabernacle.  It is a communal obligation.

Finally, notice that the word used is ransom.  This is ransom money.  Consider that Jesus Christ "gave himself as a ransom for all people."  (1 Timothy 2:6). Ultimately, Jesus paid our ransom on the cross.

The second part of this story is that after David sinned, God gave him three choices as punishment.   Verses 12 through 14 tells us that God's three options were: 3 years of famine in the land - 3 months of fleeing from his enemies while they pursued him - or 3 days of plague in the land.  David was in deep distress but came to this decision: "Let us fall into the hands of the Lord, for his mercy is great; but do not let me fall into human hands.”  (2 Sam. 24:14)

This story against shows us the 2 sides of David.  He seeks to follow God, but he is not perfect.  David is so much like us!  Willing, but sometimes doing wrong.  And this time, we see the maturity of David.  He did wrong, but he owned it and acknowledged it right away.  And in doing so, David arises as the true Shepherd, a good king.  As he sees the people suffering, David said to the Lord, “I have sinned; I, the shepherd, have done wrong. These are but sheep. What have they done? Let your hand fall on me and my family.”  That is why David has become known as the greatest king of Israel.  He wanted the best for his people, and he loved the Lord.

This second part of the story results in a plague falling on Israel and 70,000 people dying.  And it teaches us 3 things:

1.  Our sin has consequences to others.  Our sin does not just hurt us, it hurts others.  And I don't believe the suffering was random.  Recall that God was angry with Israel.  

2.  This shows us David’s maturity.   No need for someone to convince him of his guilt this time.  There was no need for the prophet Nathan to come draw a picture for him. David sees it himself.  And he repents.  Genuine repentance.  That is maturity.  Mature Christians are reflective, and they accept responsibility for their actions and repent.

3.  God’s judgment was, indeed, tempered by mercy.  God said tot he angel of death, “Enough.”  It’s why David trusted God more than people.  God was merciful.  Compassionate.  Withholding more suffering.  David was right to put his trust in the mercy of God.  We should learn from David's story and do the same.

Finally, the rest of the story gives us one more lesson.   David is directed to “build an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.”  When 

David goes to see Araunah and says he wants to buy his threshing floor to build an altar to the LORD, Araunah offers to give it all to David.  He says, "Take it, my lord the king, and use it as you wish.”  He even offered David some oxen for the burnt offering, the threshing boards and ox yokes for wood to build a fire on the altar.  But notice verse 24 - "the king replied to Araunah, 'No, I insist on buying it, for I will not present burnt offerings to the LORD my God that have cost me nothing.'”  David paid him for the threshing floor and the oxen.

The truth for us is - an offering that costs us nothing means nothing to God.

What we offer to God can’t be empty.  Worthless.  What David shows us is  sacrificial worship & giving.

We can’t just give God what’s leftover in our lives, what’s free.  That we give God 30 minutes when we have nothing else going on does not please God.  What pleases God is that we make time for Him.  We make God a priority.  We sacrifice our time and energy to serve God.  We offer God our recourses, our talents.  Those are gifts that are meaningful.  Those are gifts that will please God.  But we have nothing to be proud about when our service costs us nothing.  God blesses sacrificial worship – making time for Him - giving of ourselves – our time, our talents, our resources.  Are you giving God a sacrificial act of worship?  It matters.