David's Census

When you talk about David's sin in the bible,

the sin that comes to everyones mind first..

would obviously be the sin with Bathsheba,

and the murder of Uriah her husband.

An interesting sin that comes up in

2 Samuel/1 Chronicles is the census that David takes

of Israel. I say interesting because all

David does is he takes a census of the

Kingdom of Israel. Why then was taking

a census considered a sin?

Again the anger of the Lord was

aroused against Israel, and He moved

David against them to say "Go,

number Israel and Judah."

So the King said to Joab the commander

of the army who was with him,

"Now go throughout all the tribes of Israel,

from Dan to Beersheba, and count the people,

that I may know the number of the people."

And Joab said to the King

"Now may the Lord your God

add to the people a hundred times

more then they are, and may the eyes

of my lord the King see it. But

why does my lord the King desire this thing?"

Nevertheless the King's word prevailed

against Joab and against the captains of the

army. Therefore Joab and the captains

of the army went out from the presence

of the king to count the people of Israel.

2 Samuel 24:1-4

You may be asking yourself,

"Hey, wait a minute..didn't it just say the Lord

moved David to take the Census?"

I could see how that could be confusing,

but in Chronicles it says Satan moved David

to do the census. Of course like in the story of Job

It was God who allowed Satan to "move against" Job.

So technically it was God who allowed it to happen,

because Satan can't do jack without God letting

him. You can't leave out the first verse in 2 Samuel

24 where it states "The anger of the Lord was against Israel"

And truth-fully there was plenty of reason for God to be angry

with Israel, it's not like God was being unjust in allowing

satan to tempt David into doing the Census.

Now Satan stood up against Israel,

and moved David to number Israel.

So david said to Joab and to the leaders of the people,

"Go, number Israel from Beersheba to Dan, and bring

the number of them to me that I may know it."

And Joab answered, "May the LORD make His people

a hundred times more then they are.

BUT my lord the king, are they not all my lord's servants?

Why then does my lord require this thing?

Why should he be a cause of guilt in Israel?"

Nevertheless the King's word prevailed against Joab.

Therefore Joab departed and went throughout all Israel

1 Chronicles 21:1-4

Chronicles as you can see gives a little more detail

to Joab's reply to the king. Joab wasn't particularly

a righteous person, he was pretty selfish

actually, and for him to question the reasons

for taking the census was pretty strange, if you think about it.

Joab was essentially saying;

"Why number the people? don't they all belong to the Lord?

The Lord fights our battles, it doesn't matter how many

men we have. Why sin against all of Israel

with your lack of faith?"

For you see, the only reason to do a census back then

was to know how many fighting men you had,

So then David could know how big his army was and

hence he could decide, in his mind, If he could win

in a certain battle or not depending on how many men he had.

FOR THIS REASON the census was a sin, because David

wasn't trusting in God, David was struggling with a lack of Faith..

The reason the 1 Chronicles 21 and 2 Samuel 24 verses

(which both explain David's taking of a census)

are somewhat confusing is because it doesn't

exactly explain why the census was considered a sin...

it just says

And God was displeased with this thing; therefore

He struck Israel. So David said to God,

"I have sinned greatly, because I have done this thing;

but now, I pray, take away the iniquity of Your servant,

for I have done very foolishly."

1 Chronicles 21:7/2 Samuel 24:10

We know however that God is Righteous, He is just,

and he wouldn't punish without reason.

Really all you need to do is look at the reasons

for taking a census back then, as it was a popular thing

to do for the kingdoms in those times. They wanted to know

how many men they had so they can either brag about it

and feel all proud and mighty, which obviously would also

be a sin for David, or they wanted to do a census to count

all their men who could fight so they could determine

if they could hold up in a fight against the enemy.

Either way there was a lack of trust, a lack of faith

in God. Which is why David realized what he had done

was a sin because he didn't put his trust in God.

Doing a census in itself isn't a sin BUT the reasons

behind it could be.

David spares Saul(Twice)

As a general rule, what's usually the hard thing to do is

the right thing to do.

I've been reading the book of Samuel,

and I come to the part about David

sparing Saul. Now David didn't spare Saul

once but twice, David refused to kill King Saul

even though most of us could easily justify

him doing so. Saul was extremely jealous of

David, and tried to kill him several times,

and for what? Saul was blinded by jealousy

because the people of Israel loved David

more then himself. David never did

anything personally to Saul, in-fact

David loved Saul even when he was

being hunted down by Saul.

Now if that is not loving your enemies I don't

know what is.

David refused to kill the Lords anointed,

God chose Saul as King, So unless God

plainly told David

"Kill Saul" David wasn't going to touch him.

Now it happened, when Saul had returned

from following the Philistines,

that it was told him,saying,

"Take note! David is in the Wilderness of En Gedi."

Then Saul took three thousand chosen men

from all Israel, and went to seek David and his men on

the rocks of the wild goats. So he came

to the sheepfolds by the road, where there was a cave;

and Saul went in to attend to his needs.

(David and his men were staying in the recesses of the cave.)

1 Samuel 24:1-3

So Saul has to "tend to his needs" and it just so happens

that he needs to "tend to his needs" at the same place,

the same exact cave David and his men are hiding out.

Coincidences? I think not...

This must have been a hard decision

for David. I mean imagine, there you are in

a cave hiding with all your men, when all of

a sudden in walks the man trying to kill you

all alone and vulnerable, he must of thought

"God is surely delivering my enemy into my hands"

just as his own men thought as 1 Samuel continues..

Then the men of David said to him,

"This is the day of which the Lord

said to you, 'Behold, I will deliver

your enemy into your hand, that you

may do to him as it seems good to you.' "

and David arose and secretly cut off a corner of

Soul's robe. Now it happened afterwards that David's

heart troubled him because he had cut soul's robe.

And he said to his men,

"The LORD forbid that I should do this thing to my master,

the LORD'S anointed, to stretch out my hand

against him, seeing he is the anointed of the LORD."

So David restrained his servants with these words,

and did not allow them to rise against Saul. And

Saul got up from the cave and went on his way.

1 Samuel 24:4-7

David had his chance to kill Saul, but instead he

cut off a part of his robe, and doing just that he

felt ashamed of. In David's eyes even though

it would be much easier for him to become King

if he just killed Saul, It would be wrong for him

to touch the anointed of the LORD.

God chose Saul as King, so God will

have to remove Saul as King, and not by

David's own hands. For David respected God,

and God's chosen people. David wouldn't

allow any of his men to touch Saul either,

and David feeling guilty for cutting off a piece of

Saul's robe,and hoping he can convince Saul

that he was not against him came out before Saul..

David also arose afterward, went out of the cave,

and called out to Saul, saying,

"My lord the king!" and when Saul looked behind him,

David stooped with his face to the earth,

and bowed down. And David said to Saul:

"Why do you listen to the words of men who say,

'indeed David seeks your harm'? Look, this day

your eyes have seen that the Lord delivered

you today into my hand in the cave, and someone

urged me to kill you. But my eye spared you,

and I said, ' I will not stretch out my hand against

my lord, for he is the LORD'S anointed.'

Moreover, my father, see! Yes, see the corner

of your robe in my hand! For in that I cut

off the corner of your robe, and did not kill you,

know and see that there is neither evil nor

rebellion in my hand, and I have not sinned

against you. Yet you hunt my life to take it.

Let the LORD judge between you and me, and

let the LORD avenge me on you. But my hand

shall not be against you. As the proverb

of the ancients says, 'Wickedness proceeds

from the wicked.' but my hand shall not be

against you. After whom has the King of Israel

come out? Whom do you pursue?

A dead dog? A flea? therefore let the LORD

be judge, and judge between you and me, and see

and plead my case, and deliver me out of your hand."

David trusted in God, he had such faith in God and

such bravery that he came right out into the open

before Saul and his three thousand men and fell

to the ground bowing before Saul. Pleading with

Saul, and telling him he has done nothing to deserve

Saul's disrespect, telling him if he wanted Saul dead

he could of done it inside that cave. David

considered himself a flea... a dog..

compared to Saul who was King and was anointed by

the LORD. David was saying

"Listen my lord the king, I will not touch you!

I don't want to harm you! and I never did want to!

even now after you have driven me this far

and you want me dead, my hand is still not against you!

Let the LORD avenge me but I will not!"

truly David was a man of God, who gave everything

up to the Lord instead of trying to justify

doing wickedness for wickedness.

So what happened? did Saul give up

trying to kill David? oh Saul promised

he would and he let David go, but

he still had that burning jealousy inside

him towards David, and kept trying to kill

David. So what about David? did he change

his actions towards Saul? well lets take a look at

1 Samuel 26..

And Saul encamped in the hill of Hachilah,

which is opposite Jeshimon, by the road.

But David stayed in the wilderness, and he saw

that Saul came after him into the wilderness.

David therefore sent out spies, and understood that

Saul had indeed come.

So David arose and came to the place where

Saul had encamped. And David saw the place

where Saul lay, and Abner the son of Ner,

the commander of his army. Now Saul

lay within the camp, with the people

encamped all around him. Then David answered,

and said to Ahimelech the Hittite and to Abishai

the son of Zeruiah, brother of Joab, saying,

"Who will go down with me to Saul in the camp?"

And Abishai said, "I will go down with you."

So David and Abishai came to the people

by night; and there Saul lay sleeping

within the camp, with his spear stuck in the ground

by his head. And Abner and the people lay

all around him. Then Abishai said to David,

"God has delivered your enemy into your hand

this day. Now therefore, please, let me strike him

at once with the spear, right to the earth;

and I will not have to strike him a second time!"

But David said to Abishai,

"Do not destroy him; for who can stretch out his hand

against the LORD'S anointed, and be guiltless?"

David said furthermore, "As the LORD lives,

the LORD shall strike him, or his day shall

come to die, or he shall go out to battle and perish.

The LORD forbid that I should stretch out my hand against

the LORD'S anointed. But please, take now the spear

and the jug of water that are by his head, and let us go."

1 Samuel 26:3-11

Once again David has a chance to

kill or have Saul killed and he chooses not to.

David knows he doesn't need to kill Saul,

if God wants Saul dead then he will be dead.

Because yet again David gave it to the Lord,

for Saul was digging his own grave for what he

was doing, not only to David but Saul

was not being the King he should have

been for Israel, he wasn't trusting God..

wasn't seeking to do God's will.

David is the classic example of not repaying evil

with evil, David was the example of giving

his problems to the Lord, in not seeking revenge

because God will give to everyone according to

what they do. Saul was going to reap what he sowed,

and David didn't have to lay a finger on him.

1 Corinthians 1:27 and Gideon

But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world

to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak

things of the world to confound the things which

are mighty.

1 Corinthians 1:27

There's many things one could say about that verse

in Corinthians. One main factor is obviously

'through God all things are possible'

you could study years and years

study books upon books, know everything

in the world there is to know, and

you can still be absolutely clueless in Gods eyes.

You could understand anything and everything

and still be completely dumbfounded when it comes

to God.You could quote scripture after scripture,

memorize verse after verse and still

not understand.

In the bible God always seemed to choose the people

to work through, that in the worlds eyes,

just seemed completely ridiculous.

God chooses people to work through

that may not seem like the logical choice

because he wants it known that it is HIM working

and not the person themselves.

Moses wasn't exactly the most eloquent of speakers,

and yet God chose him to lead his people out of Egypt.

And Moses said unto the LORD, O my Lord,

I [am] not eloquent, neither heretofore,

nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant:

but I [am] slow of speech, and of a slow tongue.

And the LORD said unto him, Who hath made man's mouth?

or who maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind?

have not I the LORD? Now therefore go,

and I will be with thy mouth,

and teach thee what thou shalt say.

Exodus 4:10-12

Jeremiah claimed he was just a child..

Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! behold, I cannot speak:

for I [am] a child. But the LORD said unto me, Say not,

I [am] a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee,

and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak

Jeremiah 1:6-7

and the same can be said about Paul in the

New Testament.

Or how about David... the youngest of the family..

the least of his brothers, and God chose him to lead

his people. David wasn't some mighty warrior who God

looked upon and said:

"Well obviously I'll choose David to be King"

God chose David because of his heart and then

made him into a mighty warrior.

The Lord told Samuel when he looked

upon Davids older brother (who Samuel figured

would be Gods choice. )

But the LORD said unto Samuel,

Look not on his countenance,

or on the height of his stature;

because I have refused him:

for [the LORD seeth] not as man seeth;

for man looketh on the outward appearance,

but the LORD looketh on the heart

1 Samuel 16:7

The same could be said for Gideon,

who was the least in his fathers house..

yet God chose him to save Israel from

the Midianites. Gideon himself couldn't

believe it...God had to show him a couple

signs, for Gideon to actually believe

God chose him.

And the LORD looked upon him, and said,

Go in this thy might, and thou shalt save Israel

from the hand of the Midianites: have not I sent thee?

And he said unto him, Oh my Lord,

wherewith shall I save Israel?

behold, my family [is] poor in Manasseh,

and I [am] the least in my father's house.

And the LORD said unto him,

Surely I will be with thee,

and thou shalt smite the Midianites as one man.

Judges 6:14-16

Gideon was like...me God? save Israel?

are you crazy? I'm poor..I'm no warrior...

hell, I'm not even the best choice in my

own family...and yet you choose me

of all people.

Gideon had God give him a couple signs,

and of course God came through, and Gideon

realized that God truly would work through him

to save Israel. So Gideon gathers the Israelites

together, and gets as many as he can find to

fight for God and Israel and they number up to 32,000

men. Then God says to Gideon...

"Hmm..you have to many men, Israel

would just boast and say they

saved themselves,

so tell anyone who is afraid to turn back"

and what happens? 22 thousand men leave..

First of all, lets establish the fact that 32,000

men wasn't "logically" to many men, as the Israelites

were facing a vast army of uncountable men...

So Gideon must of been like:

"Seriously God? too many? we don't have enough!"

but he did what God told him to do, and he is

now left with only 10 thousand men to fight up

against a huge force of well trained armored

soldiers. God then says..

"Uh...you know what? there is still

to many of you"

Gideon must of been besides himself when

once again God tells him he has to many men,

and he sends more home until there is only Gideon

and 300 men.

And the LORD said unto Gideon,

By the three hundred men that lapped will I save you,

and deliver the Midianites into thine hand:

and let all the [other] people go every man unto his place.

Judges 7:7

I'm sure Gideon was completely freaking out,

I mean 300 men against thousands upon thousands

is insane. Thats probably why God gave Gideon some

comfort when he told Gideon to follow his

servant Phurah and go just outside of the Midianites

camp and listen to them talking.

Gideon overhears a man telling another man

his dream, and the other man interprets

the dream to mean that God has given their

whole camp into the hands of Gideon and

the Israelites.

Gideon was put at ease after hearing that.

It obviously comes to pass that God through Gideon does

take out the Midianites, and

God did what he said he was going to do and he

saved Israel by the hands of Gideon. God made

sure by cutting down the israelite numbers that he

would be glorified. He also chose a man that

wasn't a big bad warrior, in fact he chose

a man that was unsure of himself and

was in fear right up until the last minute

Which brings us full circle back to the

verse...

But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world

to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak

things of the world to confound the things which

are mighty.

1 Corinthians 1:27

I love the story of Gideon in the bible...

it's Judges 6-8