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2 Samuel 24:10–17

And David said to Gad, “I am in great distress. Please let us fall into the hand of the Lord, for His mercies are great; but do not let me fall into the hand of man” (v. 14).

David shows no concern about his order for a census while Joab and his men are out counting heads. But once the task is finished and Joab’s report is in his hands, so that he knows the number of available fighting men in Israel, David’s conscience accuses him. He realizes he has done the wrong thing, taking pride in his human armies rather than trusting God to watch over Israel. But David then does the right thing—he confesses his sin to God, acknowledges that he has acted “very foolishly,” and asks that He will take away the iniquity.

God certainly answers this prayer and forgives the sin, for David is one of His children and Christ will pay for all his transgressions on the Cross. But just as David confessed his sins against Bathsheba and Uriah (2 Sam. 12:13) and yet suffered terrible consequences, there will be repercussions from this action. “David must be corrected for his fault,” Matthew Henry writes. “It is too great a crime, and reflects too much dishonor upon God, to go unpunished…. Those who truly repent of their sins, and have them pardoned, are yet often made to smart for them in this world.” Besides, God is superintending this process to chastise the nation for an unspecified sin. (2 Sam. 24:1a)

So the prophet Gad comes to David in the morning with “the word of the Lord”—David must choose the rod by which he will be chastised. But all three choices will affect not just David but all Israel. There will be seven years of famine, three months of unrest, or three days of plague. Each of these choices will have the effect of reducing the census list in which David took such pride. The God who gives David men to fight for him can also take some or all of them away.

David is deeply distressed by the choice he must make, but in the midst of God’s wrath he remembers God’s mercy. And so he pleads that his punishment be inflicted directly by God (the famine or plague) rather than through men (the unrest). God selects the plague, and it sweeps through Israel so swiftly and virulently that the hand of God is clearly evident. But David’s instinct is sound, for when the angel of death who is commissioned to spread the plague comes to Jerusalem, God stops the destruction. In the end, God proves merciful to His people, for though thousands die, all of them, including David, deserve the same fate, yet many are spared.

Coram Deo Living before the face of God

When the Holy Spirit opens our eyes to our sin and we find ourselves deserving of wrath, how do we react? Our first thought should be to do what David did—plead for mercy. We have no other hope to escape the eternal consequences of our sin than the mercy of God. Pray that He will teach you to rely on His mercy at all times.


For Further Study
  • Isa. 54:8; 60:10
  • Rom. 11:30
  • Titus 3:5
  • 1 Peter 2:10

    Hands of Mercy

    A Sacrifice to Come

    Keep Reading Prophet, Priest, and King: The Offices of Christ

    From the December 2003 Issue
    Dec 2003 Issue