2 Samuel 24:1 (NLT): Once again the anger of the Lord burned against Israel, and he caused David to harm them by taking a census. “Go and count the people of Israel and Judah,” the Lord told him.
1 Chronicles 21:1 (NLT): Satan rose up against Israel and caused David to take a census of the people of Israel.
You get two for the price of one today. In our reading, you see in 2nd Samuel that God tells David to go take a census, but in the first Chronicles passage, you see that Satan causes David to take a census. Which is it Satan, or the Lord? is it an either/or, or is it both/and!? I would say the latter. Different writers for 2nd Samuel and 1st Chronicles. Their perspective is that Satan caused David to sin versus the Lord caused David to sin. The things we know are this: the Lord does not cause us to sin, Satan can tempt us to sin, and DAVID wanted to sin. I believe David felt that after Bathsheba and Absalom, he needed to take an account of how well he was doing. Joab, his military commander, tried to tell him that this wasn’t of God, but David proceeded to do it anyway. Did God lift his hand of blessing and grace, away from David, giving Satan the ability to tempt him, I think that’s a good understanding. The bottom line is he did wrong. People suffered through three days of plague and 70,000 people died. Since God does not cause us to sin, it had to be Satan who tempted him. But it was David who wanted to feel prideful about his army, his power, and his status, which led him to send so ultimately it is on him, just as it is on us when we sin. Peace and Blessings!
In the love of Christ, Pastor Bob
