“Satan rose up against Israel and incited David to take a census of Israel. So, David said to Joab and the commanders of the troops, “Go and count the Israelites from Beersheba to Dan. Then report back to me so that I may know how many there are” (1 Chronicles 21:1-2)

The King David had just returned from several victories. They had decimated the Ammonites, captured the city of Rabbah and overthrew the Philistines and their giants in Gath. But David’s heart would become taken by pride and he took a census of his vibrant army and nation. Despite the appeal of his commander Joab not to do it, David insisted. It was however the same David who told Goliath: “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied” (1 Samuel 17:45).

He recognised God as Lord of Israel, not a king. What David did could seem noble, but God weighs the hearts and God was displeased (1 Chronicles 21:7). David’s thought is akin to those of King Nebuchadnezzar who looked at the flourishing Babylon and said: “Is not this the great Babylon I have built as the royal residence, by my mighty power and for the glory of my majesty?” (Daniel 4:30). He hadn’t finished speaking when the Lord humbled him.

1 Corinthians 4:7 says: “For who makes you so superior? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?” We take not glory in numbers or feats. Everything we have, we’ve received in a way or another. To You Lord belongs the glory!

BeEncouraged❤️ Freely received. Freely share