1 Chronicles 21:9-17
9 And the Lord spoke to Gad, David's seer, saying, 10 “Go and say to David, ‘Thus says the Lord, Three things I offer you; choose one of them, that I may do it to you.’” 11 So Gad came to David and said to him, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Choose what you will: 12 either three years of famine, or three months of devastation by your foes while the sword of your enemies overtakes you, or else three days of the sword of the Lord, pestilence on the land, with the angel of the Lord destroying throughout all the territory of Israel.’ Now decide what answer I shall return to him who sent me.” 13 Then David said to Gad, “I am in great distress. Let me fall into the hand of the Lord, for his mercy is very great, but do not let me fall into the hand of man.”
14 So the Lord sent a pestilence on Israel, and 70,000 men of Israel fell. 15 And God sent the angel to Jerusalem to destroy it, but as he was about to destroy it, the Lord saw, and he relented from the calamity. And he said to the angel who was working destruction, “It is enough; now stay your hand.” And the angel of the Lord was standing by the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. 16 And David lifted his eyes and saw the angel of the Lord standing between earth and heaven, and in his hand a drawn sword stretched out over Jerusalem. Then David and the elders, clothed in sackcloth, fell upon their faces. 17 And David said to God, “Was it not I who gave command to number the people? It is I who have sinned and done great evil. But these sheep, what have they done? Please let your hand, O Lord my God, be against me and against my father's house. But do not let the plague be on your people.”
David is a man after God's own heart
- hard to see from some stories (murder, stealing, coveting, pride, etc)
- David counted troops to show how great he had become
--difficult to release control
Sin is like a fire out of control
- starts small and we think we can control it but grows till it is too big for any human control
- David is looking to number army to show his control
How do I turn from sin?
- acknowledge sin (v8)
- but not enough to just acknowledge it because the fire is still raging
--must deal with consequences and rectify situation that is still going on
What are the consequences?
- pick your switch (v11)
-- don't have complete free choice (just the illusion of it)
What if sentence seems harsh?
- fall before God (v16)
- already praying to God but fell before God even amidst the consequences
Who did it?
- own your own sin (v17)
- God is ready to show mercy, we must beseech him
- after we stumble, we run from God out of fear of taking responsibility and the penalty
--but can we out run God?
--God is ready to show mercy but we must turn to him and stop running
-- give him control and place our lives into the hands of God (v13)
---cling and stop wrestling
---he is in control at all times but how it is revealed depends on if we're running or trusting
Practical ways to put life into hnds of God
- acknowledge truth of Christ and where I have fallen short
- be apart of fellowship/discipleship that promotes accountability and deepness w Christ
- Show mercy to others
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