Our God forgives.

And David said to God, “I have sinned greatly in that I have done this thing. But now, please take away the iniquity of your servant, for I have acted very foolishly.”

1 Chronicles 21:8

What was David’s sin that led to this intense confession? He selfishly insisted on taking a census of the kingdom in order to indulge his own pride (1 Chronicles 21:2-3). He yielded to a Satanic inducement when he did so (1 Chronicles 21:1). In this action David ignored a key purpose of any census as instructed in the Law — a collected offering from each able-bodied male as a gift to the Lord and ransom for his life (see Exodus 30:12). The following four elements made this a grievous sin: 1) giving in to Satan’s lie. 2) ignoring the wisdom of Joab to refrain. 3) taking the census solely so David could “know their number”, and 4) disobeying the requirement God had for any census to emphasize atonement.

Despite this, God would move to bring Himself closer to David and Israel even in this sin. After David’s sin, God revealed that a consequential judgment would come as a result of David’s willful disobedience. The warning in Exodus 30 was that plague would break out if the command was disobeyed. And over a three day period seventy thousand people died in Israel due to a horrible pandemic as the angel of the Lord brought death to the nation.

Yet a mercy came afterwards. As the angel of the Lord who brought all this death stood poised with his sword drawn over Jerusalem at the threshing floor of Oman, God halted His hand of judgment. David then in turn purchased the plot of land from Oman where he watched the angel of death sheath his sword. There David gratefully built an altar and had sacrifices offered to atone for his sin. And this would then become the temple site... a place still holy for all Jews to this day. A place where God would always atone... where Jesus Himself would one day walk and worship. As a result of these events, a permanent place to celebrate God’s mercy and forgiveness as well as worship in His presence would be established. God made even of David’s sin a place to make His grace known. Oh how wonderful that our God forgives!