Enroll
the fighting men, so that I may know how many there are. (2
Samuel 24:2)
This
is one of those times when the writer neglects to share with us the details
that must have been obvious to him. Why was it a problem for David to count his
fighting men?
When
we read the account of David, we can only be amazed at his win-loss record. I
haven't counted up his wins, but I can tell you how many fights he lost. None.
Why
did he always win? Was it because his vast army outnumbered his foes? No. There
are plenty of occasions when David led the smaller fighting force, but still
managed to pull out a victory. Was it because he was better equipped? No. Many
of his enemies had chariots. David didn't see their value. For the most part,
his men were foot soldiers.
David
always won. Why? It wasn't because of numbers; it wasn't because of weaponry;
it was because God was on his side.
So
what was the problem?
David
counted his fighting men because he wanted to know if he had enough men to
defeat any enemy that might rear its head. For the first time in his life,
David was putting his faith in his own strength, and his own resources, rather
than in the presence of God.
Do
you count your money and inventory your bills before seeing if there's enough
left over to tithe?
2 Samuel 24
ReplyDeleteDavid Enrolls the Fighting Men
1 Again the anger of the LORD burned against Israel, and he incited David against them, saying, “Go and take a census of Israel and Judah.”
This verse was confusing to me. Did God make David want to take the census. It sounds like it says he incited David. All the other verses made sense to me following this one - but not this one!
Merry, the writer of 2 Samuel says God incited David to take the census, while the writer of 1 Chronicles says it was Satan. I guess it at least partly depends on the perspective of the one sharing the account.
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