God has been speaking to me about the life of David. I began reading I Chronicles, and just asked God to speak to me through it.
I read Chapter 21, where David takes a census of Israel, and God views it as a great sin. David had consistently been able to rely upon God to meet all of his needs. It was sin to take an inventory of anything that you did not “own”. David ruled, but Israel belonged to God. God had consistently provided everything David needed to be successful as a ruler, but taking an inventory, certainly seems like conventional wisdom, right? I heard Rick Warren teaching recently on the wisdom of doing research and advance planning for problem solving. There is a subtle difference there somewhere.
I also recently listened to a teaching about Matthew the disciple. Matthew was a tax collector. An unpopular profession in his day for sure, probably tantamount to today something like…a divorce lawyer?? In any event, the tax collectors, Matthew and Zaccheus, would have been financially well off in their culture. Jesus asked to be invited to a dinner party at the home of Zaccheus, which was more than likely scandalous. The religious leaders criticized Jesus, calling him the “friend of tax collectors and sinners”. Matthew, who was called Levi, when Jesus was walking by him and bid him to come and “follow” him, Matthew got up and went. He just got up from his table and went. Certainly leaving behind a high income, material possessions, friendship with other tax collectors and people of means, to follow Jesus. Everything changed for him, in a moment, in his choosing.
David, after he sinned by taking inventory of the kingdom God had given him, was also given a choice. David would choose the consequences of his sin. He could choose a famine over Israel for three years. That would leave Israel at the mercy of the other nations to buy and acquire food. He could choose to be pursued by his enemies for three years. David had been a great warrior, he knew very well what it would mean to be in battle without the presence of God on his side. Or, he could choose a plague, from the “angel of the Lord”, over the kingdom for three days.
David said:
“Let me fall into the hands of the Lord, for his mercy is very great. Do not let me fall into human hands.” (I Chron. 21)
David chose the plague.
That. Is really the point. There are consequences for our behavior and for our choices, and we can’t not choose when a choice is put to us. The rich young ruler, spoken of in the gospels, faced the same choice that Matthew did. Follow Jesus, but leave behind a whole bunch of wealth and other great stuff. The rich young ruler chose differently than Matthew, and sadly went back to his wealth and possessions. God called David “A man after His own heart” God loved David because David was a passionate lover of God. However, when David turned his attention to his Kingdom instead of his God, the condition of his heart was compromised and it was sin. Wherever your treasure is, there is where your heart will be. David’s heart turned, even if just for a minute. When it turned back, David realized, that the best place for him to be, was in the hands of a righteous and just God. Just as David expected, God in his great mercy, relented and stopped short of destroying Jerusalem with the plague.
The lesson for me, on this my birthday, is that like these individuals, having been faced with some choices, I chose to get up and follow Jesus when He called. I thought I had sufficiently “counted the cost” but the court of public opinion exacts a subtly different cost, not one that can always be anticipated. Like David, I can choose not to “fall into human hands.”
My last three birthdays have been considerably less glamorous than the previous five or six. My birthday photos are telling. I used to spend my birthdays in Vegas, rockstars, fine dining and shoe shopping. Last year I was babysitting my cousin’s four year old son and this year I had pizza at home with my husband and daughter and step-son. Some people think it was irresponsible and frivolous of me to give up the things that I had. Some people think much worse things of me. I don’t answer to any of them. I will choose to “fall into the hands of the Lord, for his mercy is very great.”
His grace is sufficient for me. His mercies are new every morning. #NoRegrets #MidnightThoughts #HBD to me.
the127 activist 