Daily Devotional for Tuesday, February 6

David’s Project

“For the king said to Joab the captain of the host, which was with him, Go now through all the tribes of Israel, from Dan even to Beer-sheba, and number ye the people, that I may know the number of the people,” 2 Samuel 24:2.

Have you ever seen a television show or movie that depicts a miser? A miser is someone who hoards money and spends as little of it as possible. What is he normally doing in the scene? He is counting his money! Usually, the miser is an older person wearing a coat and hat with stacks of gold coins piled high on a desk or table. He is too cheap to pay for heat or normal amenities. Why is he counting his money? To see how much he has! I wonder if he kept counting it over and over again because he was paranoid that someone might have taken some of it.

David became what I like to call a people-miser. He wanted to know just how many people he had under him, so he ordered a census. Just like in modern times, a census was simply a counting of the people. It was a population report. However, David did not need to take a census. God had not commanded it, and it did not serve any of the traditional purposes that other censuses had served in Scripture. But God had allowed Satan to provoke David into counting the people, and in David’s selfishness, he set about seeing how big his kingdom was. As happened many times in his life, David allowed his pride to lead his decisions.

It seems like David had forgotten the many military successes he had because of God. It was not the number of men that won those battles, it was the blessings of God that made those victories possible. I like what the Lord says in Jeremiah 17:5, “Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord.”

JUST A THOUGHT
No matter the opponent, if God is on your side, you have already won.

Chris Floyd