13 Dec Sermon Recap | The Life of David | David & The Census
2 Samuel 24 brings tension between our understanding of judgment and God’s perfect union of justice and mercy. God encourages David to take a census of the people, and although David’s advisors try to convince him otherwise, David follows through and tallies the people. The census results in God’s judgment. As a result, a three-day plague kills 70,000 Israelites. However, God’s mercy overcomes His own justice in the specific place where David is instructed to build a permanent altar—drawing our eyes towards the fulfilled promise of the cross. Although we are easily stunned by God’s judgment, we can be as equally stunned at His great mercy.
Scripture References
1. The census is emblematic of God’s judgment and our rebellion. How does this passage sit with your conscience? What is your initial reaction to God’s judgment?
2. We have three options for what to believe about God and His judgment: that He is impotent and standing on the sidelines, that He is an all-powerful, yet resistant judge, or that He is the rightful judge who is powerful, yet engaged with us, and burning with anger. Do you find one of these options easier to believe than the others? How have you believed these in your own life?
3. David insists on paying for the marked place where God’s justice meets God’s mercy and the plague is stopped. Why do you think it is important to David that he pay for the threshing floor? In what ways are you sacrificing to the extent that it costs you? What are you withholding from the Lord? Your soul?
4. God takes us as we are and then “cleans us up.” He is clear on what we’ve done and who we are and yet He loves us and is merciful to us anyway. Do you truly believe this? How have you tried to clean up before going to God? How have you felt the need to perform or produce to earn His mercy?
5. As a result of David’s rebellion, 70,000 people lost their lives. Those underneath our authority can suffer as a result of our sins. Are the people under your authority receiving blessing or curses as a result of your decisions?
Thoughts to Consider
– We cannot hold God accountable for how He manages His rightful judgment. Instead of trying to reason with Him, we should be driven to worship His almighty ability to bring together justice and mercy in perfect union.
– The altar marks the place where God the Just, becomes God the Justifier. God’s justice meets with mercy over and over until they ultimately meet in Jesus at the cross.
– The first Adam, of Eden, represented us and failed. The second Adam, Jesus, is able to represent us at the cross and pay for our sin because he had no sin to pay for. We could not pay for our own sin and survive because it would merely be rightful justice for us.
– We might not believe the gospel is true because we are too prideful to admit that we need a Savior. If you evaluate whether you are good enough for Jesus, then it isn’t about whether this is true or not—it’s about recognizing your pride in thinking you could ever be “good enough” for Him. Jesus is the Justifier who alone can make you right with God.
