"David was conscience-stricken after he had counted the fighting men, and he said to the Lord, 'I have sinned greatly in what I have done. Now, O Lord, I beg You, take away the guilt of Your servant. I have done a very foolish thing.'" - 2 Samuel 24:10
It just seems to be human nature.
As we grow in wealth and ability, our confidence moves from complete trust in
the Lord to trust in our resources. King David decided one day that he needed
to know how many fighting men he had in his army. This was a grievous sin in
the nation of Israel. God always made it clear to the nation that He, not their
army, was their source. It was against the law of God to number the troops.
David's general, Joab, knew the serious nature of such an action.
But Joab replied to the king,
"May the Lord your God multiply the troops a hundred times over, and may
the eyes of my lord the king see it. But why does my lord the king want to do
such a thing?" (2 Samuel 24:3)
Joab knew that David was treading
in dangerous waters when he brought up the idea to him. But David had it in his
mind that this is what he was going to do. And he did. The result: God judged
David for this sin by smiting the nation with a plague that resulted in the loss
of 70,000 lives.
Recently, I was having lunch with
a former stockbroker who lost everything in the 1987 stock crash in the United
States. He made an interesting comment. "You cannot know how to fully
trust the Lord in the financial area until you really have to. When I lost
everything, I was forced to trust Him when I knew I could not pay my next bill
unless God provided. This was the time I learned to trust God. I never had to
trust God before I lost my money because I had plenty. We don't willingly enter
this level of trust with God."
Ask God today to keep you from
trusting in your own resources. Ask Him how to balance trust and blessing from
Him this day.
No comments:
Post a Comment