"So David said to Joab and to the leaders of the people, 'Go, number Israel from Beersheba to Dan, and bring the number of them to me that I may know it.'" (1 Chronicles 21:2)
Apparently David had a lapse here. "Trust in the Lord with all your heart," was replaced by, "I need to make sure I have enough assets to win my battles." This was followed by a stern rebuke and judgment on Israel.
According to our text, David seems to have had a "trust-lapse." He had succumbed to the belief that his deliverance and Israel's survival was dependent on numbers; the bigger the army, the greater the possibility of victory. Now if you read David's Psalms and and other writings about him, you see that David did trust in the Lord God---- most of the time. We see in our text, however, a sort of forgetfulness. There is just no, "most of the time," in our walk in Jesus Christ. Jesus teaches us that it is all or nothing! A moment of not trusting Jesus can bring disastrous results.
Our Lord Jesus Christ still asks you and me what He asked Martha, "Do you believe this?" If we do, we will not go out and number our assets. I encourage all of us to remember and live by what Jonathan said to his armor bearer, and, I might add, is a foundational Biblical Principle: "For nothing restrains the Lord from saving by many or by few."
Father, in Jesus' Name, convict me any time I attempt to number my assets. Amen.
When Peter, an 18 year old Norwegian, "heard the call to evangelize China, on that day he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"
Hebrews 12:2
Hebrews 12:2
