- …but David could not go before it to inquire of God, for he was afraid of the sword of the angel of the Lord. 1 Chronicles 21:30 – This chapter retells the story of a time when David sinned against God and his efforts to make things right again in his relationship with God. Yet after doing all that God commanded him to do, and God’s wrath was sheathed, David was still afraid to appear before the Lord. It’s easy for us today to find ourselves where David did. In a place of fear of what God might do if we come to Him after we sinned once again. We must keep in mind that when Jesus took the Father’s wrath of sin upon himself, He took it for all time and for all sin. Meaning we have peace with God now because of what Jesus did. The sword of God’s wrath is in its sheath and is never to come on the followers of God like that again. So come to Him again without fear. The wrongs you’ve done have been made right by Jesus. You have nothing to fear then in approaching the Father. Come to Him, find the rest you need, and see how fully Jesus’ sacrifice took care of you. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1384
- But God was displeased with this thing, and he struck Israel. 1 Chronicles 21:7 – David, after winning many battles and defeating many giants, says to his military commanders to number his troops. Seems like a pretty normal thing to do, I bet many of the other nations in that day would number their troops and people often. We see Rome in the Christmas story creating a census so the people could be numbered. We even have numbering in our day in the countries we live in. Why then was this a problem? Is God against counting His people? Clearly not for we see other places in scripture where this was directed by God to do, so what’s the problem? It would have been David’s heart. Incited by Satan, as we learn in verse 1, David numbers Israel. Rather than having a posture of trust in the Lord to provide victory no matter the number of troops he had, David sought to handle his kingdom like all the other kings around handled theirs. In the power of their own hands, rather than leaning on the power of God’s hands. How about us? Are we looking at our checking accounts or our church sizes or our numbers at work and thinking the welfare of our life is based on those numbers? You may have zero troops in your army, and you may have zero pennies in your pocket, but God can still win for you massive victories and bless beyond your wildest dreams. Be sure your trust is where it ought to be. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2574
Daily DEVO 