GOD’S WORD FOR YOU
1 CHRONICLES 21:1
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21:1 Then Satan stood up against Israel and incited David to number Israel.
The Books of Chronicles do not mention David’s sin with Bathsheba and against Uriah the Hittite, but here we have David’s second sin, the census of Israel. Since this sin led indirectly to the choice of the location of the temple, our author has no choice but to include it in the text. The first sin is covered thoroughly by 2 Samuel 11-12 and by Psalm 51. The appearance of Satan in this first verse is striking and unexpected. What had happened? What’s going on? This verse bring up several points to consider:
- The identity and fall of Satan. Satan was originally one of God’s good angels, who were created with free will just as man was in the beginning until their fall. The reason why the wicked angels have no hope of salvation while mankind has a time of grace in which to be saved is beyond our understanding, but it is certain that this is one of the chief reasons that Satan despises mankind and seeks to destroy man’s faith and to harm and even to kill us. We learn about Satan from passages like 1 Peter 5:8, “Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour,” and 1 John 3:8, “The devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.” Even more is hinted at in John 8:44, that the devil “was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” The devil cannot abide the truth and hates it, especially the truth about God and God’s majesty. He remembers that God exists, of course (James 2:19) but he hates God. He wants to destroy God’s works, ruin God’s kingdom, and steal God’s sheep.
- God handed David over to Satan in this case, not as a test, but for punishment (2 Samuel 24:1). We are not told what David’ sin was that incited the Lord’s anger, but whatever it was, David was impenitent. It has been suggested that David was arrogant about something, making this a sin of thought rather than of word or deed; certainly the sin behind the census was arrogance. “The Lord mocks the proud” (Proverbs 3:34); “He opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble” (James 4:6; 1 Peter 5:5). The trouble God sent into David’s life and upon David’s people was done to turn the king back from his sin. But David persisted.
- God punishes sins with sins. There are three causes of actual sins in mankind: (1) The corruption of the sinful nature handed down to us by our parents (Matthew 15:19). (2) The suggestion of Satan, which drives people to various sins. But the devil can only suggest, he cannot compel or force anyone into a sin. (3) The stumbling-block of the world. Paul warns: “Do not conform to the world” (Romans 12:2). The first happens within, the third happens from without, and the second, which is the suggestion of Satan, comes both from within and from without. Bernard says: “Behold that enemy I cannot see, much less be aware of. He attacks and persecutes us, now openly and violently, now in secret and deceitfully, but always maliciously and cruelly.”
- David gave Satan an opportunity for this suggestion and instigation. Like Eve, he did not resist immediately, but engaged in the debate, either openly or in secret, of his own will over against God’s will. “When the wicked thrive, so does sin” (Proverbs 29:16). David allowed either his pride or his sinful curiosity to get in the way of his faith.
- David ordered the people to be counted for no reason other than curiosity. Joab affirmed this with his protest (which is coming in the verses that follow). What Christ said of himself would also have been true if David had prayed for help against an overwhelming enemy: “Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels?” (Matthew 26:53). David should have trusted that God would give him whatever resources he needed, without counting swords and spears and hands to grip them. Was he worrying the way he had worried once as a captain in Saul’s army, about supply and manpower? He was king now, and such worrying was no longer his duty. A king who has a seneschal or a quartermaster does not need to interfere with their duties.
- David was warned by his general, Joab, that this was a wicked thing, but David did not want to listen (21:3). Everyone who turns away from God will admit in the end: “How I hated discipline! How my heart spurned correction! I would not obey or listen” (Proverbs 5:12-13).
- The king’s desire prevailed (21:4). This shows that his sin was deeply set in his heart, for “sin is caused in all wicked men and despisers of God by the perverted will. This is the will of the devil and of all ungodly men; as soon as God withdraws his support, the will turns away from God to evil” (Augsburg Confession XIX). Whether his sin was arrogance or mistrust, it was a sin, and God’s will was to correct the sin and turn David away from it.
- David did not repent of this sin for nine months and twenty days (2 Samuel 24:8,10).
Our heavenly Father loves us. When he sends correction to us for our sinfulness through his Law or through his servants preaching the law, he is calling us as straying sheep. In our Catechism we confess: “The use of the keys is that special power and right which Christ gave to his church on earth: to forgive the sins of penitent sinners but refuse forgiveness to the impenitent as long as they do not repent. Where is this written? The holy evangelist John writes in chapter 20, ‘[Jesus] breathed on [his disciples] and said, Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven’” (Ministry of the Keys, Firstly). Blessed Lord, you graciously call us even when we stray! We are humbled by your love, even if our sinful pride is hurt by such a call. Do not forsake us! Do not fail to call us back, dear Lord! Do not reject us or forsake us, O God our Savior!
In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith
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Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, New Ulm, Minnesota
God’s Word for You – 1 Chronicles 21:1 David and the Devil