After God's Own Heart | Week 8: His Sin & Repentance

Jul 19, 2026

Devotional

Day 1: When "No Big Deal" Becomes a Big Deal

We often dismiss our choices with phrases like "it’s fine" to avoid facing their true weight. David’s census seemed pragmatic, but his casual approach to God’s authority revealed a heart leaning on self-reliance rather than dependence. Sin thrives when we downplay its gravity, trading truth for comfort. The story invites us to examine where we’ve labeled disobedience as harmless. Conviction begins when we stop minimizing and start naming what God calls serious. [12:21]

"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, LORD, I beg you, take away the guilt of your servant. I have done a very foolish thing.'"
(2 Samuel 24:10, NIV)

Reflection: Where have you labeled a recurring compromise as "no big deal"? How might naming it honestly open the door to freedom?

Day 2: The Agony of a Stricken Conscience

Conviction feels like a wound being cleaned—painful but necessary. David’s raw confession ("I have sinned greatly") models embracing discomfort rather than numbing it. A troubled conscience is not God’s rejection but His invitation to restoration. To dismiss guilt is to reject the scalpel that heals; to sit with it is to let grace reshape us. [29:48]

"Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death."
(2 Corinthians 7:10, NIV)

Reflection: When guilt surfaces, do you rush to justify or repent? What would it look like to let conviction guide you to God’s mercy today?

Day 3: Choosing Mercy in the Midst of Judgment

Faced with three devastating consequences, David chose the plague—not out of resignation, but trust. He knew God’s mercy outlasts wrath. Even in discipline, David sought the hand that wounds to heal. Our failures often leave us fearing punishment, but true repentance runs toward the Judge who became the Sacrifice. [35:39]

"Let us fall into the hands of the LORD, for his mercy is great; but do not let me fall into human hands."
(2 Samuel 24:14, NIV)

Reflection: When consequences come, do you brace for retaliation or lean into mercy? How does Jesus’ cross redefine your view of God’s justice?

Day 4: From Threshing Floors to Altars of Grace

The threshing floor—a place of separation between wheat and chaff—became holy ground where David built an altar. What was meant for judgment became a site of worship. God redirects our failures into spaces where grace rebuilds. Our worst moments can become monuments to His redemption when we offer brokenness back to Him. [39:57]

"David built an altar to the LORD there and sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. Then the LORD answered his prayer in behalf of the land, and the plague on Israel was stopped."
(2 Samuel 24:25, NIV)

Reflection: Where in your life do you need to replace regret with an altar? What might worship look like in that space today?

Day 5: The Shepherd Who Bore the Plague for Us

David pleaded, "Let your hand fall on me," but only Jesus could truly absorb the blow. The perfect Shepherd took the plague we deserved, turning the ultimate threshing floor—the cross—into the place where death itself was winnowed. Our failings are met not with a tally but with scars. [42:27]

"I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep."
(John 10:11, ESV)

Reflection: How does Jesus’ willingness to bear your consequences shift your response to personal failure? What weight does His "enough" (John 19:30) lift from you today?

Sermon Summary

Second Samuel 24 opens with a hard line: “Again, the anger of the Lord burned against Israel.” The text does not spell out the exact reason, but Israel had a long habit of wandering, idolatry, complaining, and rejecting God. God’s justice does not work by rejecting his people, though. God takes sin seriously, and God has a plan to deal with it.

First Chronicles 21 says Satan incited David, while Second Samuel says God incited David, and the tension is real. God is sovereign over all things, even evil, without being the author of evil. David still acts out of his own choice. Satan influences, God allows, and David is responsible.

The census itself was not automatically wrong, because God had commanded censuses before. This census was different because David did not ask God, and David seemed to delight in knowing the strength of his fighting men. Israel did not belong to David. Israel belonged to God. David’s pride made room for self reliance where trust should have been.

Joab’s question cuts right into the moment: why would the king want to do such a thing? Joab becomes an interruption, a mercy placed in David’s path before sin runs its course. David overrules him anyway. David is not sinless, but being after God’s own heart does not mean being sinless. It means taking sin seriously.

David’s conscience strikes him after the census. David does not dodge it, minimize it, or say, “It’s no big deal.” David says, “I have sinned greatly,” and he begs God to take away his guilt. Conviction hurts, but conviction tells the truth. A conscience stiff-armed long enough can train the heart to believe the lie that sin is not serious and that God is the one to blame.

David also faces consequences instead of hiding from them. Gad brings three terrible options, and David chooses to fall into the hands of the Lord because God’s mercy is great. The plague comes, but God says, “Enough,” and mercy meets judgment at the threshing floor of Araunah. David builds an altar there, and God answers on behalf of the land.

Jesus stands as the better King and better Shepherd. David offers himself, but David is not without blame. Jesus is without sin, yet Jesus lays down his life for the sheep. David’s reign ends, but Jesus’ reign never ends, and Jesus takes sin seriously enough to go to the cross.

Key Takeaways

1. Sinlessness is not the measure [14:12] Being after God’s own heart does not mean pretending perfection is possible. The real test comes when sin is named honestly instead of minimized with “it’s fine” or “no big deal.” A serious relationship with God does not erase failure, but it refuses to treat failure as weightless. [14:12]
2. Conviction tells the painful truth [30:33] A guilty conscience is a good thing that does not feel good. Conviction exposes what self-protection wants to hide, and it keeps the soul from rehearsing lies until they feel normal. A heart that refuses conviction may eventually stop blaming sin and start blaming God. [30:33]
3. Interruptions can be mercy [25:41] Joab’s question gave David a way to pause before the census became action. A “why are you doing this?” moment can feel annoying, invasive, or inconvenient, but it may be God’s kindness pressing against self-deception. Wisdom receives the interruption before pride turns it into background noise. [25:41]
4. Consequences require active repentance [35:39] David does not face judgment by shrinking back, blaming others, or hiding behind his office as king. David leads through distress by entrusting himself to God’s mercy and refusing to pretend the damage is someone else’s problem. Repentance becomes deeper when it owns both guilt and the real cost of sin. [35:39]
5. Jesus is the better Shepherd [41:23] David offers himself for the sheep, but David is still a sinner. Jesus lays down his life as the sinless Shepherd who bears judgment for the guilty. The cross shows that God does not wave sin away, and that God’s mercy is greater than human failure.

## [41:23]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[10:43] - Opening and Bible Study Resource
[12:21] - “No Big Deal” and Minimizing Sin
[13:51] - After God’s Heart Means Serious Repentance
[16:23] - God’s Anger and Israel’s Pattern
[18:37] - God, Satan, and David’s Responsibility
[23:40] - Why David’s Census Was Sinful
[25:41] - Joab’s Warning as an Interruption
[27:55] - David Becomes Conscience Stricken
[32:20] - Conviction, Truth, and Self-Deception
[35:24] - David Faces the Consequences
[38:07] - God Relents and Shows Mercy
[39:30] - The Altar at the Place of Mercy
[41:23] - Jesus, the Better King and Shepherd
[43:44] - Invitation to Prayer and Worship

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading

2 Samuel 24:1-25
Again the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he incited David against them, saying, "Go, number Israel and Judah." So the king said to Joab, the commander of the army, who was with him, "Go through all the tribes of Israel, from Dan to Beersheba, and number the people, that I may know the number of the people." But Joab said to the king, "May the Lord your God add to the people a hundred times as many as they are, while the eyes of my lord the king still see it, but why does my lord the king delight in this thing?" But the king's word prevailed against Joab and the commanders of the army. So Joab and the commanders of the army went out from the presence of the king to number the people of Israel. They crossed the Jordan and began from Aroer, and from the city that is in the middle of the valley, toward Gad and on to Jazer. Then they came to Gilead, and to Kadesh in the land of the Hittites; and they came to Dan, and from Dan they went around to Sidon, and came to the fortress of Tyre and to all the cities of the Hivites and Canaanites; and they went out to the Negeb of Judah at Beersheba. So when they had gone through all the land, they came to Jerusalem at the end of nine months and twenty days. And Joab gave the sum of the numbering of the people to the king: in Israel there were 800,000 valiant men who drew the sword, and the men of Judah were 500,000. But David's heart struck him after he had numbered the people. And David said to the Lord, "I have sinned greatly in what I have done. But now, O Lord, please take away the iniquity of your servant, for I have done very foolishly." And when David arose in the morning, the word of the Lord came to the prophet Gad, David's seer, saying, "Go and say to David, 'Thus says the Lord, Three things I offer you. Choose one of them, that I may do it to you.'" So Gad came to David and told him, and said to him, "Shall three years of famine come to you in your land? Or will you flee three months before your foes while they pursue you? Or shall there be three days' pestilence in your land? Now consider, and decide what answer I shall return to him who sent me." Then David said to Gad, "I am in great distress. Let us fall into the hand of the Lord, for his mercy is great; but let me not fall into the hand of man." So the Lord sent a pestilence on Israel from the morning until the appointed time. And there died of the people from Dan to Beersheba 70,000 men. And when the angel stretched out his hand toward Jerusalem to destroy it, the Lord relented from the calamity and said to the angel who was working destruction among the people, "It is enough; now stay your hand." And the angel of the Lord was by the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite. Then David spoke to the Lord when he saw the angel who was striking the people, and said, "Behold, I have sinned, and I have done wickedly. But these sheep, what have they done? Please let your hand be against me and against my father's house." And Gad came that day to David and said to him, "Go up, raise an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite." So David went up at Gad's word, as the Lord commanded. And when Araunah looked down, he saw the king and his servants coming on toward him. And Araunah went out and paid homage to the king with his face to the ground. And Araunah said, "Why has my lord the king come to his servant?" David said, "To buy the threshing floor from you, in order to build an altar to the Lord, that the plague may be averted from the people." Then Araunah said to David, "Let my lord the king take and offer up what seems good to him. Here are the oxen for the burnt offering and the threshing sledges and the yokes of the oxen for the wood. All this, O king, Araunah gives to the king." And Araunah said to the king, "May the Lord your God accept you." But the king said to Araunah, "No, but I will buy it from you for a price. I will not offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God that cost me nothing." So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver. And David built there an altar to the Lord and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. So the Lord responded to the plea for the land, and the plague was averted from Israel. [16:11]

1 Chronicles 21:1-30
Then Satan stood against Israel and incited David to number Israel. So David said to Joab and the commanders of the army, "Go, number Israel, from Beersheba to Dan, and bring me a report, that I may know their number." But Joab said, "May the Lord add to his people a hundred times as many as they are! Are they not, my lord the king, all of them my lord's servants? Why then should my lord require this? Why should it be a cause of guilt for Israel?" But the king's word prevailed against Joab. So Joab departed and went throughout all Israel and came back to Jerusalem. And Joab gave the sum of the numbering of the people to David. In all Israel there were 1,100,000 men who drew the sword, and in Judah 470,000 who drew the sword. But he did not include Levi and Benjamin in the numbering, for the king's command was abhorrent to Joab. But God was displeased with this thing, and he struck Israel. And David said to God, "I have sinned greatly in that I have done this thing. But now, please take away the iniquity of your servant, for I have acted very foolishly." And the Lord spoke to Gad, David's seer, saying, "Go and say to David, 'Thus says the Lord, Three things I offer you; choose one of them, that I may do it to you.'" So Gad came to David and said to him, "Thus says the Lord, 'Choose what you will: either three years of famine, or three months of devastation by your foes while the sword of your enemies overtakes you, or else three days of the sword of the Lord, pestilence on the land, with the angel of the Lord destroying throughout all the territory of Israel.' Now decide what answer I shall return to him who sent me." Then David said to Gad, "I am in great distress. Let me fall into the hand of the Lord, for his mercy is very great, but do not let me fall into the hand of man." So the Lord sent a pestilence on Israel, and 70,000 men of Israel fell. And God sent the angel to Jerusalem to destroy it, but as he was about to destroy it, the Lord saw, and he relented from the calamity. And he said to the angel who was working destruction, "It is enough; now stay your hand." And the angel of the Lord was standing by the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. And David lifted his eyes and saw the angel of the Lord standing between earth and heaven, and in his hand a drawn sword stretched out over Jerusalem. Then David and the elders, clothed in sackcloth, fell upon their faces. And David said to God, "Was it not I who gave command to number the people? It is I who have sinned and done great evil. But these sheep, what have they done? Please let your hand, O Lord my God, be against me and against my father's house. But do not let the plague be on your people." Now the angel of the Lord had commanded Gad to say to David that David should go up and raise an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. So David went up at Gad's word, which he had spoken in the name of the Lord. Now Ornan was threshing wheat. He turned and saw the angel, and his four sons who were with him hid themselves. As David came to Ornan, Ornan looked and saw David and went out from the threshing floor and paid homage to David with his face to the ground. And David said to Ornan, "Give me the site of the threshing floor that I may build on it an altar to the Lord—give it to me at its full price—that the plague may be averted from the people." Then Ornan said to David, "Take it, and let my lord the king do what seems good to him. See, I give the oxen for burnt offerings and the threshing sledges for the wood and the wheat for a grain offering; I give it all." But King David said to Ornan, "No, but I will buy them for the full price. I will not take for the Lord what is yours, nor offer burnt offerings that cost me nothing." So David paid Ornan 600 shekels of gold by weight for the site. And David built there an altar to the Lord and presented burnt offerings and peace offerings and called on the Lord, and the Lord answered him with fire from heaven upon the altar of burnt offering. Then the Lord commanded the angel, and he put his sword back into its sheath. At that time, when David saw that the Lord had answered him at the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite, he sacrificed there. For the tabernacle of the Lord, which Moses had made in the wilderness, and the altar of burnt offering were at that time in the high place at Gibeon, but David could not go before it to inquire of God, for he was afraid of the sword of the angel of the Lord. [18:37]

Exodus 30:11-16
The Lord said to Moses, "When you take the census of the people of Israel, then each shall give a ransom for his life to the Lord when you number them, that there be no plague among them when you number them. Each one who is numbered in the census shall give this: half a shekel according to the shekel of the sanctuary (the shekel is twenty gerahs), half a shekel as an offering to the Lord. Everyone who is numbered in the census, from twenty years old and upward, shall give the Lord's offering. The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less, than the half shekel, when you give the Lord's offering to make atonement for your lives. You shall take the atonement money from the people of Israel and shall give it for the service of the tent of meeting, that it may bring the people of Israel to remembrance before the Lord, so as to make atonement for your lives." [24:11]

Observation questions

In 2 Samuel 24, what details in the story show that David did not simply make a neutral leadership decision, but pressed ahead even after being questioned by Joab? [25:41]
What words does David use after the census to describe his own action, and what do those words reveal about how he sees his sin? [27:55]
In both 2 Samuel 24 and 1 Chronicles 21, what role do Gad, the plague, and the altar play in the flow of the story?
According to Exodus 30, what was supposed to accompany a census in Israel, and how does that help explain why this moment became so serious? [24:15]

Interpretation questions

2 Samuel says God incited David, while 1 Chronicles says Satan incited David. How can both statements be taken seriously without removing David’s responsibility for his choice? [18:37]
Joab asks, “Why does my lord the king delight in this thing?” What does that question suggest about what may have been going on in David’s heart beneath the census itself? [25:13]
David says, “Let us fall into the hand of the Lord, for his mercy is great.” What does that reveal about how David understands both God’s judgment and God’s character? [29:16]
The story ends at the threshing floor with sacrifice, mercy, and the plague being stopped. Why does that location matter so much in the larger story of God dealing with sin? [39:30]

Application questions

Being after God’s own heart does not mean being sinless; it means taking sin seriously. Where is the temptation right now to say, “It’s no big deal,” about something that should actually be brought honestly before God? [14:12]
Joab’s interruption was a mercy to David before the sin fully ran its course. Who tends to ask the hard but helpful questions in life, and how easy or hard is it to listen when those interruptions come? [25:41]
Conviction is painful, but it tells the truth. When guilt shows up, is the instinct usually to confess quickly, explain it away, distract from it, or blame someone else? What might it look like to stop stiff-arming conviction this week? [30:33]
David did not hide from consequences or act like the damage belonged to someone else. Is there any consequence from a past or present choice that still needs to be faced with honesty rather than avoidance? [35:39]
David says, “These sheep, what have they done?” Sin is never just private; it touches other people. Who tends to feel the weight when personal pride, self-reliance, or poor choices go unchecked? [38:40]
David refused to offer to God something that cost him nothing. What does real repentance cost in ordinary life—time, pride, comfort, reputation, money, a hard conversation—and which of those costs is hardest to accept?
Jesus is the better Shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep without any blame of his own. When failure or shame feels heavy, what helps the heart actually rest in his mercy instead of trying to self-rescue? [41:23]

Sermon Clips

54s

#GoodShepherdForever

“``But Jesus, who claimed to be the good shepherd, who would lay down his life for the sheep, Jesus was without sin. He was willing to endure the cup of God's wrath, whatever God will. David, who cried out to God pleading with him to end judgment for Israel for his own sin. Well well, then you have Jesus who cried out on the cross, forgive them for they know not what they do. And he takes on the judgment of all of our sin, of humanity's sin, leading to his own death that he willingly takes in the place of us who deserves it. You see that David's reign eventually ends as king, but we have a Jesus whose reign never ends. And he is alive, he's alive today, alive forever, and that is good news for us church.”

50s

#NotPerfectStillLoved

“Have you ever walked through life believing he expects perfection and it's because you're not perfect that you, can't have that relationship with God that you desire? Well, quite the opposite is true. God does not require you to be perfect in order to have a relationship with you. He does desire that you take your relationship seriously. And that's what we're gonna explore today. In light of not being perfect, what does it mean that we can be people after God's own heart? I'll say it this way, and it's gonna be our anchoring thought throughout the rest of this morning. That being after God's own heart, it doesn't mean being sinless, it means taking your sin seriously.”

45s

#ConvictionAwakens

“Remember this idea that being after God's own heart does not mean being sinless rather taking sin seriously. Well, when we fail to listen to our guilty conscience, we begin to believe that we are sinless and we are perfect and that the consequences we experience come from a God who's unjustified, a God that's temperamental or lashing out at us for no reason. We actually need conviction to remind us that we're not perfect. We need conviction to remind us that we aren't sinless. We need conviction to wake us up to the fact that our sin is serious. Conviction reminds us that the mantra of no big deal couldn't be farther from the truth.”

44s

#OwnYourSin

“Doing that reinforces the lie that our sin is not serious enough to deal with and that it's not severe enough to pay attention to. And we reinforce and reinforce that lie to a point where one day we no longer believe that we have any have we've even done anything wrong. In fact, as a consequence is that of that, we we are angry at God for punishing us because we've completely removed our choice and our fault and our guilt from the equation. When we stiff arm our conscience, we end up swapping the truth that God is angry and I'm to blame. I have a fault in this. With this lie that I'm angry and God is to blame.”

44s

#RestInGrace

“And I'm aware this morning that some of you, as you encounter the truth of scripture, need to hold on to it today. You need to remember it. You need to tell yourself the truth that you are not perfect and that you are not sinless. Some of you are well aware of that. And but we do have a Jesus that takes your sins so seriously that he went to the cross for you on your behalf so that you would find life and relationship with God rather than death and separation. And that is incredible grace from God. And some of you need to tell your heart that and give thanks to God for that and rest in that today.”

38s

#EmbraceConscience

“But you might be asking yourself, well, what is the purpose then of conviction? What is the point of being struck by our conscience if we or others still have to pay the price for our sin? Well, here's one reason at least why, I I think that we have, conviction. It's that embracing our conscience is embracing truth. It's telling ourselves the truth. Sidestepping our conscience or sweeping it under the rug, every single time we do that, we're we're leaning into deception.”

34s

#GodsRecklessLove

“being after God's own heart, it doesn't mean being sinless. It means taking your sins seriously. It means taking our relationship with God seriously because we have a God who is serious about us, who loves us seriously. Dare I say, in a reckless way. And so let us worship together our God who loves us even when we couldn't earn it and we don't deserve it. Regardless of that, he gives it to us anyways, and that is a big deal. Let me pray for us.”

40s

#JesusBetterThanDavid

“the choice is up to us whether we embrace the consequences of our choices instead of responding with apathy, complacency, or minimization. But regardless of how we respond to our own sin, we still have this problem of sinfulness and how it separates us from God. What can be done about that? Well, the answer is that we have a king and have a shepherd in Jesus who is better than David. The one who David is merely a shadow of. We have a Jesus who offers us a solution.”

43s

#MountMoriahMercy

“You see, this threshing floor, it wasn't a random plot of dirt. This is the site of Mount Moriah. This is the exact site where Abraham, years and years before, was provided a sacrificial ram instead of having to sacrifice his own son. The future site where Solomon would build the temple and it's the very ground where Jesus would ultimately minister to people, restore the temple to a place of worship. You remember the scene where he's angry, he's driving out money changers. That's the same site. God was turning this place of judgment to ultimate ground zero for mercy.”

50s

#DavidIntercedes

“Another difficult passage here. But did you catch that? That the Lord relented. God said enough and exercise mercy in the midst of judgment. That David was banking on that. He was right to trust in God's mercy. And so here's this scene where David who ruled and reigned from Israel, ruled and reigned Israel from Jerusalem, he saw this plague on the horizon and it's heading his way. And as a king, he exercises the most kingly behavior. He's a shepherd and he's a leader in this moment and he says, God, don't punish the people on my behalf. Take me. What have they done? If you wanna enact justice on someone, God, I'm right here.”

40s

#DontIgnoreConviction

“And if we're honest with ourselves, we can relate to David's experience here. That conviction feels awful. Our consciences are good things that don't feel good. And as agonizing as conviction feels in the face of doing something wrong, can we agree how much worse it is when someone's doing something wrong and then they stiff arm conviction and they keep it at arm's length? Can we agree how much more painful it is and how much more strife we incur in our own life when we do that, when we keep conviction at arm's length?”

59s

#ListenToJoab

“And and so David is tempted to conduct the census and he's presented with an opportunity to pause and think about his choice and consider not taking the census. Well, God and his faithfulness provides Joab as an interruption to David's sin, and it's up to David whether he takes his way out. In the midst of David considering this census, Joab asks a piercing question. He says, Why my king would you wanna do something like this? How often church in the midst of your temptation do you have this nagging sense of why am I doing this? Or maybe you have been, you've been there when you've had an actual person come to you who sees right through your choices. You have a Joab in your life who says, why are you doing what you're doing? I don't think that's such a good idea.”

62s

#DavidConfesses

“Just by David's response, we can see that he takes his sin very seriously. There's no hint here hey, this is no big deal. Joab, why are you worried? David literally says, I have sinned greatly, and he's begging God to deal with his guilt. David was struck by his conscience. In some translations they say heartstruck or that David's conscience was troubled or troubled him. But in no way do we gather from the text that David is bobbing and weaving and dodging blows from his conscience. In no way is he avoiding the agony and the heartache accompanied by seeing his sinfulness on display. We might not have a full understanding or appreciation of what exactly was so sinful about a census, but there is no question that David realizes the severity of his sin here.”

56s

#ChooseRepentance

“This is how second Samuel ends. It ends with David building an altar, making the sacrifices, and offering worship to God, and God's anger being satisfied for the Israelite people. And out of this entire narrative, we start to see God's plan, his plan coming into view. But do you sense this tension that something feels unresolved? That the text is leaving us with a feeling like, oh, this could all just happen again. Right? Like how the narrative starts out where the Lord's anger again burned against Israel. Well, we know that God takes sin seriously. Question is whether we're gonna be the kinds of people who do as well. The the choice is up to us whether we move towards repentance, and embrace conviction and not avoid our conscience.”

48s

#GodHasAPlan

“David is acting out of his own choice. David being imperfected imperfect, David being susceptible to sin is vulnerable to the influence of Satan. And God allows Satan to incite David to sin, to provoke David, to influence David. Right? That's what incite means. Incite does not mean cause. And that's all complex and I get that. But we can know from this biblical pattern that God takes sin seriously and he has a plan to deal with it. And he doesn't just let sin and chaos run wild forever and that's actually good news for us.”

37s

#JesusSteppedDown

“You see, David, he stepped down from his earthly throne to face down the death of a plague. But Jesus, who's God who came down, stepped down from his seat in the heavenly places. He took on flesh and fully godfully man in the person of Jesus. David, who's a shepherd for his people, interceded on behalf of his people. And he said, take me God, don't take them. But the truth is David wasn't without blame. David wasn't without sin or fall.”

43s

#PrideLeadsToSin

“And so in part, the census is sinful because David enacted it without instruction from God to do so, and that is a big deal. David's commander and chief Joab names that David delights in taking the census and that gives us a window of what's going on. Gives us a clue about what's going on in David's heart. And it seems that David had made room in his heart for pride. That David opened himself up to self reliance rather than the trust and the dependence that God would continue to lead Israel. And that too is a big deal.”

52s

#TakeSinSeriously

“And in this section of the passage, David's not sinless. He doesn't make the perfect choice. He's insisting on his plan and he dismisses Joab and the input from any advisors he has. But remember, being after God's own heart doesn't mean being sinless, it means taking your sin seriously. Where David is still a man after God's own heart, though he is initially blinded to his sin. And we see soon, we'll we'll read that he gets serious, real serious, real fast about what he's done. So this is where I believe the the real focuses of this narrative, where I wanna, spend some time, which centers on David's serious heartfelt response to his own sin and the consequences that follow.”

54s

#ConscienceCatchesUp

“But regardless of whether we attempt to not sin, that's our strategy. Good luck with that. Let me know how that goes. Or if you try to indulge sin as long as you can to really get as much gratification out of it as possible, regardless of what your strategy is, your conscience will catch up with you. But we often attempt to quiet our conscience and minimize conviction, don't we? We hardly ever are willing to sit with it. Whether that's to protect ourselves or to prevent the anguish, we refuse to embrace conviction. And we have this notion that if we dodge being conscience struck, that we actually will minimize pain, but it has an opposite effect. In the same way as when an open wound is left untreated, right, there's consequences of infection or much worse that can follow.”

52s

#JusticeAndMercyPattern

“And so I think some of that would make God angry. And if you're familiar with the Old Testament narratives, you might recognize this pattern that plays out time after time where God's chosen people choose to reject God, then God gets angry, and God enacts justice, and God's people repent. That's a pattern time and time again. And because God's gracious and he's merciful, somewhere in that pattern, God often offer offers opportunities for his people to repent before judgment. But notice that that pattern is not that God's people reject God and then God rejects his people. That's not how God works. That's not, that's not God's justice strategy. God rejecting his people is not his justice strategy.”

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