The Hubris of David

“The king therefore said to Joab and the leaders of the army who were with him, “Tour all the tribes of Israel from Dan to Beer-sheba and register the people, that I may know their number.”  (2 Samuel 24:2)

What was David thinking when he gave the above order to Joab?  To know the true population of Israel?  To know the population of taxable adults?  Very unlikely as the story will reveal.  David had reached the pinnacle of power.  He is a powerful king inside and outside of Israel.  Now he begins to think:  “I did it by my own strength.”  Because God loves David so dearly, God gave him a way of escape from this temptation through the prophetic utterance of Joab:

“But Joab replied to the king: “May the LORD your God increase the number of people a hundredfold for my lord the king to see it with his own eyes. But why does it please my lord to do a thing of this kind?” (2 Samuel 24:3)

But David would not listen:

“However, the king’s command prevailed over Joab and the leaders of the army, so they left the king’s presence in order to register the people of Israel.”  (2 Samuel 24: 4)

Then he realized what he has done:

“Afterward, however, David regretted having numbered the people. David said to the LORD: “I have sinned grievously in what I have done. Take away, LORD, your servant’s guilt, for I have acted very foolishly.”^* (2 Samuel 24: 10)

But sin had already been committed and the penalty of sin must be paid.

What are the lessons of this story?  God had been with David in his entire crisis and had given him innumerable victories.  David himself composed psalms and songs in testimony to what God has done for him.  Yet he was tempted to believe that he did it by himself and could do it by himself again.  Nobody is above temptation.  David’s human weakness as this story illustrates is lust for grandeur.  He had also lust for flesh as we saw in the drama with Bathsheba.   But David’s greatest quality is to glorify God by his sins.  God is the Father of mercies and the God of all consolations who delights in showing His supreme power through forgiving the sinner.  David gives the Father this opportunity by his eloquent contrition.   O that we may learn this from David.