Village Church Annandale (Sydney) sermons

2 Samuel 24:11 When David got up in the morning, the word of the Lord had come to the prophet Gad, David’s seer: 12 “Go and say to David, ‘This is what the Lord says: I am offering you three choices. Choose one of them, and I will do it to you.’”

13 So Gad went to David, told him the choices, and asked him, “Do you want three  years of famine to come on your land, to flee from your foes three months while they pursue you, or to have a plague in your land three days? Now, consider carefully what answer I should take back to the one who sent me.”

14 David answered Gad, “I have great anxiety. Please, let us fall into the Lord’s hands because his mercies are great, but don’t let me fall into human hands.”

15 So the Lord sent a plague on Israel from that morning until the appointed time, and from Dan to Beer-sheba seventy thousand men died. 16 Then the angel extended his hand toward Jerusalem to destroy it, but the Lord relented concerning the destruction and said to the angel who was destroying the people, “Enough, withdraw your hand now!” The angel of the Lord was then at the threshing floor of Araunah[e] the Jebusite.

17 When David saw the angel striking the people, he said to the Lord, “Look, I am the one who has sinned; I am the one[f] who has done wrong. But these sheep, what have they done? Please, let your hand be against me and my father’s family.”

There's a few puzzling questions in this passage.

What did Israel do to sin? We don't know. But we do know that God is just and righteous as he punishes sin.

What was David's sin that he confesses to in verses 13-15? Again we do not know.

2 Samuel 24:1-11 The Lord’s anger burned against Israel again, and he stirred up David against them to say, “Go, count the people of Israel and Judah.”

2 So the king said to Joab, the commander of his army, “Go through all the tribes of Israel from Dan to Beer-sheba and register the troops so I can know their number.”

3 Joab replied to the king, “May the Lord your God multiply the troops a hundred times more than they are—while my lord the king looks on! But why does my lord the king want to do this?”

4 Yet the king’s order prevailed over Joab and the commanders of the army. So Joab and the commanders of the army left the king’s presence to register the troops of Israel.

5 They crossed the Jordan and camped in Aroer, south of the town in the middle of the valley, and then proceeded toward Gad and Jazer. 6 They went to Gilead and to the land of the Hittites[a] and continued on to Dan-jaan and around to Sidon. 7 They went to the fortress of Tyre and all the cities of the Hivites and Canaanites. Afterward, they went to the Negev of Judah at Beer-sheba.

8 When they had gone through the whole land, they returned to Jerusalem at the end of nine months and twenty days. 9 Joab gave the king the total of the registration of the troops. There were eight hundred thousand valiant armed men[b] from Israel and five hundred thousand men from Judah.

10 David’s conscience troubled him after he had taken a census of the troops. He said to the Lord, “I have sinned greatly in what I’ve done. Now, Lord, because I’ve been very foolish, please take away your servant’s guilt.”

David’s Punishment

2 Samuel 23:8-17 These are the names of David’s warriors:

Josheb-basshebeth the Tahchemonite was chief of the officers.[b] He wielded his spear[c] against eight hundred men that he killed at one time.

9 After him, Eleazar son of Dodo son of an Ahohite was among the three warriors with David when they defied the Philistines. The men of Israel retreated in the place they had gathered for battle, 10 but Eleazar stood his ground and attacked the Philistines until his hand was tired and stuck to his sword. The Lord brought about a great victory that day. Then the troops came back to him, but only to plunder the dead.

11 After him was Shammah son of Agee the Hararite. The Philistines had assembled in formation where there was a field full of lentils. The troops fled from the Philistines, 12 but Shammah took his stand in the middle of the field, defended it, and struck down the Philistines. So the Lord brought about a great victory.

13 Three of the thirty leading warriors went down at harvest time and came to David at the cave of Adullam, while a company of Philistines was camping in Rephaim Valley. 14 At that time David was in the stronghold, and a Philistine garrison was at Bethlehem. 15 David was extremely thirsty[d] and said, “If only someone would bring me water to drink from the well at the city gate of Bethlehem!” 16 So three of the warriors broke through the Philistine camp and drew water from the well at the gate of Bethlehem. They brought it back to David, but he refused to drink it. Instead, he poured it out to the Lord. 17 David said, “Lord, I would never do such a thing! Is this not the blood of men who risked their lives?” So he refused to drink it. Such were the exploits of the three warriors.

The first half of this psalm by David (reprinted as Psalm 18) celebrates the goodness and faithfulness of God and that God has powerfully saved his king.

22 David spoke the words of this song to the Lord on the day the Lord rescued him from the grasp of all his enemies and from the grasp of Saul. 2 He said:

The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer,

3 my God,[a] my rock where I seek refuge.
My shield, the horn of my salvation, my stronghold, my refuge,
and my Savior, you save me from violence.

4 I called to the Lord, who is worthy of praise,
and I was saved from my enemies.

5 For the waves of death engulfed me;
the torrents of destruction terrified me.

6 The ropes of Sheol entangled me;
the snares of death confronted me.

7 I called to the Lord in my distress;
I called to my God.
From his temple he heard my voice,
and my cry for help reached his ears.

8 Then the earth shook and quaked;
the foundations of the heavens[b] trembled;
they shook because he burned with anger.

9 Smoke rose from his nostrils,
and consuming fire came from his mouth;
coals were set ablaze by it.[c]

10 He bent the heavens and came down,
total darkness beneath his feet.

11 He rode on a cherub and flew,
soaring[d] on the wings of the wind.

12 He made darkness a canopy around him,
a gathering[e] of water and thick clouds.

13 From the radiance of his presence,
blazing coals were ignited.

14 The Lord thundered from heaven;
the Most High made his voice heard.

15 He shot arrows and scattered them;
he hurled lightning bolts and routed them.

16 The depths of the sea became visible,
the foundations of the world were exposed
at the rebuke of the Lord,
at the blast of the breath of his nostrils.

17 He reached down from on high
and took hold of me;
he pulled me out of deep water.

18 He rescued me from my powerful enemy
and from those who hated me,
for they were too strong for me.

19 They confronted me in the day of my calamity,
but the Lord was my support.

20 He brought me out to a spacious place;
he rescued me because he delighted in me.