Let's take our Bibles and turn
with me to the book of 2 Samuel. 2 Samuel chapter 24. 2 Samuel 24. Before we begin, let's ask our
Lord's blessing. Our Father, how we thank you
this evening for this blessed privilege to be able to assemble
together. Lord, I pray your blessing upon
the Word. I pray that it might be to the
honor of the Lord Jesus Christ and the encouragement, comfort
of your people. For Christ's sake, amen. This evening I'd like to begin
the 24th chapter of the book of 2 Samuel. I plan to preach
out of the first 14 verses. And Lord willing, next Wednesday,
finish the back half of it. But I would like to begin today
and just take these verses and just go through, make a few comments,
and I pray that as we consider these verses of Scripture, I
started looking, I felt as though that I was going to be in Genesis.
22 tonight, but I truly feel impressed to preach out of this
passage of Scripture, and I pray the Lord bless. Let's begin in
verse 1, 2 Samuel 24 verse 1, and again, the anger of the Lord
was kindled against Israel. And he moved David against them
to say, Go number Israel and Judah. Now, God's anger had been
kindled against Israel, and the Lord sent them three years of
famine. I want you to turn back just
a few pages to 2 Samuel 21. I'll show you why, what had happened. Saul had slain the Gibeonites. 21.1, Then there was a famine
in the days of David three years, year after year. And David inquired
of the Lord, and the Lord answered, It is for Saul, for his bloody
house, because he slew the Gibeonites. There was three years of famine.
David came and asked the Lord, Why? Why are we going through
this famine? And the Lord told him, It was
because of Saul. But now, here we're back in chapter
24, and the scripture says, and again, the anger of the Lord. God's anger is kindled. There's
a continual anger. His anger is continuing, and
it's for a reason that we're going to see in just a few minutes.
But now, being angered, The Lord, according to His good pleasure,
allows Satan to have the freedom to entice David to number the people of Israel and Judah. Now here's what it says, and
again, the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel and
he moved David against them. Who moved David? Well, let me
just read you. You can look at this if you want
to. First Chronicles 21.1 says, And Satan stood up against Israel
and provoked David to number Israel. You may have in your
margin There, when it says he moved, if you've got a margin,
it tells you Satan, and then it gives you the Scripture. So
what it is, is the Lord allowed Satan to move upon David. Obviously, the Lord had left
David to the corruption of his nature, allowing Satan, the tempter,
to either encourage, or to suggest a sinful act to David. Satan seduced him to do that
which was contrary to the will of the Lord and to the interest
of God's people. Well, what did he do? He wanted to number Israel and
Judah. He wanted to count them. Well,
verse 2 says, For the king said to Joab, the captain of the host,
which was with him, Go now, compass, through all the tribes of Israel,
from Dan even to Beersheba, and number ye the people, that I
may know the number of the people. Now, as far as we know, it doesn't
say, but as far as we know, This was done for no other reason
than to gratify David's pride, to please himself, maybe to establish
in his mind that he was strong, that the arm of his flesh was
security. It was pride. Go count the people. Scripture
says in Proverbs 6.16 concerning those things that God's hate,
the first one is this. A proud look. A look of haughtiness. A look of conceitedness in ourselves
and contempt for others. God says, I hate that. Verse
3, and Joab said unto the king, Now the Lord thy God, add unto
the people, how many soever they be, a hundredfold, and that the
eyes of my Lord the King may see it. But why doth my Lord
the King delight in this thing? It seems like Joab saw that what
the King wanted to do was wrong. It's going to be to our harm.
It's going to be to our ruin. The people, it's just... And
he tries to reason with David. Why are you wanting to do this? I pray the Lord bless and the
people multiply and we want whatever the Lord wants, but why are you
doing this? Notwithstanding, the king's word
prevailed against Joab. against the captains of the host.
And Joab and the captains of the host went out from the presence
of the king to number the people of Israel. And they passed over
Jordan and pitched in a roar on the right side of the city
that lieth in the midst of the river of Gad toward Jazar. Then they came to Gilead and
to the land of Tatem-Hadshai. And they came to Danjahin and
to Zidon, and came to the stronghold of Tyre and to the cities of
the Hivites and of the Canaanites. They went out to the south of
Judah, even to Beersheba. And when they had gone through
all the land, they came to Jerusalem at the end of nine months and
twenty days. And Joab gave up the sum of the
number of the people under the king, And there were in Israel
800,000 valiant men that drew the sword, and the men of Judah
were 500,000 men. And David's heart smoked him. After that, he had numbered the
people. And David said unto the Lord, I have sinned greatly in
that I have done. And now I beseech thee, O Lord,
take away the iniquity of thy servant, for I have done very
foolishly." David told these men, I want you to go throughout
all the kingdom and I want you to number the people. He tried
to reason, he wouldn't hear of it. And they went ahead and they
did what the king told them to do. And the scripture says for
nine months and twenty days they were out there numbering the
people. And it appears as though that
David's conscience for nine months and twenty days was calm. But now they come back and when
the number of the people is told the King. When he hears that
number, his heart is awakened, deeply stricken because of his
sin. And immediately the scripture
says he begs for forgiveness from the Lord for his disobedience. Now, we're not given the details
of when David was informed of the Lord's displeasure concerning
the numbering of the people. But obviously David knew it because
when he heard the number of the people his heart was smitten
and he said, I have sinned greatly against the Lord. He realized
that what he had done was something that Almighty God had informed
him. If David would not have known,
he wouldn't have said that. I have sinned against the Lord. When I have sinned greatly, that
is, I have sinned vehemently or in a greater or a mightier
degree This is a greater or mightier degree of sin. In that I have
done, and now I beseech thee, O Lord, take away, that is, in
pardon and mercy, the iniquity of thy servant. For I have done
very foolishly, or especially foolishly. I thought about the wording of
David. And this is what he said. I have sinned against the light
of God's direct revelation. Obviously, to David. David knew it. Saul did the same
thing. I sinned foolishly. Listen to this, 1 Samuel 13,
13, And Samuel said to Saul, Thou hast done foolishly Thou
hast not kept the commandment of the Lord thy God which he
commanded thee. So he knew. He knew. Right there
it says that Saul knew it. David used the same word. He
said, I sin foolishly too. So obviously, David knew that
numbering the people was not the right thing to do. You know,
how desperately? does a believer need and desire
to have the Holy Spirit of God move upon his heart, praying
this, Lord, keep me from the foolishness of myself. Listen to what David prayed,
Psalm 19, 13. Keep back thy servant, or preserve
or restrain me from myself. Keep back thy servant, also from
presumptuous arrogant. sins. Let them not have dominion. Let them not rule over me. Then
shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent of the great transgression."
What do you mean, David, the great transgression? Well, he's
talking about presumptuous sins. The great, that is the more numerous,
or the greater than transgression. You know, this prayer was coming
from a man who the scripture says was a man after God's own
heart. I've thought about that so many
times. A man after God's own heart.
You know who David was? David was in the line of the
Messiah. The Lord Jesus Christ came through
the loins of David. David was in that line. And here
was a man greatly favored of God. unto whom much is given,
much is required. I told you one time, I was talking
to Bob Coffey one time, and he, Bob told me, he said, you know
Marvin, he said, I think he heard Brother Henry say this, but He
said, you know, everybody says, well, it just doesn't matter.
He said, you know, we're all just sinners. And he said, that's
right. That's right. But he said, I'm
going to tell you something. He said, when it comes to God's
preachers, and he was talking, we were talking about grace preachers. He said, I don't care what anybody
says. He said, you're held to a higher
standard. He said, you know, somebody can do something, that's
one thing, and it's not good. He said, a grace preacher does
it. And he said, you're in a fishbowl. And he said, whatever you do,
he said, believe me, everybody's looking. He said, now, fair,
whatever you want to call it, that's the way it is. And that's
true. That's true. You expect more from one that
God has put in a position as a pastor. Here's David. He said, I have sinned greatly,
greatly against the Lord. And David's prayer was directed
to the Lord. for what he had perceived to
be the worst form or kind of sin." Somebody says, all sins
are alike. Well, David, in his wording right
here, He'd sinned against the light, against revelation. And rebellion that is done with
deliberateness and willingness, the wording of these scriptures
is, he said, I have sinned greatly, more greatly, grievously. Now, is the Spirit of God warning
us when David was praying, keep us from the presumptuous sin?
Is the Spirit of God warning the saints of God to be crying
out and asking for God's help to be kept from presumptuous
sins? Presumptuous sins. Let me tell
you what presumptuous sins are. They are sins of thought, purpose,
and deliberation. When you know, when you know
what you're doing. Somebody say, well I'd never,
I'd never do that. I tell you the most grounded
believer in the faith knows don't ever say that. Don't you ever
say, I would never do that. You, the believer The aged, taught
believer, the most grounded believer in this congregation tonight. Let me tell you where you are.
You're right on the precipice of falling off. Don't tell me
that you're not on the edge. A man is in most danger when
he thinks himself secure from presumptuous sin. down south. Do y'all call it
lighter pine here? Is it? Maybe not, nobody moved
their heads. The heart of a pine tree, it's
got all the rosin in it. And you get that lighter pine,
it's that heart, it's that, Rupert used to bring it up, brother
Scott, all the time. Fat light, is that what you call
it? Okay, call it lighter pine. There's enough tender, lighter
pine in every one of us to ignite the very pit of hell. I'm telling
you, except Almighty God restrain the very sparks of our rebellion. Who would have ever thought that
righteous lot, righteous lot, That man that was vexed every
day with the sin of the men of Sodom. Grieved every day. Almighty God brought him out
of Sodom. His wife turned around. The Lord
turned her into a pillar of salt. And righteous Lot, with his two
daughters, got drunk and committed the awful sin of uncleanness.
with his daughters. Who would have ever thought that?
Who would have ever thought that David, the same man right here,
this is 2 Samuel 24. In 2 Samuel 23 is when David
said, although it be not so with my house, God hath made with
me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things, This is all my
hope. This is all my salvation. It's
all my desire. One chapter before. Who'd have
thought that this man right here would have been the one that
would have committed adultery with another man's wife that
was in his own army. His friend. And then set him
up. Set him up and had him killed. Who'd have thought that? Who
would have thought that Peter, one of the Lord's own apostles,
would have denied him three times on the very day that the Lord
told him he'd do it? Who would have thought that?
May the Lord keep us from the madness of self-confidence. I'm telling you, don't think
You're secure. We're not. We're not, except
God Almighty keep us. Scripture says, verse 11, for
when David was up in the morning, the word of the Lord came unto
the prophet Gad, David's seer, saying, now according to that
verse right there, two things were happening at the same time. Verse 10 says that David heard
the number And David's heart was smoked after that he had
numbered the people. And he didn't say this to anybody
else. He prayed unto the Lord. He said
to the Lord. And that's where confession is
made. You know, I know people, like
I said, we ought to have a big session and confess all of our
sins for each other. You talk to the Lord about it.
David said to the Lord, I have sinned greatly, what I've done.
I beseech thee, Lord, take away the iniquity of thy servant.
I've done very foolish. And he stayed up, obviously,
all night long. Can you imagine going to bed
with this on your mind? You know, you know what you've
done. I've sinned against God. I have, you know. was up in the
morning, got up, and there guilt weighed on him all night, and
hearing that confession that he had made before the Lord,
and now he rises, and without a doubt, he knows, I'm going
to hear from the Lord. I'm going to hear from the Lord.
My conscience has already slain me on that he sinned. And here's
the amazing thing. What had he done? Now, I understand
that to most people, they would say, this is not that great a
sin. It's not that big a deal. I mean,
to most, they would probably question David's torment. Why are you tore all the pieces
over this thing? I mean, what did you do? You took a census. You took a
census. That's what it was. That's what
you tore all up over? But to David, this was a great
crime against God. And David felt the pain of his
rebellion. It was a big deal. Somebody said,
well, it doesn't seem like it's that big a deal to me if God
Almighty Deals with you on something. It'll become a big deal to you.
It might not be that big a deal to me, but that doesn't matter.
What difference does it make? What did the Lord tell you to
do? That's the big deal, right there. So first, David was struggling. He was hurting. What did you
do? I numbered the people. What's
the big deal? God had told me not to do it. But secondly, while David wrestled
with his guilt, the Lord in mercy was preparing him a preacher,
going to send him a preacher. And he was going to bring the
word of the Lord to David. Boy, I thought, I read that verse
11 when David was up in the morning, man alive, how things that are
your guilty, you feel the guilt, you feel the chastening, you
feel your conscience is tore all to pieces. And here the Lord
is going to send Gad, David's seer, a man of God that was directed
by the Lord for a specific purpose. And God's going to send this
preacher in loving kindness and going to correct his own through
the hearing of the gospel. What mercy that God would send
a preacher. David said in Psalm 28, 1, unto
thee will I cry, O Lord. Now listen to this. My rock. My rock. Is he the rock? Yes, he is. But he's my rock. Be not silent to me, lest if
thou be silent to me, I become like them that go down into the
pit. David was saying, Lord, with all the danger to which
I'm exposed, the danger of being drawn away with this presumptuous
rebellion, presumptuous sin is doing that against light. Knowing what you're doing. Lord,
don't be silent to me. Oh, don't leave me uncorrected. Don't leave me unchecked, untaught. Lord, if you leave me to myself,
I'll be as a dead man. Lord, have mercy. And the Lord
did show mercy to David. Let's just look at these last
three verses right here and we'll stop. He said, you go and you
say unto David, thus saith the Lord. offer thee three things. Choose thee one of them that
I may do it unto thee. So Gad came to David and told
him and said unto him, Shall seven years of famine come unto
thee in thy land? Or wilt thou flee three months
before thine enemies while they pursue thee? Or that there be
three days pestilence in thy land? Now advise and see what
answer I shall return to him that sent me, and David said
unto Gad, I am in a great strait. Let us fall now into the hand
of the Lord, for his mercies are great. And let me not fall
into the hand of man. The Lord sent Gad, a man of God,
with a specific message for David. It's what he said. David, I want
you to make up your mind what you want. I'm gonna let you make
a choice. You choose. Do you want famine? You want three years of famine? You want war? You want your enemies
to pursue you? Or do you want pestilence? You want disease? Now which one
would you rather? You choose the punishment. David, you seem to know what's
best for you. You seem to think that you know
the right choices to make. Now you choose the rod of correction. You tell me, how do you want
me to deal with you? David said the wisest thing he
could say. I'm in trouble. I'm in a great
strait and this is very distressing to me. Oh, how I wish I had never numbered
the people. What difference did it make?
What difference did it make? Everything that I've ever done
is wrong and if I make a decision here Based with my track record,
it's going to be wrong too. So I'm going to do the best thing
that I know. Let us fall now into the hand
of the Lord. Why? For His mercies are great
and let me not fall into the hand of man. David wisely did
not trust himself. but totally appealed to the mercy
and wisdom of God. Oh, what a blessed place to be. Made to see your own foolishness
and then by the grace of God made to see the one who lovingly
now is going to chase in you. I know this. Solomon declared
in Proverbs 27.6, faithful are the wounds of a friend. The Lord
could have left David to himself. What a mess, to leave him to
himself. But God spoke specifically to
him, and God's chastening hand, David knew, this is going to
smart. But Lord, you choose. Lord, You know best. You know
what's right. My son, despise not thou the
chastening of the Lord. That is, don't regard it as a
small matter, as a trivial thing. Despise not, nor faint when thou
art rebuked of Him. That is, bear up, bear up. Lord,
You're my strength. Lord, you're my help. Lord, you
keep me. For whom the Lord loveth, he
chasteneth and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. Almighty
God does not send chastisement which is not deserved. I tell
you, we have gotten a lot less than we deserve. Believe me.
He doesn't correct merely for the purpose of inflicting pain,
but He chastens us because He loves us, because He cares. If you endure chastisement, chastening,
if you're chastised or corrected by God, God dealeth with you
as with sons. For what son is he whom the Father
chasteneth not? But if you be without chastisement
whereof, the Scripture says, all are partakers, then are you
bastards and not sons. Listen, if we never meet with
anything that is sent by the Lord to correct our faults, if
you never feel the pain of disobedience before God, If you never experience
the smarting of His hand to subdue our wanderings, then how many
are we committing all the time? If you never feel the pain in
your conscience of rebellion against Him, which the Scripture
says every true child of God experiences. If you never feel
correction, If it never bothers you that you've sinned against
the Lord, and it doesn't matter what it is, it doesn't matter
whatever it is, God Almighty has told you what it is. And
to somebody else it may not be a big deal. But if you've never felt it,
then you have reason to doubt that you know Him. How do I know
that? The Scripture says if you be
without chastisement, you're illegitimate. God's people are
corrected. We hear the voice of the Lord. We hear it in His Word. We hear
it in our conscience. We hear it as the Spirit of God
speaks to us. We know it. As soon as David
got that number, he knew it. I've sinned against God. Job 5.7 says, Behold, happy is
the man whom God correcteth. Remember what I told you about
Walter telling Betty? He said, I wish we didn't have
to go through all these chastisements. I wish we didn't have to go through
that. She said, Walter, it don't work like that. Happy? Happy. is the man whom God correcteth. Therefore despise not thou the
chastening of the Almighty." How bad is it when we're chastened
of the Lord? How bad was it that David was
going to go through what he was getting ready to do? Lord willing,
next week we're going to find out what he is. You know, God
chose. It seemed three days of pestilence and the high price
The high price for numbering the people. You're going to read
it anyway, I'll tell you what happened. For numbering the people, for
just taking a census, God killed 70,000 men because of that one
sin. I tell you what, sin is never
just for the person that commits it. A lot of people are affected. To know to do good, and doeth
it not, to him it's sin. Our light affliction, which is
but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal
weight of glory. Hebrews 12.11 says, Now no chastening,
no chastening, no chastening, for the present seemeth to be
joyous, but grievous. Nevertheless, afterward it yieldeth
the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised
thereby." David was a man that God Almighty loved. He was God's servant. He was
God's king. As I said, a man after God's own
heart. but he was a man. And a man that Almighty God dealt
with. I'm telling you, all that have been given a new
heart to know the mercy of God, there's a battle going on. And
I'm telling you, that old man is jealous, I said last Sunday,
jealous of his territory. a territory in which he was the
first occupant. Now there's a new man that God
Almighty has put in there, created in righteousness. And Almighty
God has declared that there's a battle that's going on. And
this sin against the Lord, sinning against life, David said that's
the greater transgression. I understand a lot of times we're
ignorant of a lot of things, but there's some things that
obviously we know. And whenever you know to do the
right thing, and you don't do it, expect that Almighty God
is going to deal with us in loving kindness, firmly. He knows just how to meet out
the exact portion of chastening grace. May the Lord teach us,
help us, and may we find ourselves if David. I'm going to cast myself upon
the mercy of God. Lord, have mercy on me for Christ's
sake. Amen.