What was David’s greatest sin?
Certainly his most notorious sin is his adultery with Bathsheba and his murdering of her husband, Uriah. But there is actually another sin which cost 70,000 lives. It’s a sin which appears quite strange and insignificant to us. Ready for it? Perhaps his great sin is that David took a census.
In 2 Samuel 24 and 1 Chronicles 21 we read of David’s census. The number includes “those who drew the sword” and so it seems that what David was doing was trying to determine how big his army actually was. Now, that might seem like a good military strategy. Jesus even spoke of kings counting the cost before going to war. So what was so bad about David doing this? I appreciate the way Russell Moore explains it:
The shepherd-king jeopardized his kingship by ordering a census, a count of all Israel’s men and armaments. This hardly sounds all that treacherous to us, especially those of us who live in countries that regularly conduct a census. But David was seeking out the numbers of a potential standing army. And this, in the words of one commentator, was to be “a kind of barometer of the Lord’s favor.” But David shouldn’t have needed a barometer. He had the Word of God. This test exposes a hidden flaw in David’s heart, a craving for verifiable security apart from a faithful trust in God. (Tempted and Tried, 106-7)
David’s census was symbolic of his “trusting in chariots and horses” instead of his trusting in the Lord. He was attempting to find security in his numbers instead of in the God who ruled over him. David realized that he was foolish and repented, but there were still consequences to his actions. David’s adultery slayed “his thousands” but his pride slayed his “tens of thousands”.
Recently I was reading through Jared Wilson’s book, The Pastor’s Justification, and he quoted that statement from Moore. We pastors are, I believe, especially prone to getting security from “census reports”. This is especially true when thinking about a church revitalization effort. We use the number of those “on board” as a barometer of whether or not our efforts are worthwhile and if change is happening.
While there might be some benefit from a census within your local church, such a thing is like building a house on sand. We are called to shepherd the flock of God among us. The entire flock of God. They don’t belong to us. Our job is to faithfully shepherd and be faithful stewards of the gospel. We aren’t to be poll takers. And we certainly aren’t to determine our ministry based upon poll numbers.
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