Good morning. David had sinned, and the people were paying the price. God had made it clear that King David was not to take a census of his people to assess the number of fighting men. The problem was that it would be too great a temptation for the king. Once King David knew the number of fighting men, he would be tempted to call them into battle. Not a battle at the command of God, but a battle like those fought by the people around Israel, a battle to gain power and wealth.
David conducted the forbidden census, and God responded with a plague upon the people. King David knew that the answer was to fall before God in genuine sorrow and repentance. This would require sacrifice and worship. We read the following from 2 Samuel 24:18:25 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 shekelsof 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.
Araunah’s intentions were righteous. He was willing to give anything and everything required to David, his king. But David said, “No!” The heart of this passage is revealed when David tells Araunah that it would be absolutely unfitting to offer to the Lord that which costs him nothing. What kind of gift is it that costs us nothing? What kind of love is revealed if such a gift were to be given. Instead, David paid more than a fair price. King David’s desire was to honor God, and that would mean genuine sacrifice.
We too are asked to honor God in such a way. How can we be proud of worship offered to God that doesn’t represent a sacrifice from our heart? How can we make an offering to God of that which isn’t a sacrifice? How can we proclaim our love of God if we are unwilling to offer to Him the truth of our heart?
Love God today. Love Him genuinely, purely, and completely, rejoicing in the cost.
Vern