Worship Cost

The price of worship is...

Jesus shows that worship does cost us something. First of all worship is service. Serving the Lord should cost our life. Worshiping the Lord our God involves sacrifice of self to give more to God. The struggle of evil and good is real. The enemy will seek to draw us away from holiness which is less of us and more of God. The enemy will seek to show us how we can have more pleasure of self and and enjoy self gratification over submitting to the will of the Lord. The enemy is looking for your weakness at the time you are most content in your life and not on full alert.

1 Peter 5:8 NLT

8 Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.

David falls for the enemy’s trap...

1 Chronicles 21:1-

1 Chronicles 21:1–2 NLT

1 Satan rose up against Israel and caused David to take a census of the people of Israel. 2 So David said to Joab and the commanders of the army, “Take a census of all the people of Israel—from Beersheba in the south to Dan in the north—and bring me a report so I may know how many there are.”

He also ignores the warning of one of his trusted leaders..

1 Chronicles 21:3 NLT

3 But Joab replied, “May the Lord increase the number of his people a hundred times over! But why, my lord the king, do you want to do this? Are they not all your servants? Why must you cause Israel to sin?”

1 Chronicles 21:3-

David still persisted and Joab obeyed his king.

1 Chronicles 21:4–6 NLT

4 But the king insisted that they take the census, so Joab traveled throughout all Israel to count the people. Then he returned to Jerusalem 5 and reported the number of people to David. There were 1,100,000 warriors in all Israel who could handle a sword, and 470,000 in Judah. 6 But Joab did not include the tribes of Levi and Benjamin in the census because he was so distressed at what the king had made him do.

1 Chronicles 21:4-

Where was the sin that caused judgement?

The sin was taking the census and this action lead to God’s judgment. David’s though did not bring the judgment for David could have repented and changed his mind as Joab was trying to encourage his king to do so. However David persisted in the idea of doing the census.

1 Chronicles 21:7 NLT

7 God was very displeased with the census, and he punished Israel for it.

It was not until the census was done we see God’s judgment on Israel. David’s conscious bothered him and lead him to confess. The sinful thoughts lead to action.

1 Chronicles 21:8 NLT

8 Then David said to God, “I have sinned greatly by taking this census. Please forgive my guilt for doing this foolish thing.”

The New Testament teaches us that sin will only produce death..

James 1:14–15 NLT

14 Temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away. 15 These desires give birth to sinful actions. And when sin is allowed to grow, it gives birth to death.

This result of David’s sin leads him to regret his actions. This remorse does not remove God’s judgement.

The judgement comes from us acting on our own evil desires.

David’s could have changed his mind and not followed through as Joab tried to help his king, but David insisted.

God judged Israel

King David was responsible to lead Israel in the right direction. David’s failure in leadership caused others to suffer. Those who are in leadership positions in life need remember how their actions can impact others. Leadership in the family like a parent making one wrong decision can set the family back, to how a boss’s decision can lead to a company’s bankruptcy. We need to be aware that as we think we are alone and operate alone that we still impact the lives around us in different ways and some more impactful than others.

The judgment

1 Chronicles 21:9–10 NLT

9 Then the Lord spoke to Gad, David’s seer. This was the message: 10 “Go and say to David, ‘This is what the Lord says: I will give you three choices. Choose one of these punishments, and I will inflict it on you.’ ”

1 Chronicles 21:9

The Lord is seeking to still discipline David and Israel for them to learn from this sin and gives David three choices to choose his punishment.

1 Chronicles 21:11–12 NLT

11 So Gad came to David and said, “These are the choices the Lord has given you. 12 You may choose three years of famine, three months of destruction by the sword of your enemies, or three days of severe plague as the angel of the Lord brings devastation throughout the land of Israel. Decide what answer I should give the Lord who sent me.”

1 Chronicles 21:11-12

Even in judgment God is gracious.

David knows of the tender mercies of God. God’s unfailing love is the truth David surrenders too in his decision.

1 Chronicles 21:13 NLT

13 “I’m in a desperate situation!” David replied to Gad. “But let me fall into the hands of the Lord, for his mercy is very great. Do not let me fall into human hands.”

1 Chronicles 21:13

God is always good

David did not doubt God’s love for him in the midst of his sin and judgement. The fact that David surrendered his life to God in his choice shows his accountability for his sin and the desire to remove any further punishment toward Israel.

David falls into the hands of the Lord.

The Lord is merciful.

David does not want to fall in man’s hands.

We too should know the promises of God that show us who he is. God is compassionate and merciful.

Psalm 103:8 NLT

8 The Lord is compassionate and merciful, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love.

Micah 7:18 NLT

18 Where is another God like you, who pardons the guilt of the remnant, overlooking the sins of his special people? You will not stay angry with your people forever, because you delight in showing unfailing love.

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2 Peter 3:9 NLT

9 The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent.

The Lord is compassionate and merciful, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love.

There is no God like the Lord, who pardons guilt, who does not stay angry forever, because he delights in showing His unfailing love toward me.

God does not want anyone to perish but wants all to repent.

God’s judgment on Israel

1 Chronicles 21:14–15 NLT

14 So the Lord sent a plague upon Israel, and 70,000 people died as a result. 15 And God sent an angel to destroy Jerusalem. But just as the angel was preparing to destroy it, the Lord relented and said to the death angel, “Stop! That is enough!” At that moment the angel of the Lord was standing by the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.

1 Chronicles 21:14-

Take note of this place where the angel of the Lord stopped, we will circle back to this reason. What we will draw attention is the severity of the punishment and the time. The sever plague was to fall on for three days. It looks like the three days were not reached. What we do know that it was to continue to three days but it fell short of this time because of God’s great love.

David sees the Lord’s grace and...

1 Chronicles 21:16–17 NLT

16 David looked up and saw the angel of the Lord standing between heaven and earth with his sword drawn, reaching out over Jerusalem. So David and the leaders of Israel put on burlap to show their deep distress and fell face down on the ground. 17 And David said to God, “I am the one who called for the census! I am the one who has sinned and done wrong! But these people are as innocent as sheep—what have they done? O Lord my God, let your anger fall against me and my family, but do not destroy your people.”

1 Chronicles 21:16

Grace is shown to us in the time God gives us to repent.

Grace is the Lord withholding the punishment we do deserve.

God’s love is expressed in his grace.

Worship Cost me

The angel of the Lord tells Gad to tell David to build an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite (). Araunah was willing to give David, his king whatever he needed to satisfy the need. David wanted to make a sacrifice to God as God commanded to stop the plague. David’s reverence for God and his remorse for his sin reminds him that it has to cost him something, because he owes God and his people.

1 Chronicles 21:24 NLT

24 But King David replied to Araunah, “No, I insist on buying it for the full price. I will not take what is yours and give it to the Lord. I will not present burnt offerings that have cost me nothing!”

1 Chronicles 21:24

Worship should cost you something.

Sometimes you have to give until it hurts.

David was willing to give his life and required a different sacrifice.

Thank you Lord for hearing our cries

The Lord heard David’s cry

1 Chronicles 21:26–27 NLT

26 David built an altar there to the Lord and sacrificed burnt offerings and peace offerings. And when David prayed, the Lord answered him by sending fire from heaven to burn up the offering on the altar. 27 Then the Lord spoke to the angel, who put the sword back into its sheath.

1 Chronicles 21:

After David’s sacrifice was acceptable to the Lord as demonstrated by the fire from heaven. David offered more sacrifices.

How good it is that God hears our cry and saves.

The God we serve forgives those who repent and seek to him.

Seek the Lord and worship him.

Why this pericope is in the canon.

This text expresses the place that becomes the home of the temple...

1 Chronicles 22:1 NLT

1 Then David said, “This will be the location for the Temple of the Lord God and the place of the altar for Israel’s burnt offerings!”

1 Chronicles 22:1

This gives us how the location of the temple was built by Solomon. David’s sin leads to God’s demonstration of mercy and the resting place of God’s temple and work of mercy toward his people.

This place where the temple was erected represents is the place where the Lord accepted the sacrifice and forgives Israel. The place of sacrificial atonement is a costly place of worship. The service cost something. Jesus shows us this same costly worship at calvary. Calvary is the place where the sin of the world has pass away through the atonement of the Lamb of God, Jesus the Son of God. Have you come in to contact of the love of God at calvary. Have you come to know the one who has set you free from sin. Come know the cost of Christ life was paid to satisfy the debt you owe because of sin. Come and now give your life to Christ as a living sacrifice.