David builds an Altar

Our brokenness

There’s a strange thing that happens with perhaps most people where we can fluctuate between thinking very highly of ourselves, before quickly switching to having a low view of yourself.

Sometimes those period where we have a low view of ourselves can last quite a long time. For some people, it will result in quite serious bouts of depression. For others, it might be less serious, yet we can still have these feelings of helplessness.

I know it can look different for different people and at different times, yet it can often start with some notion of being unworthy. Maybe its triggered by something you’ve done, or even a perception that maybe what you’ve done has the potential to reflect badly on you.

The reality is, theologically, we are people that are unworthy. We are people who have sinned and done wrong.

There’s a few things we can do. We can try to ignore it - but the guilt will still remain.

As Christians, though, we do know we’re forgiven - and this is a truth we should always hold dearly.

But I want to provide a warning for each of us with this great truth. Though you are forgiven, sin is real, and sin has consequences in this life.

Now you might counter - but pastor, doesn’t the Bible say there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. And I will answer, certainly that is true, Christ will not condemn you. When you stand before the judgement seat of Christ, you will be counted clean. But don’t think this means you can do what you want, without any fear of consequences now.

You see, we are broken people. We’ve been forgiven, but yet in our brokenness, we continue to cause havoc around us.

This morning I want to explore a different aspect regarding the way that God works with our brokenness. You see, we well know the truth that God forgives. This is a core teaching of Christianity. But yet, as we dig deeper in scripture, we start to see that God works through our brokenness in quite surprising ways.

This morning we are coming to the last message in my series on David.

Where going to see a situation which to be honest is going to raise lots of questions as to the specifics of what is going on, but yet where going to see God miraculuously turn a situation where David’s brokenness is on full display, only for God to turn this into a situation where he gets worshipped.

I’ll be looking at this little episode and exploring the specific situation that will be unique to David and the progressive revelation of God’s plan, but I also want to tie it in to understanding how we can see our brokenness, not just a something to hide from, but something which God can use for his glory.

Context

So let’s start with the context of this passage.

I’ve spent close to two months looking at David, so I won’t repeat everything now, but in David we find a very interesting character.

On one level, he is this ideal person. He is the one who is setting the pattern for the coming king of kings and Lord of Lords. He sees things differently. He has this bigger view of God’s kingdom as God’s kingdom.

But yet he is also a deeply flawed man. His fall from grace is spectacular. And the consequences from this fall is felt for the rest of his life.

This last story we find at the end of 2 Samuel in some ways typifies David’s ministry.

In this story we will see God sovereignty shining through. We’ll see David making further bad decisions, but we’ll also see a re-emergence of this man after God’s own heart and the whole episode will finish with things pointing in the right direction.

The Lord’s anger

The precise chronology of this event is unknown. That is to say, since chapter 21, the author is pulling a few stories from David’s life, not necessarily following the events of chapter 20.

All we’re told in verse 1 is that we’re at a time when the anger of the Lord is burning against Israel.

Now it is important to note this first verse. As the story continues, we’ll get caught up in David’s poor decision, but you’ll see here in the first verse that the anger is originally against all of Israel.

God inciting David

Now, as verse 1 continues, we’re going to find something which perhaps isn’t going to sit well. It tells us that God incites David to do something which is later described as sinful.

So the question we’re forced to answer is, how do we reconcile the fact that God is inciting David to do evil with the fact that there is no evil in God?

The question is perhaps even more complicated by the fact that if you read the parallel account of this story, which you can find in 1Chronicles 21, then you will see that this version starts with the claim that it is actually Satan that incites David.

So now we have to ask the question: do we have a contradiction in the Bible.

The answer to this riddle can be found in an understanding of the sovereignty of God.

God has control of all things, and this even includes the Devil.

But understanding the sovereignty of God can give us the problem of who is responsible for evil.

There’s actually a huge discussion we could have here, but I just want to leave it with two statements.

The Bible is clear that God is sovereign. The Bible is also clear that humans are responsible for sin.

While holding the two might put us in a bit of a spin, if the Bible holds both to be true, then so do I.

But let’s put that issue aside, and instead follow the action.

The Census

Well, the action that God incites David to take, actually sounds very benign.

All he’s being asked to do is to take a census.

Sinfulness?

So what’s wrong with that?

Well, I want to suggest that there is actually nothing inherently wrong with the act of counting people, which essentially what a census is.

In fact, go back to the book of Numbers and this is exactly what you find, and there’s no suggestion that the counting of the people back then was in any way sinful.

It is specifically a counting of the fighting men, but even that was done in the book of Numbers.

Well, we get a pretty good hint in this passage what’s wrong with it in this situation, although it’s probably worth noting that it isn’t explicitly stated why it’s bad in the passage.

The hint comes from Joab who objects to the proposal in verse 3.

His objection states: “May the Lord your God multiply the troops a hundred times over, and may the eyes of my lord the king see it. But why does my lord the king want to do such a thing?”

The implication seems to be clear. By taking a count of the fighting men, the focus is on the strength of man, not the power of God. It could be seen as David turning his back on God and saying, I have enough strength at my own disposal.

Joab

It is curious that this correction is coming from Joab. Joab is the army commander, and if you’ve been following the story closely, including in the passages that I’ve skipped over, you’ll see that Joab is not exactly an upstanding man. Sure he was fiercely loyal to David and Israel, but he’s acted in very ungodly ways.

It’s a curious point that often our rebukes can come from places you’d least expect them to.

Taking the census

Well, in verse 4, we see that Joab’s objection is over ruled, and the army commanders go and do the count.

In fact, we find out that it is quite a long and arduous task - I wonder if this was actually the reason Joab was objecting?

Just look at verse 8 - they finally return after nine months and twenty days - that is, almost 10 months.

In verse 9 we even get the results - and what a fine result it is! In the northern tribes, which here get called Israel, there are eight hundred thousand able-bodied men who can handle a sword, and in Judah, which is the southern tribes, we have a further five hundred thousand.

This is something you could easily take pride in.

Conscience stricken

But in verse 10, it finally hits David. It would seem that his eyes have suddenly been open to that pride that has been building up within him.

Things have been going so well for him. The worst problem with success is that you think it’s all about yourself.

David has lost sight of God - and it hits him hard.

It is here that we’re reminded that David is just a mere broken man. A man who is caught up in himself just like the rest of us. A man who will do anything just to boost his ego a bit more.

Repentance

But though David is a broken man, we also are reminded why even God himself refers to him as a man after his own heart.

And that’s because when David recognises his brokenness, he falls on his knees in repentance.

David doesn’t mince his words. He could easily try to minimise his actions. He could easily try to spin it as something that’s not really bad at all.

But he doesn’t. He states plainly: “I have sinned greatly in what I have done.”

And then he asks for forgiveness. Actually, he says: “Now, Lord, I beg you, take away the guilt of your servant.”

God’s punishment

Well, David’s asked for forgiveness - actually, he’s begged for it. We know God is a merciful God, so you might think this could be overlooked.

But let me just remind you of verse 1 where this whole thing has been initiated by God’s anger against Israel. This is a little insight that we get to be privy to, that perhaps David wasn’t.

Curiously, God decides to give David a choice of one of three punishments. Either

Three years of famine;

Three months of being pursued by the enemy, or;

Three days of plague.

Well, David doesn’t want to fall into human hands. And though he doesn’t state it, I suspect he chooses the three days of plague because it’s a bit like pulling a band aid off. Do it quickly - don’t prolong the pain.

The plague

Well, the plague comes and it is devastating. In such a short period of time, seventy-thousand die.

Some commentators suggest it might have been the bubonic plague - but in some ways, it’s irrelevant because what’s important is that it’s being directly controlled by God.

The angel

Actually, starting in verse 16, we get a different perspective of this.

The picture is of an angel who is causing the destruction.

We often fail to see the connection between the physical world and the spiritual world around us, but by putting the angel in the picture, this reality is made clear to us.

Now the angel has just gone through the Northern tribes. The angel is now at Jerusalem, and we know exactly what he’s about to do. That plague is about to rage through the southern tribes.

The Lord relents

But still in verse 16, the Lord relents. He calls to the angel “Enough! Withdraw you hand.”

Why does God change his mind at this point?

Well, if you’ve read ahead you might think it’s because David has made a successful argument. But curiously, David makes his argument in verse 17, but God stops the destruction in verse 16.

I think this is actually a matter of God having mercy on who he has mercy on. His reasons are his own. Can we ever really know the mind of God?

We could possibly speculate, but I think we’d be best to just marvel at the amazing way God orchestrates events for a much bigger picture.

David’s argument

Now as we get to verse 17, David gets this extraordinary insight. He gets to see the angel at the centre of the plague.

And so David tries to mount an argument for the Lord to stop - which as I’ve just pointed out, God has already decided back in the previous verse.

David’s argument is that it was only him that had sinned. He was the shepherd, and the people the sheep. And the sheep had not done anything wrong.

It’s a good argument - although it does fail to recognise the fact made evident to us in the first verse that God’s anger was actually first directed to all of Israel, not just David’s sin in this passage.

But leaving that aside for the moment, there is something very special about this verse, and it’s again a reminder that David, this broken man, is someone who has been made the pattern that Jesus will follow.

In this verse 17, David is offering himself for all the people.

David is the good shepherd that is willing to lay down his life for his sheep.

Hopefully that might be ringing some bells from the New Testament.

David is not God. He is broken, just like the rest of us. But he is displaying an attitude that was so foreign to this period of time. Actually, it’s not just foreign to that period. It is foreign to today. Who in their right mind would offer themselves for other people?

Well, actually, the answer is, followers of Jesus would. Because this is what Jesus is calling us to.

Building an Altar

But let’s keep going in the story. Because it is in this next part of the story that I want to come back to the question I posed earlier. You might remember I raised this idea of how God uses our brokenness for his glory.

So let’s see what happens.

Well, we just witnessed a very dramatic moment. An angel was standing, ready to strike terror into Jerusalem, when God gave a last minute reprieve.

And David was there witnessing the angel in this moment.

We’re even told where this action took place. It was on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.

Through the prophet Gad, David is instructed to go up to this place and build an altar to the Lord.

So David approaches Araunah, the owner of this land, and we have recorded for us the negotiations that follow. Time won’t allow a detailed look at this, but the bottom line is that David insists on paying for the land. He will not take something that costs him nothing.

Offering a sacrifice

In the last verse of the entire book of 2 Samuel, that is, verse 25, David builds an altar to the Lord and sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings.

It was in this act that we see how things are so dramatically turned around.

The chapter started with the Lord being angry at the people of Israel. But God twisted what was really an ugly episode, into something where God is being worshipped.

The future temple

In fact, though it’s not stated explicitly for us here, if you were to read the parallel account in 1 Chronicles 21, then you would see the very direct link with this episode and the building of the temple

David was not to be the one of built the temple, yet this altar points us to the temple that will come.

And in this way, we see how God has not only made this ugly situation into a point of praise, but actually pointing to a place of worship for all people.

Our Application

And this is where I want to stop and briefly think about it from our perspective.

You see, though this episode has this much bigger purpose which is specific to David - that is, to point us to the coming temple. Yet it also reminds us more generally that God so often twists our brokenness into something which honours God.

This might be a strange concept.

It’s hard to imagine how our weaknesses - those parts of our character that we are actually ashamed about, can actually be a pivot point for us to glorify God.

Marriage argument

Let me give a quick illustration.

Believe it or not, Fiona and I sometimes have arguments. Sometimes in those arguments we can actually get worked up and say and do things that we’re not really proud of.

That is not good and it shouldn’t happen. And yet, out of these moments, we reconcile our differences, and we learn more about each other, and in a perhaps weird way, we grow closer together. At this point, we see God using our character flaws to help grow us.

Our faults

In a similar way, we might lie, cheat, extort, bully, steal, lust over someone, look enviously at something - do all sorts of things that breaks God’s heart… and yet God takes these faults, (and I’m going to argue) not only despite these faults, but through these faults he points us to him.

This is not to ever justify anything bad we ever do. But it is to give an insight into the special way that God works.

God wants us to avoid sin at all costs. We should be running from temptation at every opportunity we get.

But here’s the thing. You will fail.

Thankfully we know that we are forgiven.

But God does more than just forgive us. He will work with your life, just the way you are, and he will make you into something special.

You will hear stories of God taking drug addicts… alcoholics… criminals… and using them for his glory.

This is the sort of God we follow.

Conclusion

Well, this brings us to the end of our series looking at David.

It started with looking at an unlikely boy, to seeing how God constantly moulded and shaped him to be a pattern for Jesus to follow. Even when his massive fall from grace was shared with us, we still saw David being moulded by God in such a special way.

Of course, David plays such a unique role in the whole revealing plan of God to save humanity, yet in this story of David, we can also see our story. Our story which also takes us as someone unlikely, and shapes us to be someone in the way of Christ.

We will never get there perfectly. After all, David was certainly not the perfect model either. But through the power of God, even with all our brokenness, God really can do something special.

So let me pray...