February 10, 2023

Passage Read: 1 Chronicles 19-22
Meditation Verses: 21:1-2

Thought

While this gives no excuse for sin, it is hopeful to know that even when I fail, the Lord can bring good from it. The end of this story is the establishment of the temple location. Though seventy thousand people in Israel died, not one lost their chance for redemption. Either they were already saved or they would never believe; their eternal destiny had already been set. We make much of this life, and it is important, but mainly for determining where we spend eternity, and secondly, the quality of that experience. We think life is precious, but usually for the wrong reasons, and so we waste the time we have; we miss the main point of it. David should have recognized this temptation, and there error of it, but it was not merely that Satan had it in for Israel, but that the Lord intended discipline, so He kept David from recognizing the test, which means it wasn't really much of a test. And beautifully, David displays his humility and honor for the Lord by asking for the full weight of the punishment to fall on himself and his family rather than the innocent people of Israel. But of course, the Lord determined to do this because the people were not as innocent as we would tend to believe. The Lord is just and does nothing without reason and cause.

Application

I do not want harm to come to anyone, and God forbid that I be the cause of anyone's suffering. So I need to be diligent to know what the Lord desires from His people and what the Lord hates, and to avoid what He hates so as not to bring judgment on others. But if I miss something that should have been obvious, it may be because the Lord blinded me to it, so that He could carry out discipline against those entrusted to my care. I shouldn't use that as an excuse to absolve myself of guilt, but take responsibility even when the Lord intended the consequences to come upon the people. I still did wrong and I should have known better. I need to own it and plead with the Lord for mercy and forgiveness. God's painful purposes don't justify my sin.