June 10, 2026
Please use the comment section on this page to share insights from today’s reading OR your own personal Bible reading.
Reading along with us in 1 Chronicles and Luke? Here’s today’s reading:
1 Chronicles 21 (NIV)
David Counts the Fighting Men
1 Satan rose up against Israel and incited David to take a census of Israel. 2 So David said to Joab and the commanders of the troops, “Go and count the Israelites from Beersheba to Dan. Then report back to me so that I may know how many there are.”…..Continue Reading
1CHRONICLES 21
Knowing the Lord carries out what he says why in the world would you do anything shady knowing the harshness of punishment that God would
Dole out. Giving David 3 options and to pick one. He did not want to fall into human hands. He wanted to take the full responsibility of doing wrong. gets another chance to build an alter. Araunah wanted to give it to him but David insisted on paying full pricehim he should to stop the plague on the people. David was still afraid of the sword of the angel.
Faith versus sight is the lesson here. A lesson we can all learn from. David counted men to have a sense of security rather than trusting God. In what things do we trust in rather than depending on how God will provide? Are we holding on to things or people more than God would want or do we hold on things loosely for God to use in whatever way He sees fit? And we can be thankful for people that tell us when we are off like Joab does for David. It is unfortunate that David discovers his wrong too late. And David is right to hand himself over to God because God does relent earlier than He had said. And David gives a good principle of giving here, that what we give to God should cost us….it is the faith and sacrifice of giving that matters to God, with 10% as a guide to help us determine the amount.
1 Chronicles 21
1 chronicles 21
Two lessons I take away from this chapter are trust and sacrifice. Are we really trusting God or are we holding things back to be able to steer our own outcomes because we don’t really trust that God will provide? David did this and it cost him and it will cost us too. Then sacrifice, are we giving to God just what is comfortable or are we giving him everything knowing it is all His anyways? Not just money, but time, talents, our lives. It really isn’t sacrifice if we don’t feel some kind of deficit of ourselves so He can fill that back in.
The number of men a country has for its army, the amount of money in its bank account, the amount of material things in its possession, the amount of strength others perceive it to have, etc. makes no difference in what the Lord can do. If we have faith in him, we can move mountains no matter what. We are protected, we are provided for, we are loved, we are saved and we can look forward to eternity with God forever. That is what we can find joy, assurance and hope in. It’s not worldly things, it’s Godly things.
David sins and counts his men. Willful sin demonstrating his trust in men or his own strength rather than in God. David repents but there are still consequences for his sin. At this point he entrusted himself to God. Many say that God doesn’t change His mind and claim it undermines His sovereignty, but here He relents and stops the Angel from continuing. Gods mercy and compassion is also part of His character.