Satan rose up against Israel and incited David to take a census of Israel. (1 Chronicles 21:1, NIV)
As much as I would like to blame someone else for the troubles in my golf game, that is a responsibility I cannot share. I bear the weight of my own lack of practice, indecision, loss of focus, and whatever else keeps me from scoring as well as I potentially could.
I can’t even blame my family for taking away the time that I need to become a better player, for I have chosen to marry and raise children and to take the time necessary to cultivate the relationships there.
I won’t blame my work, for “if a man will not work, he shall not eat” (1 Thessalonians 3:10).
And here’s one more: I won’t blame the devil.
I know, that sounds silly, blaming the devil. “The devil made me do it,” may be meant as humor, but we all know it isn’t. It’s passing the blame.
Still, the devil (Satan) is alive. Martin Luther gave him much credit. “His craft and power are great/and armed with cruel hate/on earth is not his equal,” the German theologian penned in his classic hymn, “A Mighty Fortress is Our God.” And as old as that hymn is now, its truth remains. Our enemy is strong and targeted in his wickedness. He would do us great damage.
I can’t earn hope. I can’t manufacture hope. But I can make a choice as to where to place my hope.So it is that we read at the outset of 1 Chronicles 21, that “Satan rose up…and incited David.” That is, the enemy worked his wiles to move the king to faithless disobedience, and even David’s closest counsel could not deter him from the act of building up his own pride by numbering the fighting men. It seems a common enough act—taking inventory of one’s essential business—but here it sent a message to God: “My trust is in numbers more than in Your strength.”
Silly. David knew his Scriptures. He knew the histories of Gideon, whose God-whittled band of 300 set innumerable Midianite soldiers to desperate flight (Judges 6-7). Still, the king answered Satan’s come-hither. He had the armies counted.
And then he knew instantly, precisely, and painfully what he had done. Gratefully, as an example to all of us for all time, he did not pass the blame. David said to God, “I have sinned greatly by doing this. Now, I beg you, take away the guilt of your servant. I have done a very foolish thing” (v. 8).
There was a dear price to be paid for David’s sin, as God sent a plague throughout the land and many of those precious soldiers died. But God relented, for David was a leader of conscience who dared not escape the blame.
Satan is evil. Sin is grave. True remorse is necessary. But none are as strong as the forgiving love of God, rendered to us when we say, “I have sinned,” and turn our hearts over to God again and again.
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Jeff Hopper
January 17, 2011
Copyright 2011 Links Players International
The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.
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