Under the rule of David the kingdom of Israel grew from a weak, oppressed nation into a very powerful one, such a powerful one that the heathen people who lived in other lands were made to see God’s blessings upon David and upon his servants.
Now God had intended that his people, Israel, should always trust him to care for them and to deliver them from their troubles. He did not want them to trust in their own strength, as the people of other nations trusted. But when the kingdom of Israel grew so strong that neighboring kingdoms were afraid to oppose it, then the temptation came to David to trust in his army as did the kings of mighty nations around him. The more he thought about this temptation the greater his desire grew to know just how many soldiers he had in his kingdom. He wanted to know how large an army he could raise if it should be-come necessary for him to begin a great warfare.
God saw that David was forgetting to trust in him. And God was not pleased with this desire of the King. Neither was Joab, the captain of David’s army, pleased when he heard of the King’s plan. He said, “This thing is not right.” But he obeyed his master, and went out with other captains to count the number of soldiers in the land.
Early, one morning not long after David had sent the captains away on their errand, God sent a faithful prophet to speak to the King. He said, “Your desire to count the number of the soldiers of Israel is not right. You have brought God’s displeasure upon your people, and they must be punished for this sin.” David listened to the prophet, and he began to understand why Joab had not wanted him to carry out his plan. He saw how he was causing his people to trust in their own might and wisdom instead of depending wholly upon God to help them, as in other days. So David humbled himself and prayed to God for forgiveness.
While God was ready to forgive, yet he knew that the people everywhere must know that David’s plan had been unwise. So he sent his prophet, Gad, to speak again to the King. And Gad came to David and said, “God has sent me to tell you that you must choose one of these three things for a punishment because of your sin: First, a famine of seven years. Second, a warfare of three months in which your enemies shall gain the victories over you. Third, a pestilence lasting three days, when many people in your land shall die.
David felt very sorry when he saw that his people would have to suffer because he had led them to do wrong. He told the prophet that it was hard for him to decide which of the three things to choose, as his people would need to suffer breach of them.’ But he said, “It will be better to fall into the hand of the Lord than into the hand of our enemies, for the Lord has great mercy.” So David chose the three days’ pestilence.
Then God sent a great pestilence through the land of Israel, and many of the mighty soldiers whom David had trusted to help deliver his kingdom in times of trouble died of the pestilence. Everywhere in the land there was death and sorrow, and David’s heart was made very sad. When the angel of death came to strike the soldiers who lived in Jerusalem, God caused David to see the angel standing with his sword drawn over the city. And the King cried to the Lord when he saw the angel, and said, “I have sinned, and I have done wickedly; but these sheep, what have they done? Let your angel strike me instead of these innocent people.” God heard David’s prayer, and he did not allow the angel to destroy any more people. He told David to build an altar on the spot where he had seen the angel standing. And David called his nobles, and hurried to obey God’s command.
Now the angel had stood on the top of a mount called Moriah, which was inside the walls of Jerusalem. And a man named Araunah owned a threshing-floor at this very place. He was busy threshing his grain when he saw the King and his nobles coming toward him, so he left his work and ran. out to bow do win low before David. He had not seen the angel standing near by. David told Araunah at once that he had come to buy the threshing-floor as he wished to build an altar upon it. Araunah said he would gladly give it to the King; but David refused to take it without paying the full price.
After building the altar, David laid burnt offerings and peace-offerings upon it and prayed earnestly to God. And God answered by sending fire from heaven to burn up the offerings David had given for his sin.
David was pleased when God sent the fire to bum up his offering, and he prepared at once for the building of a temple for God upon Mount Moriah. Long before this time he had wished to build such a house for the worship of God, but the prophet had told him that God did not want him to build the temple. Now David planned to get everything ready that his son Solomon might build this beautiful place. And God was pleased with David’s plan.