Context No. 3130 of 4322 · Numbers

Numbers 31:47-54: in context

47even of the children of Israel’s half, Moses took one drawn out of every fifty, both of man and of animal, and gave them to the Levites, who performed the duty of the LORD’s tabernacle, as the LORD commanded Moses. 48The officers who were over the thousands of the army, the captains of thousands, and the captains of hundreds, came near to Moses. 49They said to Moses, “Your servants have taken the sum of the men of war who are under our command, and there lacks not one man of us. 50We have brought the LORD’s offering, what every man found: gold ornaments, armlets, bracelets, signet rings, earrings, and necklaces, to make atonement for our souls before the LORD.” 51Moses and Eleazar the priest took their gold, even all worked jewels. 52All the gold of the wave offering that they offered up to the LORD, of the captains of thousands, and of the captains of hundreds, was sixteen thousand seven hundred fifty shekels. 53The men of war had taken booty, every man for himself. 54Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold of the captains of thousands and of hundreds, and brought it into the Tent of Meeting for a memorial for the children of Israel before the LORD.

After a costly battle, the officers come to Moses and report something remarkable: your servants have counted the men of war under our command, and not one of us is missing. And in response to this deliverance, they bring an offering of gold ornaments to make atonement for ourselves before the LORD, which Moses places in the tent as a memorial.

Setting the battle aside, notice the officers' response. They count their men, find not one missing, and their reaction to this deliverance is not boasting but worship. They bring an offering of gold to make atonement for ourselves before the LORD. Aware that even a victorious battle had involved bloodshed, and that their own survival was God's gift, they respond with thanksgiving and a desire to be right with God, rather than with self-congratulation. A deliverance that leaves us whole should move us to grateful worship and humility before God, not to pride in our own success. And the memorial keeps that gratitude standing before God.

When I come through danger whole, is my response grateful worship and a desire to be right with God, or self-congratulation?

Sources

Numbers 31:49: "Your servants have taken the sum of the men of war who are under our command, and there lacks not one man of us."
Numbers 31:50: "We have brought the LORD's offering... to make atonement for our souls before the LORD."
Psalm 116:12: "What will I give to the LORD for all his benefits toward me?"