Scripture Daily

Context No. 4263 of 4322 · 1 Chronicles

Context · Reflection

1 Chronicles 21:7-12: in context

7God was displeased with this thing; therefore he struck Israel. 8David said to God, “I have sinned greatly, in that I have done this thing. But now put away, I beg you, the iniquity of your servant, for I have done very foolishly.” 9The LORD spoke to Gad, David’s seer, saying, 10“Go and speak to David, saying, ‘The LORD says, “I offer you three things. Choose one of them, that I may do it to you.”’” 11So Gad came to David and said to him, “The LORD says, ‘Take your choice: 12either three years of famine; or three months to be consumed before your foes, while the sword of your enemies overtakes you; or else three days of the sword of the LORD, even pestilence in the land, and the LORD’s angel destroying throughout all the borders of Israel. Now therefore consider what answer I shall return to him who sent me.’”

After David sinfully numbered his fighting men, an act of pride and self-reliance, God is displeased, and David is stricken in conscience. His response is a model of honest confession: I have sinned greatly in doing this thing; take away the iniquity of your servant, for I have acted very foolishly. He does not excuse or minimize; he names his sin plainly and begs for mercy. And when offered a choice of judgments, David chooses to fall into the hand of the LORD, whose mercy is great, rather than into human hands.

What stands out is both the honesty of David's confession and the object of his trust. He confesses without excuse: I have sinned greatly; I have acted foolishly. And even under discipline, he casts himself on God's mercy, preferring to fall into God's hands rather than man's, because he knows God's mercy to be great. His confession is plain, and his hope is in God's compassion.

Honest confession names the sin plainly, without excuse or minimizing, as David did: I have sinned; I have acted foolishly. And it casts itself not on its own merits but on God's great mercy, choosing to fall into the hands of the God whose compassion is deep rather than fleeing his presence. To confess honestly and throw ourselves on God's mercy is the way back after sin.

When I have sinned, do I confess it plainly as David did, without excuse or minimizing, and cast myself on God's great mercy, choosing to fall into the hands of the God whose compassion is deep rather than fleeing from him?

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