2 Samuel 24:15-25: a reflection

15So the LORD sent a pestilence on Israel from the morning even to the appointed time; and seventy thousand men died of the people from Dan even to Beersheba. 16When the angel stretched out his hand toward Jerusalem to destroy it, the LORD relented of the disaster, and said to the angel who destroyed the people, “It is enough. Now withdraw your hand.” The LORD’s angel was by the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite. 17David spoke to the LORD when he saw the angel who struck the people, and said, “Behold, I have sinned, and I have done perversely; but these sheep, what have they done? Please let your hand be against me, and against my father’s house.” 18Gad came that day to David and said to him, “Go up, build an altar to the LORD on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.” 19David went up according to the saying of Gad, as the LORD commanded. 20Araunah looked out, and saw the king and his servants coming on toward him. Then Araunah went out and bowed himself before the king with his face to the ground. 21Araunah said, “Why has my lord the king come to his servant?” David said, “To buy your threshing floor, to build an altar to the LORD, that the plague may be stopped from afflicting the people.” 22Araunah said to David, “Let my lord the king take and offer up what seems good to him. Behold, the cattle for the burnt offering, and the threshing sledges and the yokes of the oxen for the wood. 23All this, O king, does Araunah give to the king.” Araunah said to the king, “May the LORD your God accept you.” 24The king said to Araunah, “No, but I will most certainly buy it from you for a price. I will not offer burnt offerings to the LORD my God which cost me nothing.” So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver. 25David built an altar to the LORD there, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. So the LORD was entreated for the land, and the plague was removed from Israel.

When David comes to build an altar and offer sacrifice, and Araunah offers to give him the threshing floor and the oxen for free, David refuses, insisting he will not offer to God what costs him nothing. I will not offer burnt offerings to the LORD my God which cost me nothing, David says, and he insists on paying the full price for the threshing floor and the oxen. Araunah had generously offered to give David everything he needed for the offering at no cost. But David would not accept it; he would not offer to God a sacrifice that cost him nothing. He paid for it, so that his offering to God would be truly his own, at real cost to himself. Genuine offering to God, David saw, is not costless. This shows that true offering and worship cost something. Do not offer God what costs you nothing; true worship costs something. Genuine devotion to God is not costless. What costs us nothing is a poor offering to God. Let your offering to God be truly your own, at real cost.

Notice why David refused the free gift. Araunah generously offered to give David the threshing floor, the oxen, everything needed for the sacrifice, at no cost. It would have been easy for David to accept; the offering would still be made. But David refused, with a striking reason: I will not offer to the LORD my God that which costs me nothing. He understood that an offering that cost him nothing would not truly be an offering; a sacrifice must cost the one who offers it. So he paid the full price, that his offering might be genuinely his own, given at real cost. This holds a searching truth about our offering and devotion to God. It is possible to offer God only what costs us nothing: the leftover time we would not use anyway, the giving that requires no real sacrifice, the worship that costs us nothing of ourselves. But such costless offering is a poor thing; genuine devotion to God, like David's sacrifice, costs something. To give God only what is convenient, leftover, or free is not the offering he calls for; he calls for offerings that are truly ours, given at real cost, that reflect that he is worth something to us. We do well not to offer God what costs us nothing, but to give him offerings that are genuinely costly, reflecting his worth to us. Do not offer God what costs you nothing; genuine devotion is costly. A costless offering is a poor reflection of God's worth to you. Let your giving and worship cost you something real. Offer God what is truly your own, given at genuine cost.

That is worth taking to heart, for true offering and worship cost something, and we do well not to offer God what costs us nothing, as David refused to offer a sacrifice that cost him nothing. We can offer God only what is convenient, leftover, or free; but David insisted on paying the full price, refusing to offer what cost him nothing. Genuine devotion costs. Do not offer God only what costs you nothing; give him offerings that are genuinely costly, truly your own, reflecting his worth to you. Do not offer God what costs you nothing, but give him offerings that are genuinely costly and truly your own, reflecting his worth to you, as when David came to build an altar and Araunah offered to give him the threshing floor and oxen for free, David refused, insisting he would not offer to the LORD his God what cost him nothing, and paid the full price; for Araunah had generously offered to give David everything he needed at no cost, but David would not accept it or offer to God a sacrifice that cost him nothing, paying for it so that his offering would be truly his own at real cost, since he saw that genuine offering to God is not costless, which holds a searching truth about our offering and devotion, since it is possible to offer God only what costs us nothing, the leftover time we would not use anyway, the giving that requires no real sacrifice, and the worship that costs us nothing of ourselves, but such costless offering is a poor thing and genuine devotion to God costs something as David's sacrifice did, so that to give God only what is convenient, leftover, or free is not the offering he calls for, since he calls for offerings that are truly ours, given at real cost, reflecting that he is worth something to us, and we do well not to offer God what costs us nothing but to give him offerings that are genuinely costly.

Lord, when David comes to build an altar and offer sacrifice, and Araunah offers to give him the threshing floor and the oxen for free, David refuses, insisting he will not offer to you what costs him nothing. I will not offer burnt offerings to the LORD my God which cost me nothing, David says, and he insists on paying the full price. Araunah had generously offered to give David everything he needed for the offering at no cost. But David would not accept it; he would not offer to you a sacrifice that cost him nothing. He paid for it, so that his offering to you would be truly his own, at real cost to himself. Genuine offering to you, David saw, is not costless. Show me why David refused the free gift. Araunah generously offered to give David everything needed for the sacrifice at no cost. It would have been easy for David to accept; the offering would still be made. But David refused, with a striking reason: I will not offer to the LORD my God that which costs me nothing. He understood that an offering that cost him nothing would not truly be an offering; a sacrifice must cost the one who offers it. So he paid the full price, that his offering might be genuinely his own, given at real cost. This holds a searching truth about my offering and devotion to you. It is possible to offer you only what costs me nothing: the leftover time I would not use anyway, the giving that requires no real sacrifice, the worship that costs me nothing of myself. But such costless offering is a poor thing; genuine devotion to you, like David's sacrifice, costs something. To give you only what is convenient, leftover, or free is not the offering you call for; you call for offerings that are truly mine, given at real cost, that reflect that you are worth something to me. Take that to my heart. Keep me from offering you what costs me nothing; help me give you offerings that are genuinely costly, Lord, truly my own, reflecting your worth to me, that my giving and worship may cost me something real.