Falling the Right Way
Posted On February 13, 2013
So Gad came to David and told him; and he said to him, “Shall seven years of famine come to you in your land? Or shall you flee three months before your enemies, while they pursue you? Or shall there be three days’ plague in your land? Now consider and see what answer I should take back to Him who sent me.” And David said to Gad, “I am in great distress. Please let us fall into the hand of the Lord, for His mercies are great; but do not let me fall into the hand of man.” So the Lord sent a plague upon Israel from the morning till the appointed time. From Dan to Beersheba seventy thousand men of the people died. – 2 Samuel 24:13-15 NKJV.
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I had never heard of this, but apparently in Boston a construction company wraps their scaffolding in bubble wrap until the work is completed. One of the construction workers is very thankful for that bubble wrap. He is thankful because when he fell 30-feet he landed on some unused bubble wrap laying on the ground. When the worker landed on the wrap, he became embedded in it, and firefighters had to cut him out of it. He did experience some shoulder and back injuries, but will survive. And…suddenly, a new use for bubble wrap has been found! In 1957, when Alfred Fielding and Marc Chavannes created bubble wrap while trying to make a 3D wallpaper they must have had little idea of how their creation would someday be used. (Orange News 02.06.13; WCBV.com 02.06.13)
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How did David sin in numbering, taking a census, of his armed forces? His motivation appears to be one of pride. David is now an old king who has experienced the power of God over many years. David does not need to know the strength of his armed forces; instead, he needs to trust in His God. The king knows this, because in Psalm 20:7 NKJV David wrote, “Some trust in chariots, and some in horses; but we will remember the name of the Lord our God.”
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Because of his sin, God gives David a choice, which is communicated to him through the prophet Gad. All three choices are bad, but David makes a wise choice. He chooses to depend upon the mercies of God and not upon the mercy of any man. The consequences of David’s sin are devastating; however, it does give us a picture of the destructive nature of all sin. All sin is destructive. All sin is terrible. All sin brings death, because “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23).”
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What is it that you are trusting in? Your money? Your health? Your job? Your business? Your family? Some bubble wrap? All of those earthly things can be taken away in a moment of time.
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When it comes to sin, people choose to deal with it in different ways. Some of us choose to live with it. Some of us choose to ignore it. Some of us try to hide it. Some of us blame others for it. It all comes down to a matter of trust. Can we trust God to treat us fairly? Can we trust God that He will do what He says? If we trust God, we will choose to fall in the right way. If we trust God, we will make the choice that David made. We will choose to fall into the hands of our God. 1 John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Fall at the feet of Jesus, agree with Him about the destructiveness of your sins seeking His forgiveness…and you will have it.
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(If we trust God, we will make the choice that David made. We will choose to fall into the hands of our God.)