Not Fair, Part 2

2 Samuel 20-24

In yesterday's reading from Exodus, God explained the ransom that must be paid to take a census... and in today's reading from 2 Samuel, David takes a census of the people after the anger of the Lord burned against Israel, and he caused David to take a census. Joab tried to stop him, but David pressed on. ALmost a year later when the census was complete, David regretted his decision and sought the favor of the Lord... and a plague descended upon the people of Israel and 70,000 were killed. The plague was stopped only after David sacrificed to the Lord.

Many of us would have whined about how unfair God was, after all, he was the one with the initial idea, but that never even occurred to David. In fact, when Araunah offered to give David the necessary items for the sacrifice, David refused, saying... “No, I insist on buying it, for I will not present burnt offerings to the Lord my God that have cost me nothing.” David understood a fact that many of us forget... It isn't about me. God is always righteous. Righteousness is defined by God. We may not understand what God is trying to achieve, but we can be assured that God knows what he is doing and it is correct.