David's folly and wisdom are both seen in 1 Chronicles 21. His folly is brought to fruition in the spring of the year when kings are supposed to go to war... the same circumstance that led him to Bathsheba... but this time it led him to call for census of his warriors against God's will. God had made it very clear that Israel's strength was from God's hand, not their numbers. Joab tried to get David to see his folly, but David would not be deterred. God therefore sent the prophet Gad to announce to David that he could pick his own punishment...
- 3 years of famine
- 3 months of destruction by the sword of his enemies
- 3 days of plague brought on by the angel of the Lord
David picked the last one, but not because it was only 3 days long. Instead, David's wisdom was displayed as he chose to be punished at the hand of the merciful Lord rather than merciless enemies. The Lord's sentence was carried out swiftly, but as the Lord saw the destruction that was being wrought on Israel, he called a halt. If we repent and turn back to God, we will always be better off facing God's judgement than man's, but if we have not turned back to the Lord, anything would be better than facing the judgement of the Lord.
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