PERSONAL JOURNAL:
SIN ( 2 Samuel 24:10 ): Your servant’s guilt…wow, that is an extremely powerful description, identity, and emotion being felt here. I am Your servant, Father, but I too feel so much guilt on my shoulders just as David did here. I feel like the sins of my past keep coming up even though I know I have brought so much of it to You. I feel like no matter how hard I try, I am never going to be better than the mistakes of my past. I know this is not my identity in Christ, which is why I’m coming to You with this as my sin confession. Please forgive me for reducing my identity in Christ, Father. Forgive me for living in a way that makes it seem like You do not offer enough grace, mercy, and forgiveness, Father. Forgive me for living so much in my flesh and my past that I am often blinded to what the next step is that You want me to take. Help me to be better at truly and fully embracing my identity in Christ, Father.
PROMISE ( 2 Samuel 24:1 ): I really like the way this chapter begins. It is written “the Lord’s anger burned against Israel again.” I find this to be a promise from You, because although You told David he would have great victories and Your Spirit would never be taken from him, You never said You wouldn’t get angry towards him and Your people. Just like any good parent, there’s time for love and fun and there’s time for punishment and consequences. You are the perfect Father, which is why the promise I see today is that You will always do what a good and perfect parent does for their children no matter what and You will do it out of love and compassion for Your children.
ATTITUDE ( 2 Samuel 24:17 ): David was very quick to try and take all of the heat for the sin repercussions which Your people were feeling at this time. He was quick to take ownership of his own sin and try to divert the punishment his way. I must admit, I am not very quick to seek punishment and/or consequences for my mistakes, Father. I may be quick to try and help others out of their pain/misery, but typically not to the point that it’s all on me instead of them like David is trying to do here, Father. His statement here was truly a major sacrifice to make. I know I need to work on getting better at sacrificing myself for others.
COMMAND ( 2 Samuel 24:24 ): David was quite clear that he wanted to pay for the items he would be bringing to You as an offering, Father. What I find profound was his statement of “I will not offer to the Lord my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing.” I feel this is a direct command from You. We should not try to make an offering to You in ANY way if it didn’t cost us something. How serious and heartfelt is my offering if all I did was snag it out of someone else’s hands and place it in Yours, Father? Not serious at all. Thank You for this reminder.
EXAMPLE ( 2 Samuel 24:13, 15, 18, 25 ): I find these verses and the way this played out to be very fascinating. You gave David 3 choices to atone for his recent sin. The one he went with was a plague. What You did not tell him was that he would determine the ending. I noticed that the plague did not stop on the 3rd day, per se. At least not automatically by You. It took David making a sacrifice to you to stop the plague, which it seems he did so on the third day, but not until after being witness to the devastation of the plague. Sometimes You tell us You will do something, but it takes something from us for that something to come to fruition. In this case, it was the offering David made that caused You to end the plague.
*DAILY NOTE: Wow! I have read all the way through both books of Samuel! Such an amazing journey going through David’s life and learning so much about how he started and the journey You put him on into becoming the king of Israel. Even up until this very last chapter in 2 Samuel, You still brought a great lesson and conviction to my heart, Father. Thank You for the last 24 quiet times all in 2 Samuel. I am so grateful for all that You have taught me through the story of David, Saul, and all the others who were with them. I look forward to discovering what the next path is You have for me tomorrow, Father.
EXPAND TO READ: GENERAL NOTE FOR MY QUIET TIMES
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