The TWO I Couldn't Shake - 6/18

All right, there were two verses that really stuck with me today.

2 Samuel 24:10a (MSG)
But when it was all done, David was overwhelmed with guilt because he had counted the people, replacing trust with statistics.
David falls into the temptation of performing a census. The sin here is not that he counted people. The sin is the reason he counted. Evidently, he wanted to know how big and strong his kingdom was. It was a subtle shift from faith in God to faith in numbers. God, protect me from pride and weak faith. When I count your people let my motives be pure.

2 Samuel 24:24 (MSG)
But the king said to Araunah, "No. I've got to buy it from you for a good price; I'm not going to offer GOD, my God, sacrifices that are no sacrifice."
God is punishing Israel for David's census. David is advised to offer a burnt offering to God. He goes to purchase a piece of property where the sacrifice will take place, the owner offers to give it to the king instead. But David won't have any part of it. I love that David insists that his sacrifices are costly to him. I hope our sacrifices are truly sacrifices and not just leftovers or chump change.