Ellen White on David's Repentance in 1 Chronicles 21

1 Chronicles 21

1 And Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel.

2 And David said to Joab and to the rulers of the people, Go, number Israel from Beersheba even to Dan; and bring the number of them to me, that I may know it.

3 And Joab answered, The LORD make his people an hundred times so many more as they be: but, my lord the king, are they not all my lord’s servants? why then does my lord require this thing? why will he be a cause of trespass to Israel?

4 Nevertheless the king’s word prevailed against Joab. Why Joab departed, and went throughout all Israel, and came to Jerusalem.

5 And Joab gave the sum of the number of the people to David. And all they of Israel were a thousand thousand and an hundred thousand men that drew sword: and Judah was four hundred three score and ten thousand men that drew sword.

6 But Levi and Benjamin counted he not among them: for the king’s word was abominable to Joab.

7 And God was displeased with this thing; therefore he smote Israel.

8 And David said to God, I have sinned greatly, because I have done this thing: but now, I beseech you, do away the iniquity of your servant; for I have done very foolishly.

9 And the LORD spoke to Gad, David’s seer, saying,

10 Go and tell David, saying, Thus says the LORD, I offer you three things: choose you one of them, that I may do it to you.

11 So Gad came to David, and said to him, Thus says the LORD, Choose you

12 Either three years’ famine; or three months to be destroyed before your foes, while that the sword of your enemies overtakes you; or else three days the sword of the LORD, even the pestilence, in the land, and the angel of the LORD destroying throughout all the coasts of Israel. Now therefore advise yourself what word I shall bring again to him that sent me.

13 And David said to Gad, I am in a great strait: let me fall now into the hand of the LORD; for very great are his mercies: but let me not fall into the hand of man.

14 So the LORD sent pestilence on Israel: and there fell of Israel seventy thousand men.

15 And God sent an angel to Jerusalem to destroy it: and as he was destroying, the LORD beheld, and he repented him of the evil, and said to the angel that destroyed, It is enough, stay now your hand. And the angel of the LORD stood by the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.

16 And David lifted up his eyes, and saw the angel of the LORD stand between the earth and the heaven, having a drawn sword in his hand stretched out over Jerusalem. Then David and the elders of Israel, who were clothed in sackcloth, fell on their faces.

17 And David said to God, Is it not I that commanded the people to be numbered? even I it is that have sinned and done evil indeed; but as for these sheep, what have they done? let your hand, I pray you, O LORD my God, be on me, and on my father’s house; but not on your people, that they should be plagued.

18 Then the angel of the LORD commanded Gad to say to David, that David should go up, and set up an altar to the LORD in the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.

19 And David went up at the saying of Gad, which he spoke in the name of the LORD.

20 And Ornan turned back, and saw the angel; and his four sons with him hid themselves. Now Ornan was threshing wheat.

21 And as David came to Ornan, Ornan looked and saw David, and went out of the threshing floor, and bowed himself to David with his face to the ground.

22 Then David said to Ornan, Grant me the place of this threshing floor, that I may build an altar therein to the LORD: you shall grant it me for the full price: that the plague may be stayed from the people.

23 And Ornan said to David, Take it to you, and let my lord the king do that which is good in his eyes: see, I give you the oxen also for burnt offerings, and the threshing instruments for wood, and the wheat for the meat offering; I give it all.

24 And king David said to Ornan, No; but I will truly buy it for the full price: for I will not take that which is your for the LORD, nor offer burnt offerings without cost.

25 So David gave to Ornan for the place six hundred shekels of gold by weight.

26 And David built there an altar to the LORD, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings, and called on the LORD; and he answered him from heaven by fire on the altar of burnt offering.

27 And the LORD commanded the angel; and he put up his sword again into the sheath thereof.

28 At that time when David saw that the LORD had answered him in the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite, then he sacrificed there.

29 For the tabernacle of the LORD, which Moses made in the wilderness, and the altar of the burnt offering, were at that season in the high place at Gibeon.

30 But David could not go before it to inquire of God: for he was afraid because of the sword of the angel of the LORD.

Yes, Ellen White wrote extensively about David’s repentance in 1 Chronicles 21 emphasizing that although his sin in numbering Israel was a grave error born of pride, his sincere and humble confession led to the cessation of judgment and the restoration of divine favor3BC 1127.2+1.

The Sin of Numbering Israel

• Under David’s rule, Israel increased in wealth and greatness, leading the people to become proud and forgetful of God, the Giver of all their mercies4aSG 91.4.

• David’s act of numbering the people was a manifestation of self-confidence and a departure from the holy character that separated Israel from surrounding nations4aSG 91.4.

• The work was not even completed before David felt deeply convicted of his error and humbled himself, confessing that he had sinned greatly against the Lord3BC 1127.2+1.

The Choice of Punishment

• Although David repented, the word of the Lord had already gone forth, offering him a choice between three punishments for his transgression3BC 1127.2+1.

• David displayed his continued trust in the character of God by choosing to fall into the hands of a merciful Lord rather than into the hands of cruel men3BC 1127.2+1.

• As a result of the numbering, a pestilence was sent upon Israel, causing the death of seventy thousand people3BC 1127.2+1.

Genuine Repentance and Intercession

• David and the elders of Israel were in the deepest humiliation, mourning before the Lord in sackcloth as the destroying angel appeared over Jerusalem3BC 1127.2+1.

• In his distress and compassion for the people, David cried out to God, begging that the punishment might fall on him and his father's house rather than on the innocent "sheep" of Israel3BC 1127.2+1.

• He acknowledged his guilt without excuse, saying, "I have sinned, and I have done wickedly; but these sheep, what have they done" 2 Samuel 24:173BC 1127.2+1.

• A single angel possessed the terrible destructive power to spread this desolation, yet God, in His pity and love, commanded the angel to stay his handLDE 243.4+1.

Acceptance and Atonement

• God accepted David’s heartfelt repentance and instructed him through the prophet to build an altar and make an atonement3BC 1127.2+1.

• When offered the threshing floor of Araunah (or Ornan) and the materials for sacrifice for free, David refused to offer to God that which cost him nothing3BC 1127.2+1.

• He purchased the site for the full price, and God manifested His acceptance of the offerings by sending fire from heaven to consume the sacrifice3BC 1127.2+1.

• Following this act of obedience and faith, the angel was commanded to put his sword back into its sheath, and the destruction of Jerusalem was averted3BC 1127.2+2.

Key Lessons for Today

• David’s history demonstrates that while the results of sin are often bitter and hard to bear, the Lord will never cast away a truly repentant soulPP 723.3+1.

• The Lord was with David even in his humiliation, looking pityingly upon him as he manifested a broken and contrite spirit Psalms 51:17MB 11.2.

• Genuine repentance is revealed by doing justice, walking humbly with God, and making full restitution where wrong has been done8MR 161.2+1.

• The record of David's fall and recovery serves as an encouragement to thousands who have been betrayed into sin, giving them courage to repent and try again to walk in God’s commandmentsEP 526.1+1.