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2 Samuel 24:1-4, Again the anger of the Lord burned against Israel, and he incited David against them, saying, “Go and take a census of Israel and Judah.”

So the king said to Joab and the army commanders with him, “Go throughout the tribes of Israel from Dan to Beersheba and enroll the fighting men, so that I may know how many there are.”

But Joab replied to the king, “May the Lord your God multiply the troops a hundred times over, and may the eyes of my lord the king see it. But why does my lord the king want to do such a thing?” The king’s word, however, overruled Joab and the army commanders; so they left the presence of the king to enroll the fighting men of Israel.

If you haven’t done so already, please read through the whole chapter.  I’ve only highlighted the first four verses here but the entire chapter is important.  We read that the Lord is angry with Israel so he incites David against them.  We don’t know why God is angry, but it is most likely due to a violation of the Torah.  Thus, David becomes angry with his people and demands that a census be taken of the fighting men.

Joab, his commander, protests.  Why was a census a big deal?  After all, we do a census in the U.S. every ten years.  At that time, numbering the people would have been some kind of metric of the Lord’s favor.  It had the potential to lead to pride and self-aggrandizement.  But there was more.  In the Old Testament Scriptures, you generally only counted what belonged to you. By David counting the people, it would have been a statement of sorts that the people belonged to David rather than God.

David overrules Joab and the men of fighting age are counted.  There were 800,000 in Israel and 500,000 in Judah, quite impressive numbers.  But the census greatly displeased God.  Maybe God saw it as David overstepping his authority or David became too prideful.  We really don’t know.  What we do know is that God is angered and wanting to punish the nation of Israel. 

David is repentant and builds an altar to the Lord.  However, that doesn’t mean that the consequences would be reversed. 

This made me reflect on our own sin.  How often have we been repentant for things we’ve done and cried out to God?  We know that God forgives us but that does not reverse the consequences of our sin.  Sin always has consequences.  Over and over and over again humanity has to learn this lesson.

I hope you have found our time in 2 Samuel meaningful.  Tomorrow, we switch gears a bit with the book of James. 

Let’s pray…Dear Lord Jesus, Thank you for your mercy and forgiveness.  On our own, we mess up over and over again.  We need you desperately.  More of you and less of me.  In Your Name, Amen.

New Hope Daily SOAP: James 1

Pastor Vicki Harrison

To read this text, go to:  https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=James+1&version=NIV

James 1:19-21,  My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry,  because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires. Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.

The author of this letter is James, the brother of Jesus, who was a leader in the early church in Jerusalem.  He addresses it to the twelve tribes dispersed among the nations, so this would include the Jewish community who are now dispersed in the nations around Palestine.  Gentile Christians may also be included but this isn’t clear.  James doesn’t appear to have a specific progression to his letter; he does hop from topic to topic, covering a lot of ground, mostly concerned with matters that will affect the strength and integrity of the listeners’ faith.

Now, let’s turn to our focus verses.  “Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry…” The power of the tongue is a dangerous thing.  Haven’t we seen this over and over again?  We find commands to control the tongue throughout wisdom literature.  In fact, lack of control over our speech almost always leads to issues.  There is a definite connection between looseness of speech and anger.  Maybe unresolved anger is the root of gossip and angry speech.  But let’s be clear, a wagging tongue is almost never a good thing. 

The verses continue, “…human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires.”  In this case, we might think of righteousness as that which meets God’s approval or even the way of doing life for which God approves.  Basically, anger leads to the kinds of things which displease God.  Period.

But there’s more.  Because of all that stuff we just talked about, “get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.” Get rid of your old way of doing life that is so rampant in the world and put on your new life like a new set of clothes, your new life in Christ. 

My mind immediately goes to 2 Cor. 5:17, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!”  When we say yes to Jesus, the Holy Spirit comes and makes a home within us and we literally become new people.  We are transformed from the inside out.  James seems to be saying that with these new lives, we have to be so careful and aware of the words that come out of our mouths.  We don’t want to displease God.  I might also add, nor do we want to damage the Kingdom.  How much damage has been done, how many people have been turned off, because a Christ-follower said an ugly word, gossiped about someone or demonstrated anger in an unhealthy way?  Too much damage, my dear friends, way too much damage.  Let’s all say “enough is enough” and commit to restraining our tongues.

Let’s pray…Jesus Christ, We need your help.  Help us tame our tongues.  Help us calm our nerves and our anger.  Help us be better ambassadors for you.  More of you, Jesus, and less of me.  In Your Name, Amen.