2 Samuel 24:9–14

Then Joab gave the sum of the number of the people to the king. And there were in Israel eight hundred thousand valiant men who drew the sword, and the men of Judah were five hundred thousand men.

And David’s heart condemned him after he had numbered the people. So David said to the Lord, “I have sinned greatly in what I have done; but now, I pray, O LORD, take away the iniquity of Your servant, for I have done very foolishly.”

Now when David arose in the morning, the word of the LORD came to the prophet Gad, David’s seer, saying, “Go and tell David, ‘Thus says the LORD: “I offer you three things; choose one of them for yourself, that I may do it to you.” ’ ” So Gad came to David and told him; and he said to him, “Shall seven years of famine come to you in your land? Or shall you flee three months before your enemies, while they pursue you? Or shall there be three days’ plague in your land? Now consider and see what answer I should take back to Him who sent me.”

And David said to Gad, “I am in great distress. Please let us fall into the hand of the LORD, for His mercies are great; but do not let me fall into the hand of man.”

What’s so sinful about taking a census? The US constitution mandates one every ten years. Is that wrong?

No, but David’s census was different. It’s wasn’t of all the people; it was just of the valiant men who drew the sword. He was measuring the potential size of his army! What was he planning?

It doesn’t matter what he was planning, or even if he was planning anything. Measuring the size of his army demonstrates a lack of reliance on the LORD. As we’ve seen, the LORD doesn’t need a big army.

The LORD said to Gideon, “The people with you are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hand, lest Israel boast over me, saying, ‘My own hand has saved me.’ … And the LORD said to Gideon, “With the 300 men who lapped I will save you and give the Midianites into your hand, and let all the others go every man to his home.” — Judges 7:2,7 (ESV)

What happened here is like David “forgot” that he’s a believer. He didn’t outright deny the things he knows; they just seemed to slip his mind. When reminded, he did the right thing, but that was pretty late.

This “forgetting” happens to us too. We’re all born without any understanding of God. We learn to walk and talk independent of religion. Then readin’, writin’, and ‘rithmetic are taught for their own sakes, typically without reference to God. We grow up wired to understand things in purely secular terms.

So, when we become “God aware” that new understanding is layered on top of a secular structure of what understanding is. The original wiring is still there. That wiring is what allows us to understand the gospel, but it functions independent of the gospel. All the day to day operations of life happen normally independent of any God awareness. We can, for example, catch a football without thinking about God.

So, being “God aware” when we’re doing something takes deliberate effort. It’s easy to forget.