Wrong Thing, Wrong Time

May 24, 2009

Today's Reading: 2 Samuel 23-24 and Mark 15

I think you all know that there are some things in the Bible that I don’t really agree with. However, I’m not the one who wrote it, and there are a few edits that I would make.

First of all, there seems to be a part where David counts his army. Now, I don’t understand why it is a sin to count an army. In the book of Numbers, there is nothing but counting! Accountants probably sit around and dream of the book of Numbers.

So what makes the counting that David did wrong? Maybe it is like that song by Kenny Rogers: “you never count your money when you’re sitting at the table, they’ll be time enough for counting, when the dealing’s done”.

Okay, all Gambler references aside, I’m am certain that there is some sort of trust issue going on with David and the Lord. Even Joab could see that, and that guy was pretty thick sometimes.

Trust issues are really tough. After all, you can make yourself feel good by counting dollar bills, or other things that we have in our life to keep us secure. I suppose for David, knowing that his massive army was surrounding him probably made him feel safe. Yet trusting in that army would lead to not trusting in God, really.

I suppose it was the lesson that Gideon had to learn, when he had to get rid of the invading army. God had intended a small army to liberate Israel, but there was apparently too many of them.

So why is it that God punished David so terribly when he just counted his army? No offense, I don’t consider this action even sinful. Should I be punished every time I check my bank account?

No, that’s just rational for when I check my bills. I suppose if I was a billionaire, I would be stupid if I kept counting my money all the time. Impractical, yes, and possibly paranoid.

I suppose this demonstrates the importance of doing the right thing at the right time. There is nothing wrong with counting an army, because I’m pretty sure the government does this at least three times per day.

Still, God wants us to do specific things at a specific time. There is no point in denying that God has a plan, and if we do something that we aren’t supposed to do, then it would be like going back in time and doing something that we aren’t supposed to do.