The Danger of Unchecked Pride

1 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."
2 So the king said to Joab and the army commanders [a] 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."
3 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?"
4 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.
5 After crossing the Jordan, they camped near Aroer, south of the town in the gorge, and then went through Gad and on to Jazer. 6 They went to Gilead and the region of Tahtim Hodshi, and on to Dan Jaan and around toward Sidon. 7 Then they went toward the fortress of Tyre and all the towns of the Hivites and Canaanites. Finally, they went on to Beersheba in the Negev of Judah.
8 After they had gone through the entire land, they came back to Jerusalem at the end of nine months and twenty days.
9 Joab reported the number of the fighting men to the king: In Israel there were eight hundred thousand able-bodied men who could handle a sword, and in Judah five hundred thousand.
10 David was conscience-stricken after he had counted the fighting men, and he said to the LORD, "I have sinned greatly in what I have done. Now, O LORD, I beg you, take away the guilt of your servant. I have done a very foolish thing."
11 Before David got up the next morning, the word of the LORD had come to Gad the prophet, David's seer: 12 "Go and tell David, 'This is what the LORD says: I am giving you three options. Choose one of them for me to carry out against you.' "
13 So Gad went to David and said to him, "Shall there come upon you three [b] years of famine in your land? Or three months of fleeing from your enemies while they pursue you? Or three days of plague in your land? Now then, think it over and decide how I should answer the one who sent me."
14 David said to Gad, "I am in deep distress. Let us fall into the hands of the LORD, for his mercy is great; but do not let me fall into the hands of men."
15 So the LORD sent a plague on Israel from that morning until the end of the time designated, and seventy thousand of the people from Dan to Beersheba died. 16 When the angel stretched out his hand to destroy Jerusalem, the LORD was grieved because of the calamity and said to the angel who was afflicting the people, "Enough! Withdraw your hand." The angel of the LORD was then at the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.
17 When David saw the angel who was striking down the people, he said to the LORD, "I am the one who has sinned and done wrong. These are but sheep. What have they done? Let your hand fall upon me and my family."

David is being tempted by Satan and the temptation is being allowed by God. God was angry with Israel. David’s answer was to take a military census, for some unknown reason. Possibly, David’s plan was for the purpose of reflecting his strength to overcome any enemy force, possibly as a statement of confidence, possibly to show God that Israel was a mighty nation. In any case, it was a human and prideful decision that did not show surrender and obedience to God.

In Dr. Thomas Constable’s commentary on 2 Samuel, he says this about David’s refusal to listen to Joab’s counsel in verse three, “He [David] behaved as one who refuses to be accountable to anyone, which was easy for David to do since he was the king.”

Accountability. So easy to do when those above you are many. Much more challenging when there are many more below you. Those below you tend to polish your ankles. After a steady diet of polishing, it’s easy to like the smell of your own exhaust. When that happens, you have no human aid in course correction. You are unaccountable. God may even allow you to be tempted. And, like David, you may believe that it will be more enjoyable to inhale your own exhaust, to stroke your own ego, to revel in what you want to believe, than to honestly, humbly, obediently stay surrendered to God.

The result of human pride is that it generally comes before a fall. “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.” Proverbs 16:18

What’s interesting is the ups and downs of David’s faith. In the previous chapter he has refused to drink the water brought to him under great peril through the work of three of his mighty men. He was honoring their sacrifice in noting that he was not worthy to drink of what had been bought at great potential sacrifice. Humility. A noble quality. One that God honors because it is the act of bowing down before him.

But then comes pride. God’s mad at Israel so I’ll show him how powerful Israel really is. I’m the king. Oops. Pride. Who put you in charge and at who’s pleasure do you serve? Who do you ultimately report to?