A Difficult Choice
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.” - 2 Samuel 24:13
As we read through these awful choices God gave to David it is hard to imagine what he would choose. Seven years of famine would cause the slow starvation of many people in his kingdom, bringing suffering over a long period of time. At this time in his life would he choose three months of being humiliated and hunted by his enemies? He had also experienced the hardship of many years on the run while King Saul pursued him. As a mighty warrior, David had remained undefeated.
Then there was the third choice, three days of plague in the land. The horrors of the plague would sweep the land and the people would fall like flies––dead. Imagine, the heavy weight of responsibility that David felt for those who would die; knowing that it could have been avoided. If only he had listened to the wise counsel of those who tried to speak with him.
Once again contemplate the terrible consequences of David’s sin and learn from his mistakes. In your own life are you planning to do something that is in direct opposition to what you know is right in God’s Word? It may be an unequally yoked relationship? Moving into a home with a partner without being married? Or even to continue in an adulterous affair?
If you have shared those plans with godly people, have they attempted to convince you not to go forward with your plans? Avoid the consequences of your sin by stopping to consider the other people you will hurt. Will you listen to the counsel you have been given?
Where there is no counsel, the people fall;
but in the multitude of counselors there is safety.
~Proverbs 11:14~
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