Let us learn with David to fear God and trust in His mercy, worshipping Him to make life the best for us.

First, God is in absolute control. Vs1 There is no God but the God of the Bible: He is the Sovereign that rules all things.

Again the anger of the LORD burned against Israel, and He stirred up David against them, saying, “Go and take a census of Israel and Judah.”

Learn to fear Him. He can destroy you, and you won’t even know it until you perish. He can send us a strong delusion to believe a lie [2 Thess 2:11].

Believe the gospel while you can and walk in fear! Do not have the haughty mind of human strength, or God will bring you down.

One thing that happened to me (and I tell my story to benefit others) is that I thought I could make it on my own, as if all I needed was knowledge, and I can take care of everything else. I did not acknowledge my dependence on the Spirit, grieved the Spirit, and went from bad to worse.

We must walk in the fear of God, saying, “I can do nothing without You.” This is the person that He helps.

If we don’t fear God, then we’ll suffer, either chastisement or damnation. This truth brings us back to Christ in humility; it teaches us to walk humbly with God.

Secondly, we only know we’re wrong -or how wrong - after we’ve sinned. vs10

After David had numbered the troops, his conscience was stricken and he said to the LORD, “I have sinned greatly in what I have done. Now, O LORD, I beg You to take away the iniquity of Your servant, for I have acted very foolishly.”

This scares me. The God of all grace can wait until I fail, before showing me the wider consequences of rebellion. Sin may seem sweet because we’re totally depraved, prone to twist the Scripture, and we ignore warnings. Consequences, however, will come.

Fear yourself. Be afraid of what YOU might do, and lean on Christ. Do not be haughty and high minded but fear [Rom 11:20-22].

Thank God for grace. He has kept you from sin, and it has not been yourself. If we were more humble, we might not fall. If we acknowledged our weakness, then He’d hold us up. Put no confidence in yourself.

Do not fear, however, as those who have no hope. Scriptures are not meant to terrorize you, but to bring us to Christ so that fears may be relieved. When you fear perseverance and holiness, put the whole relationship on God, acknowledging that He saved you from beginning to end. [See Isaiah 46:3-4]

Thirdly, when we sin, we must fall into the hands of God. vs14

David answered Gad, “I am deeply distressed. Please, let us fall into the hand of the LORD, for His mercies are great; but do not let me fall into the hands of men.”

God is merciful, and it is better to humble ourselves before Him than anything else that we can do.

Do not cover your sin. He who covers his sin will not prosper. He who confesses and forsakes sin shall obtain mercy [Prov 28:13].

Do not fear going to God! He is gracious and merciful, pardoning iniquity, and passing by the transgressions of those that spit in His face [Micah 7:18]. You cannot be too lowly to be helped, if you confess your sin, turn, and submit to the consequences. You are saying, “I deserve whatever You do, and I trust You always. You are the only hope that I have.”

Hiding sin makes matters worse, because we rely on deceit, which is the strength of Satan. Don’t do what David did with Bathsheba; it seems he learned [Ps 32:3-5].

Fourthly, worship God to avoid the plague. vs20-21

When Araunah looked out and saw the king and his servants coming toward him, he went out and bowed facedown before the king. “Why has my lord the king come to his servant?” Araunah said.

“To buy your threshing floor,” David replied, “that I may build an altar to the LORD, so that the plague upon the people may be halted.”

This may seem cruel - that God would demand worship or send us to hell - but He is worthy, and it is His decree.

Saturday, during evangelism, someone asked an important question: Why would God send us to eternal hell for only 50 years of sinning?

I can’t understand it and describe it, but I do know that God is holy as manifested by the cross, and if He gave His Son to die - to suffer the wrath of God FOR OTHERS - then He’s surely just for punishing everyone that refuses His atonement.

Therefore, do not challenge God but bow to Him. Ask Him to teach you, and search the Scriptures, until you see that He is just.

Likewise, worship Him in your life! We are to live to the glory of God, which is making our bodies a living sacrifice [Rom 12:1]. We live for others to be saved.

When I contemplated departing from Christ years ago, I realized the teaching of Matt 24:45-51 boxed me in. Our Lord is saying that if we don’t live for His glory - helping others to see Christ - then we are not saved… or badly backslidden.

I’m thankful this group in Pittsburgh PA, even though from different churches, has a zeal to make Christ known. This is the ONLY WAY to live: We must get the gospel in, in order to get it out. God will only walk with us in the Spirit’s power if we live to make Christ known, leaning upon imputed righteousness and the Spirit. This is the threefold cord that can’t be broken.

Do not worry about anything else in life. If we worship God, then all is well. Christ is with us, pleased with us, and He will teach us good things. Worship leads to work.

Fifthly, this is the good news: the plague can be halted! vs25

And there he built an altar to the LORD and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings.

Then the LORD answered the prayers on behalf of the land, and the plague upon Israel was halted.

Have you ruined your life? Have you been living in sin? Are you a fallen believer? God is on your side, if you return.

We must not think our sins are too great: We can have the peace that we’ve squandered. God makes an amazing promise,

“I will repay you for the years that the swarming locust ate, the young locust, the destroying locust, and the devouring locust--My great army that I sent against you. You will have plenty to eat and be satisfied.” [Joel 2:25-26]

God specializes in restoring people: it is His glory. Look at Adam. He was not seeking mercy, but God restored him to fellowship and hope. Look at me. I was a sinner who obtained mercy AFTER squandering joy, peace, and usefulness. I tumbled to the bottom, and He picked me up.

God is able to save the sinner. Look at the Blood of Christ washing away sin and justifying God to help us! You may see yourself as unworthy, but then look to Christ and be sure that God’s mercies don’t depend on you but the Son. He is gracious, not just to pardon, but to restore fellowship, which is the sweetest thing there is, which is joy in God with power!

In Psalm 51:12-15, David knew he had to be restored, before he could minister. Let us have the same mind, and see God faithful. You can’t minister with far off love: you need the gospel in the power of the Spirit!