God, the Devil and Me

This passage of scripture, i.e., 2 Samuel 24 ff has bothered me for a very long time. It says that the Lord was angry and his anger was kindled against Israel. He (God) moved David to number Israel and Judah. However in v. 10 David realizes that he has sinned in numbering the people and God gives him 3 choices as to how he will be punished. The question is how could God move David to number the people and then be angry with him when he did it?

When you read 1 Chronicles 21:1-4 we see that it was Satan who stood up against Israel and provoked David to number Israel. This is a matter of seeing the same incident from man’s perspective and from God’s prospective, i.e., from the physical or from the spiritual.

The next question then is how is it that David is responsible for this action? James 1:14 states that a man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lusts and enticed. This weight falls on David. He was tempted by Satan, God permitted it and David did it.

Throughout the Bible we see instances of God permitting or even using Satan for His own purposes. Read Habakkuk 1 when he cried out to God to save them. God told him that he would raise up the Chaldeans, a bitter and hasty nation and would gather them as captives. Habakkuk could not understand how a loving God could use a heathen nation but is was because of Israel’s disobedience.

In all this, I endeavor to trust in the Lord with all my heart and not lean to my own understanding... (Proverbs 3:5,6) knowing that God works all things together for good to those who love the Lord and are called according to His purpose. Romans 8:28.