anyway today i was reading 1 Chron 21 and there were a few things that stood out to me, but first let me give an overview. this is the chapter in which David takes a census against the will of God, Israel reaps the judgment of his sin, and David turns back to God by buying a fields and offering sacrifices to God on it.
the first thing that caught my attention is in verse one which says,
"Satan rose up against Israel and caused David to take a census."
Satan loves to bring down things that are doing well and Giving glory to God. One classic example of this is The Fall of Adam and Eve. Satan "rose up" against them and led them into sin. what was their sin? well amongst a plethora of other sins, there was pride. this is the same sin he led David to. Satan knew that God's people were enjoying relationship with him, were enjoying protection from enemies and were enjoying prosperity, and this was bringing glory to God, to the point where their enemies didn't want to fight them because they knew that God was on their side. this is glorifying God-- when even your enemies don't want to get near you. any way, David grew in pride in HIS achievements. Satan roe up and whispered into his ear, "look what you've made, God was there for sure, but YOU made this kingdom what it is!" David sufficiently brown nosed, and having his pride activated, said TO HIMSELF "I'll take a census to see what I've done!" Satan's plan had worked. Now David had a choice in what he did, he didn't have to take the census. if he'd moved in humility, he'd have seen what God had done in the kingdom of Israel and realised his small part of availability but he was caught by Satan's sweet words and allowed himself to be led instead of being the leader that God had made him to be.
