The Right Choice : The Business of Christian Education LXVII

¹⁰ But David’s heart struck him after he had numbered the people. And David said to the Lord, “I have sinned greatly in what I have done. But now, O Lord, please take away the iniquity of your servant, for I have done very foolishly.” ¹¹ And when David arose in the morning, the word of the Lord came to the prophet Gad, David’s seer, saying, ¹² “Go and say to David, ‘Thus says the Lord, Three things I offer you. Choose one of them, that I may do it to you.’ ” ¹³ So Gad came to David and told him, and said to him, “Shall three years of famine come to you in your land? Or will you flee three months before your foes while they pursue you? Or shall there be three days’ pestilence in your land? Now consider, and decide what answer I shall return to him who sent me.” ¹⁴ Then David said to Gad, “I am in great distress. Let us fall into the hand of the Lord, for his mercy is great; but let me not fall into the hand of man.”

2 Samuel 24:10-14

           

            Sometime during his reign, David felt compelled to count Israel’s fighting men.  Even though Joab advised David not to do so, David persisted.  So Joab went for nine months and twenty days to complete the census.  Then Joab returned to give his report of the result.  Right away after David received the report from Joab, he felt guilty.  The Scripture is not very clear as to what particular sin that David committed when he ordered the census.  It could be that arrogance was in his heart.  Or it might also fear.  Or it could be lack of faith.  The Scripture does not tell the sin, but only that David sinned greatly by ordering the census.  What is more interesting is what followed David’s guilty feeling.  David prayed to God for
forgiveness.  Then God sent his prophet to give response.

            God’s response was in the form of options of the type of judgment David would rather receive because of his sin.  Three options were offered to David.  The first was three years of famine.  The second was three months of fleeing from enemies.  And the third was three days of pestilence.  God gave David freedom to choose his own punishment.  Each was difficult to bear.  The prophet must have been curious as to what option David would choose.  Naturally when one is found guilty and then given options for the kind of punishment he/she would prefer to receive, he/she would take time to think and calculate based on what he/she is willing to bear or more ready to go through.  Reasonably, one will choose what seems to be the easiest to deal with comparing to his/her strength and weakness.  Furthermore, it is human nature to crave for options, in which a little bit of freedom and control could be held in their hands.  To be given space to determine one’s own destiny is the common belief in today’s world.  Given freedom to choose is much better than given no choice at all.  The sinfulness of human heart desires the power to choose.  Even if the choices are all bad, but the taste of freedom, power, and control brings that ecstasy no matter painful the suffering would be.

            In other words, humans naturally prefer the power to choose over no choice at all.  The no choice route is considered as robbing our basic rights in our modern democratic paradigm.  Human sinfulness forces for creating one’s own fate.  Even if the no choice route ends in a result that is a million times better than the freedom to choose route, humans continue to prefer the freedom to choose route.  How much more for David, given options was much preferable because of his power and authority.  After all he was the most powerful man in Israel at that time.  Kings are always the person to go to for important decisions regarding the fate of the nation.  Giving him no choice would be contrary to his kingship.  Moreover, it would be an insult to his kingly status.  Those of us parents understand that even children at an early age already show signs of autonomy.  Children, even though weak in every sense, prefer to make their own choice rather than submitting to their parents’ choice.  Gradually children will assert more authority over their own life and conflict with their parents over what is best for them.  It is human tendency to go with the freedom to choose route than with the no choice one.  And so, for David to be given options like those was preferable.  Because then he could choose according to his own wisdom, his calculation of his strength and weakness, his understanding from his knowledge and experience, the choice that he felt more ready to deal with and the kind of suffering he was more willing to bear.

            God gave David three options.  3 years, 3 months, or 3 days of punishments.  3 years of famine.  3 months of fleeing from enemies.  Or 3 days of plague.  Of the three options, David had massive experience with fleeing from enemies.  The famine was not a good option at all, for it took the longest time.  Besides, in all history, when famine took place, the result was always bad.  The plague, even though short, could also be devastating.  People at that time were all too familiar with the devastation caused by plague.  Egypt suffered tremendously when they refused to let Israel go.  In the desert many people died because God sent plague to them due to their rebellion.  That left David with the fleeing option, in which he was a master.  He fled from Saul for years before he could come back to Israel.  He fled from Absalom during his rebellion to his father.  David had all the knowledge and skills to overcome his enemies’ pursuit and return unharmed.  Humanly speaking, the wisest choice for David was the 3 months of fleeing from enemies.  It was only reasonable for David to take God’s offer and choose the second punishment.  Humans tend to choose the easiest and the lightest punishment.  That is only natural because humans hate suffering.  Our reflex dictates us to avoid suffering.  We are drawn toward pleasure.  We love pleasure over suffering.  It would be unnatural for us to choose suffering over pleasure.  In this case it is no difference.

            David’s response is very interesting however.  David must have surprised Gad, God’s prophet, that was sent to deliver God’s message and to bring back David’s answer.  With all things considered, the expected answer from David was to flee from his enemies for 3 months.  But David took this matter to a different level.  For David this was never about pleasure versus suffering.  He did not base his answer on his pleasure or suffering.  Instead of centering the decision on his own self, he centered it in something else.  So he gave the shocking answer: “I am in great distress. Let us fall into the hand of the Lord, for his mercy is great; but let me not fall into the hand of man.”  David’s answer was unexpected.  He did not make a choice out of the three options God gave to him.  David chose God.  David’s request was only to not fall into the hands of man.  So, instead of choosing the most reasonable and wisest choice of the three, David rejected it altogether.  In today’s paradigm, David’s answer would be considered irrational and unreasonable.  He was not making an informed decision.  He was basing his decision not on reliable SWOT analysis.  He based his decision on something unquantifiable.  Something that was not even rational.  But David’s answer delighted the Lord.  Because his answer demonstrated his faith in the Lord.  David’s faith in God’s character was amazing.  He did not rely on his own ability to handle situations, as expected from CEOs nowadays.  If David were a CEO in this modern world, his answer would have been ground for his dismissal.  As the top person in the nation, he was expected to be able to handle the situation.  He was expected to choose the most reasonable option.  But no, David let the judge of all the universe to make his decision.  God’s power was very well known and established in the mind of the people.  He destroyed Egypt to the point that it never recovered as the great empire it once was.  God obliterated Canaan with its thirty three kings using a people that never went to war and just came out of the desert.  Who would want to fall into the hands of the most powerful being in the whole wide world?  Especially after committing a great sin.  No one in their right mind would want to answer the answer David gave.  When given three options, it was an opportunity to stay away from God.  The only option possible was to fall into the hands of man, which in this case, David had the most experience and thus the most likely for David to survive the punishment without trouble.  And after all the suffering he experienced during the time of Saul and his escape from Absalom, this three months of fleeing would be like a walk in the park.  But David refused to choose the only choice that would give him a chance to run away from the hand of God.  If we were David’s friends we would all shout to him: “David, what were you thinking?!”

            Humans tend to approach God with suspicion.  The tendency is to imagine God as wild and self centered.  Humans tend to think that God is malicious.  The mention of God is unpleasant for humans.  The imagination of God carries with it the terror of the Almighty.  Whenever there is trouble and suffering, humans tend to blame God.  They think that God rejoices over human suffering.  They think that God enjoys watching humans in agony.  And so, their imagination becomes their foundational truth, which then dictates how they respond to God.  Instead of approaching God with faith, they approach God with suspicion.  But this passage provides us with a different perspective of God.  David’s faith was based on God’s unchanging character.  God’s mercy was at the center of David’s answer.  He did not come up with his wise calculation over the SWOT analysis.  His eyes of faith penetrated the cloud of human suspicion and fear, and thus he submitted himself to the hands of the Judge of the universe.  Instead of avoiding punishment or choosing the lightest and easiest, David ran to God with open hands.  He did not run away from God.  He did not trust man over God.  But he trusted God over man.  This reminds me of Jesus Christ.  When he walked that via dolorosa, did he ever doubt his Father?  If I were there walking the road to calvary, carrying my cross, and soon I would be nailed to the cross, I asked myself: “Would God really raise me from the dead?”  What if all these were signs that God had rejected me?  What if I were wrong?  What if God truly had abandoned me?  All the what if.  But Jesus did not doubt.  He marched to Golgotha in faith.  His eyes of faith penetrated the obscure condemnation of man.  He trusted his Father.  Even when he shouted: “My God, my God, why do you forsake me?”, Jesus did not doubt a single bit.  He knew it had to be done.  He knew that he would rise again on the third day.  Similarly, David trusted God.  He did not trust his excellent calculation.  He submitted to God for he believed in his mercy.  He experienced God’s mercy all his life.  He had learned not to doubt God.  When he was just a boy, he experienced God’s mercy when he protected his sheep from lions and bears.  When he was face to face with Goliath, God’s mercy was with him.  When Saul wanted him dead, God’s mercy walked him through.  When he committed a great sin by committing adultery with Bathsheba and murdering Uriah, God also had mercy on him by forgiving him and not taking away His spirit from him.  When he was betrayed by his own son, Absalom, God’s mercy was also with him.  In all his battles with the surrounding nations, God always had mercy on David.  So David held fast to God and God alone.

            David made the right choice.  That was the best choice anyone could make.  Jesus too made the same choice.  He trusted his Father.  Through looking at their examples, we know the right choice now.  Whenever we are in great distress and tempted to calculate based on our self pleasure and suffering, remember David and Jesus.  They submitted to God.  Instead of creating our own fate and opting for what we think to be the best choice, we ought to trust God and submit to him.  This is the path of faith.  This path delights the Lord.  Submitting to the Lord is always the right choice.