The Census Sin

• What does it mean to “accept responsibility”?

• How do you feel after you sincerely apologize for something?

Then David said to God, “I have sinned greatly by doing this. Now, I beg you, take away the guilt of your servant. I have done a very foolish thing.”
1 Chronicles 21:8

David had become a powerful king, and at one point he told his general to go count all the men in Israel. Taking a census is not necessarily a sin, but David’s motivation was sinful. The Bible doesn’t explain his motivation, but there was no godly reason to take this census. Maybe David had become anxious. Maybe he had begun to rely more on his army and less on God, so he wanted the count to assure himself of his security. Or maybe he had become arrogant, and he wanted to know how great his kingdom was so that he could brag about it. We don’t know his motivation, but we know from the Bible that David was guilty.

And it didn’t take him long to realize it. When he did, he repented. David was no stranger to sin, but David always admitted when he was wrong. He always asked God for forgiveness.

So it should be with us. The Bible says that we will sin. We will give in to temptation, and we will make mistakes. But we need to admit when we are wrong. We must repent and ask God for forgiveness. We cannot be set free from our guilt until we admit we are guilty.

PRAYER
Dear God, please give us the humility and courage to admit when we are wrong. Please help us to accept responsibility for our actions. Amen.