Counting the fighting men

Key verse
Mark 16:6 - “Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him."


2 Samuel
In today's reading in 2 Samuel 24, David counted the number of men in his army.  He did this because God was angry with the Israelites, 'and he incited David against them.'  I see this act of David's as a lack of trust in God.  He needed to know exactly what position he could hold against his enemies, rather than relying on God to come through for him regardless of the situation.
I think we can learn from this situation and realize that in our own lives, we don't need to know exactly what's going on.  For example, we don't need to count our pennies and stay rigidly within certain guidelines; we should have the freedom to rest in God's provision for our needs.  Instead of restraining yourself from something God may want you to do, go forward in faith, even if it may not seem that you're equipped for it right away.

A way back

2 Samuel
Sometimes, it seems like the people in the Old Testament would have misunderstood God, just because the stories seem so harsh and judgmental.  Lots of people dying, and not a lot of grace.  But in 2 Samuel 14:14, we see that they did actually understood what God was after.  A wise woman said to King David "But God does not take away life; instead, he devises ways so that a banished person may not remain estranged from him."
God is always trying to get us to come back to Him.  His Son, Jesus, is the ultimate example of how far God was willing to go to reconcile us to Himself.  We just have to accept that He loves us that much!