1 Chronicles 21:2
So David said to Joab and the commanders of the troops, "Go and count the Israelites from Beersheba to Dan. Then report back to me so that I may know how many there are."
It’s funny how I slept early last night to prepare for today. Yup, it’s a happy birthday to me. Thirty seven years and old, haha :> I woke up excited to once again count His many blessings, ready to name them one by one. I imagined holding a pen and listing it all down: people who made my life meaningful, experiences that shaped my growth, successes which I never thought I’d see, and so on. I even planned to peek into my last year’s journal and put check marks to prayers now answered. I was all-set. Bowing my head, the first words that came out were: ‘I praise you God for my life’. Somehow, God stopped me right there. Then He guided me to restart: ‘I praise You God for You are LifeGiver.’
David was probably also in the height of his years in this chapter: all enemies subdued, the land expanding, and the people peaceful and satisfied. It was everything any king would wish for. With all ends secure, David unconsciously let down his defenses. It was at this unguarded moment when the enemy incited him to take a census of Israel’s fighting men, tempting him of pride. If they were on the brink of war and it was for a military decision, this was understandable. But why would a king want a concrete picture of his strength if it wasn’t for vain conceit. His name was now renowned and maybe the whispered thought to put it in record – as the greatest kingdom ever – very much appealed to him. But this act proved detestable to God. As One who promised Israel to be as numerous as the stars found it irreverent to count what He declared as uncountable. It stirred His wrath and brought judgement to what David himself took pride in: their number. In one strike of His angel’s sword, seventy thousand men fell dead. The blessing became a curse. All because David gloried in the gift, forgetting the Giver.
So does that mean we stop counting blessings? Definitely not. But blessings devoid of praise is what we have to guard our hearts from. I can occupy myself this day thanking everyone for how their lives complemented mine, or daydreaming how my years went by, feeling good about it, and say it was a beautiful one. But will God be pleased? No, because I left Him out of the picture. Ecclesiastes noted ‘Remember your Creator’. Deuteronomy also pleaded: ‘Remember the Lord your God who gives you..’ And so this morning, this birth-day, I praised the Lord. I woke up I having an earth-full of things to thank Him for, now I’m wide-eyed realizing how our number system failed by just how the universe displayed the wonderful Him. And guess how many stars aren’t discovered yet?
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