David numbered the people, and we read the enemy put this in His heart, but God also had a plan of judgment in it too. But, David was doing this to see how many fighting men he had, perhaps as a means of pride in the life of the king, rather than trusting God to be Israel's defense. Trust in God is one thing that is at stake here, and a sinful, willful heart of 'doing your own thing' and not doing it God's prescribed way.
Exodus 30:12 “Whenever you take a census of the people of Israel, each man who is counted must pay a ransom for himself to the Lord. Then no plague will strike the people as you count them.
God's ways are not our ways. We get ideas in our mind that can go in direct opposition to God's already written word. That's why we should acknowledge Him in all of our ways, just in case we are in the flesh in our decision making, and the Holy Spirit wants to bring to remembrance an exact verse pertaining to our present choices. It might save our neck or someone else's if we listen, before we act suddenly or even recklessly in regard to what He has already spoken. O, the hurtful things our families or churches might be spared from, if we just heard God's word first on the subject and responded accordingly, for no believer would ever really want to be the reason a plague had come upon his family or friends.
David also disregarded the law against having many wives for a king, and look how that missed opportunity of obedience to God's revealed word, messed up his example to Solomon, who eventually married godless women who stole his heart away from the right path. Being 'on it' with the word of truth, has a much better legacy and impact to leave behind, with no residual trail of plaguish destruction.
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