Old Testament: 1Ch 21.15–16

To read the Bible in a year, read First Chronicles 20–22 on May 27, In the year of our Lord Christ 2023

By Don Ruhl 

David had sinned and it brought condemnation to Israel, because they had also sinned. The Lord gave David a choice of three punishments. He simply responded that he wanted to fall into the Lord’s hand and not man’s, because the Lord shows mercy and man does not. 

After the Lord sent an angel to take vengeance on Jerusalem, the Lord decided that the city had suffered enough and stopped the angel: 

And God sent an angel to Jerusalem to destroy it. As he was destroying, the LORD looked and relented of the disaster, and said to the angel who was destroying, “It is enough; now restrain your hand.” And the angel of the LORD stood by the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. Then David lifted his eyes and saw the angel of the LORD standing between earth and heaven, having in his hand a drawn sword stretched out over Jerusalem. So David and the elders, clothed in sackcloth, fell on their faces.

– 1 Chronicles 21.15–16 

When the Lord said it is enough, the mighty angel stopped his destruction, and David saw the angel standing between heaven and earth, although close enough to the land that his location on earth could be pinpointed, David and the elders fell on their faces. They did not worship the angel, but out of reverence for this angel who had the destructive power of the Lord. 

David was king of Israel, but as Jerusalem suffered he wore sackcloth. See this man’s humility, dressing in sackcloth and falling down before an angel. 

No wonder the Lord loved David. 

Questions: 

• Do you ever fall down on your face in humility before the Lord? 
• How did Ornan respond to the angel and how did he respond to David later in the story? 

To subscribe go to EmailDevotionals.com and click “Follow”