Fear No Fear

(All scripture from the World English Bible, ebible.org, all rights reserved)

“David spoke to Yahweh when he saw the angel who struck the people, and said, “Behold, I have sinned, and I have done perversely; but these sheep, what have they done? Please let your hand be against me, and against my father’s house.” Gad came that day to David and said to him, “Go up, build an altar to Yahweh on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.” David went up according to the saying of Gad, as Yahweh commanded. Araunah looked out, and saw the king and his servants coming on toward him. Then Araunah went out and bowed himself before the king with his face to the ground. Araunah said, “Why has my lord the king come to his servant?” David said, “To buy your threshing floor, to build an altar to Yahweh, that the plague may be stopped from afflicting the people.” Araunah said to David, “Let my lord the king take and offer up what seems good to him. Behold, the cattle for the burnt offering, and the threshing sledges and the yokes of the oxen for the wood. All this, O king, does Araunah give to the king.” Araunah said to the king, “May Yahweh your God accept you.” The king said to Araunah, “No, but I will most certainly buy it from you for a price. I will not offer burnt offerings to Yahweh my God which cost me nothing.” So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver. David built an altar to Yahweh there, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. So Yahweh was entreated for the land, and the plague was removed from Israel.”
(2 Samuel 24:17-25)

“According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another builds on it. But let each man be careful how he builds on it. For no one can lay any other foundation than that which has been laid, which is Jesus Christ. But if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay, or straw, each man’s work will be revealed. For the Day will declare it, because it is revealed in fire; and the fire itself will test what sort of work each man’s work is. If any man’s work remains which he built on it, he will receive a reward. If any man’s work is burned, he will suffer loss, but he himself will be saved, but as through fire.”
(1 Corinthians 3:10-15)

King David decided to take a census. Not because God commanded him, but because he wanted to see how many people he commanded (pride, perhaps?). But he did NOT take the census the way God had commanded His people to take a census (Exodus 30:12-16). God was particular about how to do it and there was a serious penalty for failing to do it. David did not do it the right way. David couldn’t make up for it later. Things were do be done right when they were done. This was a deliberate disobedience that took about ten months to accomplish. When David came to his senses, he threw himself on God’s mercy. When the punishment arrived, David cried out for the people and took personal responsibility for what had been done. When God told him to build and altar, he did it. AND he made sure that it cost him something. He made a payment toward the reconciliation with God instead of relying on others to bear the burden for him. Personal responsibility wedded to personal payment/cost. David was a leader. David understood God’s heart.

It is not our actions that are the cause of wrongdoing. David built and altar and sacrificed on it. So did Saul. But God had told David to and David was motivated by repentance and getting right with God. Saul had been told NOT to and Saul was motivated by fear of losing face, position, and people. Heart intent MATTERS. What we do matters. We can do all the right things, but have them mean nothing because in our hearts we were holding a grudge or were ungrateful. The correct effort done with an incorrect heart, is like throwing tissue paper to put out a fire: it counts for nothing.

Summary

Jesus continuously taught that what our heart motivation was mattered. It wasn’t keeping God’s commands if you only went through the motions. Not physically committing adultery, but dwelling on lustful thoughts in your heart was the same as actually doing it. Hating in your heart is as serious as murder. Even science tells us that holding onto bitterness (not forgiving) has a detrimental effect on our physical health. What we believe, in our hearts, matters. We need to think of our heart intent with everything we do. Which can feel exhausting. But if we line up our hearts, our words, and our actions with the Word – informing everything we do by God’s moral character – it can become automatic. Retraining our minds (Romans 12:2) helps to develop what lives in our hearts (Matthew 6:21; Romans 10:17), which is the foundation on which everything we do rests.