Then David said to Gad, “I am in great distress. Let us now fall into the hand of the Lord for His mercies are great, but do not let me fall into the hand of man.” 2 Samuel 24:14 NASB
David made a lot of mistakes in his life but one thing is certain, he knew his God well! I can’t imagine having to choose my own punishment, but that’s the situation David found himself in. He knew that his mistake would have a ripple effect, not only on his own family but on the entire nation of Israel. That’s the way it is with sin. It never just effects the sinner. For those in leadership, the effects of their sins are even farther reaching! But I love the rationale that David used in making his decision and I’ve no doubt God loved it as well. All throughout David’s life, in the good times and the bad, he had experienced the mercy of God. He knew that he could count on God’s mercy and trusted that however severe the consequence, God’s mercy would be his saving grace!
Now David’s heart troubled him after he had numbered the people. So David said to the Lord, “I have sinned greatly in what I have done. But now, O Lord, please take away the iniquity of Your servant, for I have acted very foolishly.” When David arose in the morning, the word of the Lord came to the prophet Gad, David’s seer, saying, “Go and speak to David, ‘Thus the Lord says, “I am offering you three things; choose for yourself one of them, which I will do to you.”’” So Gad came to David and told him, and said to him, “Shall seven years of famine come to you in your land? Or will you flee three months before your foes while they pursue you? Or shall there be three days’ pestilence in your land? Now consider and see what answer I shall return to Him who sent me.” Then David said to Gad, “I am in great distress. Let us now fall into the hand of the Lord for His mercies are great, but do not let me fall into the hand of man.” So the Lord sent a pestilence upon Israel from the morning until the appointed time, and seventy thousand men of the people from Dan to Beersheba died. When the angel stretched out his hand toward Jerusalem to destroy it, the Lord relented from the calamity and said to the angel who destroyed the people, “It is enough! Now relax your hand!” And the angel of the Lord was by the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite. 2 Samuel 24:10-16 NASB
God will always hold us accountable for our sins. It is true that we sow what we reap. Even a man after God’s own heart had to accept the consequences when he chose to walk in disobedience to God. Yet, David was right to fall into the hand of the Lord and trust in His mercy. God cut the punishment short of what was deserved. We never get the full measure of God’s wrath when we turn from our sin and seek His forgiveness!
He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. Psalm 103:10 NIV