2 Samuel 24:13
So Gad went and said to David, "Do you choose to endure three years of famine in your land, three months of fleeing the pursuit of your enemies, or three days of plague upon your land? Now then, think it over and decide how I should reply to Him who sent me."
Sermons
Christians Exhorted to Consider What Answer Their Ministers Will have to Return to God Concerning ThemJ. Orton.2 Samuel 24:13
Preachers and HearersB. Dale 2 Samuel 24:13
Pressing for an Answer to God's MessageG. Wood 2 Samuel 24:13
David Numbering the PeopleH. Melvill, B. D.2 Samuel 24:1-25
David Numbering the PeopleF. M. Sadler, M. A.2 Samuel 24:1-25
David's Numbering of the PeopleHomiletic Magazine2 Samuel 24:1-25
In What Respect the Census was SinfulA. F. Kirkpatrick, M. A.2 Samuel 24:1-25
Numbering the PeopleC. S. Robinson, D. D.2 Samuel 24:1-25
The Church's Resources2 Samuel 24:1-25
The Prophet GadB. Dale 2 Samuel 24:9-13, 18, 19














Advise, and see what answer I shall return to him that sent me. These words of Gad to David might well be addressed by religious teachers, and especially ministers of the gospel, to those whom they instruct. Notice -

I. GOD'S MESSENGERS. "Him that sent me."

1. True ministers of Christ are God's messengers. Their office is not a human invention. They are not mere lecturers, who may choose their own themes and aims; not mere philosophers, free to speculate at will and give the people the result of their speculations; still less mere performers, whose business is to amuse. They are sent of God, by the operations of his Spirit, the guidance of his providence, and the appointment of his Church; and have a definite message from him to their hearers, viz. the gospel (in the wider sense) of Jesus Christ - its revelations, precepts, promises, and threatenings. In delivering this message, they have a definite end to seek - the salvation of their hearers. He who is not convinced that he is God sent - "inwardly moved by the Holy Ghost to take upon him this office and ministration" (Prayer book) - ought not to assume it.

2. They should cherish a due sense of their position. Which will keep alive:

(1) The feeling of responsibility to God. "As they that must give account" (Hebrews 13:17).

(2) Humility. The consciousness of a Divine mission might tempt them to pride and arrogance, but the consciousness of unworthiness and unfitness for so sacred a work will keep them humble. "Who is sufficient for these things?" (2 Corinthians 2:16).

(3) Care as to what they teach. That it may be the very message of God. "Preach the preaching that I bid thee" (Jonah 3:2).

(4) Care as to the spirit and aim of their teaching. Not to exalt or enrich themselves, or merely please men, but to glorify God and promote the salvation of their hearers (John 7:18; Galatians 1:10; Colossians 1:28).

(5) Faith and hope. That he whose messengers they are will guide and support them, give success to their endeavours, and amply reward them.

3. Hearers should recognize the position of their ministers. Such recognition will:

(1) Regulate their expectations from them. They will not expect them to flatter, or merely entertain, or to suppress unwelcome truths. They will desire them to be faithful to their convictions as to the message God would have them deliver.

(2) Induce them to give earnest heed to their instructions and admonitions. Their attitude will be that of Cornelius and his friends (Acts 10:33): "Now therefore are we all here present before God, to hear all things that are commanded thee of God;" and, when the words addressed to them are perceived to be Divine truth, they will receive them "not as the word of men, but as the Word of God" (1 Thessalonians 2:13), with faith and obedience. (For the opposite spirit and practice, see Ezekiel 33:31, 32.)

II. THE ALTERNATIVES THEY PRESENT. Happily they have not, like Gad, to offer a choice of fearful calamities, but of:

1. On the one hand, eternal life; commencing now in the enjoyment of pardon and peace, holiness and hope; and perfected in heaven. This to be secured by faith in the Son of God as Saviour and Lord, with corresponding love and obedience.

2. And, on the other, eternal punishment; "indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish" (Romans 2:8, 9); to be assuredly secured by rejection of Christ, and of God in him. These solemn alternatives must not, cannot, be kept cut of view by a faithful messenger of God; and the thought of them will give earnestness to his ministrations, and to the treatment of them by his hearers (comp. Deuteronomy 30:15-19).

III. THE ANSWER FOR WHICH THEY PRESS. Christian ministers should endeavour as far as possible privately to urge individuals to consider what answer they will give to the Divine message, what choice they will make between the alternatives presented to them. This cannot be always done; but in their public addresses they ought to be urgent in pressing their hearers to definite consideration and decision. They should show them:

1. That an answer has to be given, and that to God, who searches the heart. That, in fact, they are ever giving a reply; ever choosing the evil, if not the good.

2. That their answer should be the result of careful consideration. "Advise, and see;" consider and determine. A great point is gained when men are induced to consider the claims of God and their souls.

3. That such consideration should be prompt. It is both sinful and perilous to delay. To put off attention to God's message is insulting to him, and may end in his deciding suddenly and unexpectedly for us which of the two alternatives shall be ours.

4. That they are themselves intensely concerned that the answer given should be that which is alone wise and good - the hearty acceptance of Christ and salvation. "As though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God" (2 Corinthians 5:20). - G.W.

Now advise, and see what answer I shall return to him that sent me.
I. CHRISTIAN MINISTERS ARE THE MESSENGERS OF GOD, AND SENT ON AN IMPORTANT ERRAND.

1. They are sent of God.

2. They are sent on an important errand.

II. MINISTERS ARE TO RETURN AN ANSWER TO HIM THAT SENDETH THEM.

1. They are to return to their Master.

2. They are to answer as to their own fidelity.

3. They are likewise to return an answer concerning the reception which they themselves met with.

III. IT BECOMETH THE MEMBERS OF CHRISTIAN CHURCHES SERIOUSLY TO CONSIDER WHAT ANSWERS THEIR MINISTERS WILL HAVE TO RETURN CONCERNING THEM. Application.

1. This subject affords some useful instruction to Christian ministers. It should lead them to "magnify their office," as "the messengers of God." It should excite their warmest gratitude that they are employed under Christ, on the same errand which brought him into the world. Further, they may learn to deliver their message with all plainness, seriousness, and fidelity.

2. Christian people may derive some useful instruction from these particulars. Learn, then, to be thankful that messengers are sent to you on so kind and gracious an errand.

(J. Orton.)

People
Araunah, Canaanites, Dan, David, Gad, Gadites, Hittites, Hivite, Hivites, Joab, Zidon
Places
Aroer, Beersheba, Dan, Gilead, Jazer, Jerusalem, Jordan River, Kadesh, Negeb, Sidon, Tyre
Topics
Adversaries, Adversary, Advise, Aware, Bring, Consider, David, Decide, Declareth, Disease, Enemies, Famine, Flee, Fleeing, Flight, Foes, Gad, Haters, Months, Pestilence, Plague, Pursue, Pursuing, Return, Sending, Seven, Violent, Wilt
Outline
1. David, tempted by Satan, forces Joab to number the people
5. The captains, in nine months and twenty days, gather 1,300,000 fighting men
10. David repents, and having three plagues proposed by God, chooses pestilence
15. After the death of 70,000, David by prayer prevents the destruction of Jerusalem
18. David, by God's direction, purchases Araunah's threshing floor;
25. and the plague stops

Dictionary of Bible Themes
2 Samuel 24:13

     4823   famine, physical
     5319   fugitives

2 Samuel 24:1-16

     7236   Israel, united kingdom

2 Samuel 24:1-17

     5087   David, reign of

2 Samuel 24:10-25

     7435   sacrifice, in OT

2 Samuel 24:11-25

     4843   plague

Library
The Exile --Continued.
We have one psalm which the title connects with the beginning of David's stay at Adullam,--the thirty-fourth. The supposition that it dates from that period throws great force into many parts of it, and gives a unity to what is else apparently fragmentary and disconnected. Unlike those already considered, which were pure soliloquies, this is full of exhortation and counsel, as would naturally be the case if it were written when friends and followers began to gather to his standard. It reads like
Alexander Maclaren—The Life of David

The Universal Chorus
And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto Him that stteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever. M en have generally agreed to dignify their presumptuous and arrogant ^* disquisitions on the works and ways of God, with the name of wisdom ; though the principles upon which they proceed, and the conclusions which they draw from
John Newton—Messiah Vol. 2

Letter xix (A. D. 1127) to Suger, Abbot of S. Denis
To Suger, Abbot of S. Denis He praises Suger, who had unexpectedly renounced the pride and luxury of the world to give himself to the modest habits of the religious life. He blames severely the clerk who devotes himself rather to the service of princes than that of God. 1. A piece of good news has reached our district; it cannot fail to do great good to whomsoever it shall have come. For who that fear God, hearing what great things He has done for your soul, do not rejoice and wonder at the great
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux—Some Letters of Saint Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux

Meditations for one that is Like to Die.
If thy sickness be like to increase unto death, then meditate on three things:--First, How graciously God dealeth with thee. Secondly, From what evils death will free thee. Thirdly, What good death will bring unto thee. The first sort of Meditations are, to consider God's favourable dealing with thee. 1. Meditate that God uses this chastisement of thy body but as a medicine to cure thy soul, by drawing thee, who art sick in sin, to come by repentance unto Christ, thy physician, to have thy soul healed
Lewis Bayly—The Practice of Piety

Consolations against Impatience in Sickness.
If in thy sickness by extremity of pain thou be driven to impatience, meditate-- 1. That thy sins have deserved the pains of hell; therefore thou mayest with greater patience endure these fatherly corrections. 2. That these are the scourges of thy heavenly Father, and the rod is in his hand. If thou didst suffer with reverence, being a child, the corrections of thy earthly parents, how much rather shouldst thou now subject thyself, being the child of God, to the chastisement of thy heavenly Father,
Lewis Bayly—The Practice of Piety

The Order of Thought which Surrounded the Development of Jesus.
As the cooled earth no longer permits us to understand the phenomena of primitive creation, because the fire which penetrated it is extinct, so deliberate explanations have always appeared somewhat insufficient when applying our timid methods of induction to the revolutions of the creative epochs which have decided the fate of humanity. Jesus lived at one of those times when the game of public life is freely played, and when the stake of human activity is increased a hundredfold. Every great part,
Ernest Renan—The Life of Jesus

Of Love to God
I proceed to the second general branch of the text. The persons interested in this privilege. They are lovers of God. "All things work together for good, to them that love God." Despisers and haters of God have no lot or part in this privilege. It is children's bread, it belongs only to them that love God. Because love is the very heart and spirit of religion, I shall the more fully treat upon this; and for the further discussion of it, let us notice these five things concerning love to God. 1. The
Thomas Watson—A Divine Cordial

The Hardening in the Sacred Scripture.
"He hath hardened their heart."-- John xii. 40. The Scripture teaches positively that the hardening and "darkening of their foolish heart" is a divine, intentional act. This is plainly evident from God's charge to Moses concerning the king of Egypt: "Thou shalt speak all that I command thee; and I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and multiply My signs and wonders in the land of Egypt. But Pharaoh shall not harken unto you, and I will lay My hand upon Egypt, and the Egyptians shall know that I am the
Abraham Kuyper—The Work of the Holy Spirit

The Prophet Amos.
GENERAL PRELIMINARY REMARKS. It will not be necessary to extend our preliminary remarks on the prophet Amos, since on the main point--viz., the circumstances under which he appeared as a prophet--the introduction to the prophecies of Hosea may be regarded as having been written for those of Amos also. For, according to the inscription, they belong to the same period at which Hosea's prophetic ministry began, viz., the latter part of the reign of Jeroboam II., and after Uzziah had ascended the
Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg—Christology of the Old Testament

Samuel
Alike from the literary and the historical point of view, the book[1] of Samuel stands midway between the book of Judges and the book of Kings. As we have already seen, the Deuteronomic book of Judges in all probability ran into Samuel and ended in ch. xii.; while the story of David, begun in Samuel, embraces the first two chapters of the first book of Kings. The book of Samuel is not very happily named, as much of it is devoted to Saul and the greater part to David; yet it is not altogether inappropriate,
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

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