121 Days of Prayer

David Said to God, “I Have Committed a Terrible Sin in Doing This!”

The purposes of this prayer are: Repentance, Reconciliation and Holiness/Righteousness.

Righteous God, you were displeased with David when he ordered that a census of all Israel be conducted against your will. When he recognized this, “David said to God, ‘I have committed a terrible sin in doing this! Please forgive me. I have acted foolishly.’ Then the Lord said to Gad, David’s prophet, ‘Go and tell David that I am giving him three choices. I will do whichever he chooses.’ Gad went to David, told him what the Lord had said, and asked, ‘Which is it to be? Three years of famine? Or three months of running away from the armies of your enemies? Or three days during which the Lord attacks you with his sword and sends an epidemic on your land, using his angel to bring death throughout Israel? What answer shall I give the Lord?’ David replied to Gad, ‘I am in a desperate situation! But I don’t want to be punished by men. Let the Lord himself be the one to punish me, because he is merciful.’ So the Lord sent an epidemic on the people of Israel and seventy thousand of them died.” 1 Chronicles 21:8–14 (TEV). Loving God, sin has consequences. Christians know that our faith in Jesus allows you to completely forgive all of our sins, but that does not mean that the consequences of the sin did not already harm the sinner or those closest to him. Lord, please help us to avoid committing sins, and help us to remain within your will. We ask this in the name of Jesus. Amen.