2 Corinthians 10:17-18 – But, “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.” 18 For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends.
Exodus 30:11 – 11 Then the Lord said to Moses, 12 “When you take a census of the Israelites to count them, each one must pay the Lord a ransom for his life at the time he is counted.
2 Samuel 24:10 – 10 David was conscience-stricken after he had counted the fighting men, and he said to the Lord, “I have sinned greatly in what I have done. Now, Lord, I beg you, take away the guilt of your servant. I have done a very foolish thing.”
It is possible to stop and consider how the Lord has ministered through us. If the purpose of the consideration is to consider the great things God has done, then praise the Lord! If the reason is to “take a census” of how wonderful self must be that God has used oneself, or to take pride in the works done through self, then that is dangerous, and perhaps inspired by evil that we are being tempted with, or that still resides in us.
2 Samuel 24 relates how David took a census of the people. V10 relates that David was conscience-stricken after he had taken the census. Exodus 30:11 gives the only reason a census should be taken. If it is ordained by the Lord and it is a reminder to all that their lives, and the blessings in their lives, or from and by God. So as a man would come forward to be counted, He must pay a small token of homage to God. Interestingly, and showing that God pays no favorites according to earthly position, the rich were not allowed to give more and the poor not allowed to give less. This meant that the rich could not let pride enter into the census by someone giving a large boastful amount to show, in his own mind, how God has blessed him, and maybe favored him, above others. The poor man could not give less. As little as the poor man may have, what he did have was a blessing from God. He should be thankful for what he has and know that God can keep providing. Giving to God should never be considered risky, but is in and of itself an expression of thankfulness and faith. We can see that the requirements of God when he called a censu showed that He does not show favoritism and that all men are to acknowledge the goodness and kindness of God. So many lessons may be learned from the taking of the census including humility, that God loves us all, that God blesses us all, and that God we all owe Him obedience and gratitude.
When a king calls a census for the purpose of finding out how great the nation that he rules over is, the king will take pride in what he considers his kingdom. First of all, the country of Israel, and all of its people, belonged to God and not to any man. If Israel was blessed, then it was God who blessed and enabled it. A king should not become prideful and believe that any great work of God is a result of the King’s work rather than the truth that blessings come only from God. God may use men to be a blessing, but even this is a result of God’s will. Being used by God to be a blessing is a blessing itself. Therefore one being used by God should not take personal pride in how God is using him, but should give all praise and glory to God. David made the mistake of taking the census to glorify self rather than God. Lest we be quick to judge David, do we do the same thing? If God should use us to glorify Himself do we take pride in how we are used? That is not different than what David did. We should only be humble and thankful that God would use us at all. We should be thankful that God would so graciously allow us to be used. Our only reaction to being used should be a thankful heart that is filled with gratitude to God that He would give us the great blessing to be used.
Let us consider whether our hearts are right before God. Let us do as Micah 6:8 states to us “He has shown You, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of You but to do justly, to love mercy, And to walk humbly with Your God.” Keep our walk with the Lord simple and we will be happy and have peace that we do. Be sure that when we are considering how the Lord has used us, when we take a census, that it is only to praise the Lord. Make sure the census of our lives is ordained by God to draw people to Him to praise Him. We must be careful because in the taking of census’ there is the danger of pride and we know that pride is something the Lord hates. All pride is based on lies and self-deception. Man has nothing to be prideful about because all blessings, and certainly the grace and redemption that man is given by God, is all received from God as designed by God. He did all the work, there is no room for the pride of men. Pride is a lie and a self-deception and is evil indeed. Run from pride. Take credit for nothing and give all credit to God. The only reason to for us to take a census is for the purpose of seeing what was done through us and then to praise God and to build our faith in Him. As we remember what great things He has done, we will be filled with faith and confidence that He will bring us victoriously through what the future holds.
When people, even well intentioned people, want us to count the good the Lord has done through us, beware lest pride arise! Let God keep count of if and how we were obedient to His call. Let God keep count if we are living yielded lives. Let God keep count of who He blessed through us. We do not need a pat on the back from men, we seek our pats on the back from God. Even then, we can only cast our crowns to His feet and profess that it was none of us and all of Him (Revelation 4:10-11). Praise God! Let God keep count. Let us keep being obedient and thankful. Praise our great and mighty God and the wonders of His sovereignty and will. Praise the omniscience of God and His wonderful plan for the redemption of mankind. His plans are beyond the vision of our eyes, the ability of our minds and the capacity of our hearts. His ways are infinitely beyond our ways. He is the very meaning of the word wonderful! Praise our God! Praising God infinitely benefits us. God does not need verification of who He is by our praise. Praising God is proof of Him within us and a reminder that our faith in Him is never misplaced. No, not ever! Praise the Lord God Almighty!
Psalm 150:6 – Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!
Micah 7:7 – But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me.
Micah 6:8 – He has shown You, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of You but to do justly, to love mercy, And to walk humbly with Your God.