Here is today’s Bible reading:  2 Samuel 23:24-24:25; Acts 3:1-26; Psalm 123:1-4; Proverbs 16:21-23.

Why was God so displeased when David counted his troops?  I believe it was because David had begun to trust in his own might rather than God’s.  Pride had crept in.  This is ironic because David himself had written:  Psalm 20:7 (NIV)  Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God. This story shows us that we must be ever vigilant about exercising a humble dependence upon God.  Zech. 4:6 (NIV)  So he said to me, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord Almighty.