11 Misplaced Trust

What makes you feel secure? Is it a steady job? a large savings account? good health? family and friends? Each of these can be a gift from the Lord and a reason for giving thanks. However, when we begin to trust in the gift rather than the Giver, we are headed for trouble. In this chapter David discovers the terrible consequences of misplaced trust.

1. What sorts of things contribute to your feelings of security?

2. Read I Chronicles 21:1-22: 1. What do you think motivated David to take a census of Israel?

3. In what ways does the author make it clear that David's action was evil?

4. Unfortunately, the author does not tell us why David's action was sinful. Why might the Lord have viewed David's action as sinful?

5. Why are we often tempted to trust in human strength and resources rather than in the Lord?

6. If you were David, which of the three options for punishment would you choose, and why (vv. 11-13)?

7. In what sense was the plague on Israel (v. 14) appropriate to David's sin?

8. What are some of the perils of finding our security in something or some one other than the Lord?

9. What contributes to the mood of fear and urgency in verses 16-27?

10. Why do you think the author devotes half of the chapter to David's purchase of the threshing floor?

11. Why was this an appropriate site for building the house of the Lord

(22: 1)?

12. Animal sacrifices are no longer necessary to atone for our sins (Heb

If you are aware of any such areas of your life, take time now to confess them to the Lord. Thank him for the forgiveness and security we have in Christ.