10 And the heart of David smiteth him, after that he hath numbered the people, and David saith unto Jehovah, 'I have sinned greatly in that which I have done, and now, O Jehovah, cause to pass away, I pray Thee, the iniquity of Thy servant, for I have acted very foolishly.' 11 And David riseth in the morning, and the word of Jehovah hath been unto Gad the prophet, seer of David, saying, 12 'Go, and thou hast spoken unto David, Thus said Jehovah: Three—I am lifting up for thee, choose thee one of them, and I do 'it' to thee.' 13 And Gad cometh in unto David, and declareth to him, and saith to him, 'Do seven years of famine come in to thee in thy land? or three months art thou fleeing before thine adversary—and he pursuing thee? or are three days' pestilence in thy land? now, know and see what word I take back to Him sending me.' 14 And David saith unto Gad, 'I have great distress, let us fall, I pray thee, into the hand of Jehovah, for many 'are' His mercies, and into the hand of man let me not fall.' 15 And Jehovah giveth a pestilence on Israel from the morning even unto the time appointed, and there die of the people, from Dan even unto Beer-Sheba, seventy thousand men,
Matthew Henry's Commentary on 2 Samuel 24:10-15
Commentary on 2 Samuel 24:10-15
(Read 2 Samuel 24:10-15)
It is well, when a man has sinned, if he has a heart within to smite him for it. If we confess our sins, we may pray in faith that God would forgive them, and take away, by pardoning mercy, that sin which we cast away by sincere repentance. What we make the matter of our pride, it is just in God to take from us, or make bitter to us, and make it our punishment. This must be such a punishment as the people have a large share in, for though it was David's sin that opened the sluice, the sins of the people all contributed to the flood. In this difficulty, David chose a judgment which came immediately from God, whose mercies he knew to be very great, rather than from men, who would have triumphed in the miseries of Israel, and have been thereby hardened in their idolatry. He chose the pestilence; he and his family would be as much exposed to it as the poorest Israelite; and he would continue for a shorter time under the Divine rebuke, however severe it was. The rapid destruction by the pestilence shows how easily God can bring down the proudest sinners, and how much we owe daily to the Divine patience.