I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on 1 Chronicles 20-23.

I find it interesting that the compiler of this book made the slightly condemnatory comment that Joab went to war against the Ammonites at the time of year when kings usually went to war and that King David stayed behind in Jerusalem.  Yet, did not mention David’s affair with Bathsheba.  Then goes on to point out that David only came to the front in order to be present when the capital of the Ammonites fell in order to take the king’s crown for himself.

The story about the census David took which leads into that about the plague and how David selected the future location of the Temple contains elements which seem incomplete to me.  First, it never explains why the census was a sin.  Related to that is the fact that this is one of the places where Joab disagreed with David and David was the one in the wrong.  Second, God commanded the plague angel to stop before David prayed for it to leave the people alone and took responsibility for the sin of the census.  The writer seems to imply that David and his family paid a price for the census, but never really tells us how.  Considering that this book makes no mention of either of the attempts by David’s sons to usurp the throne, it is not clear to me what the writer intended us to make of that.