It may be right for us to bear in mind, that what made this act of numbering the Israelites so very offensive to God, was that it tended to draw off the hearts of the king and of his people from that single and undivided regard which they owed to Him. All the trials of that nation carried on for such a long course of years, and all the statutes and laws given for their guidance, were meant to keep this conviction uppermost in their minds. They had been singled out from the rest of mankind, not only as the guardians of the true faith and worship, but as witnesses to all the world of the power, and love, and faithfulness of the Lord. Special mercies, continued miracles, wonderful deliverances were wrought for them, in order that they might feel, at every stage of their eventful history, that they were peculiarly _His people_. If _bread_ was wanting to allay their hunger, or _water_ to assuage their thirst, or _raiment_ to cover their bodies, it was not provided by any of the slow contrivances of human industry. But _the hard rock_ poured forth _their_ water, and _the heavens_ showered down _their_ food, and their “_raiment waxed not old upon them_,” even during the long period of forty years. If the inhabitants of every other land gave way before them as they advanced, _they_ were taught, and they might have learnt, from the utter disproportion of their own powers, that it was “_the Lord their God_” who drove them out. And if, in the restlessness of their spirit, they desired to have a king to reign over them, they were reminded that “_the Lord their God_” was _their_ King. However _few_, in any case, were the numbers of _their_ hosts, they always proved _sufficient_ for the work which they were charged to achieve. And however _numerous_ they were at other times, it might yet please Him, as it did on the occasion here recorded, to turn their strength into weakness in an instant. This numbering of the people, therefore, showed an utter distrust of that goodness which had never failed them, and called down a judgment so severe, that it must have warned them for ever against a repetition of the offence. The question will have occurred already, perhaps, to the minds of some who hear me, Can any similar degree of guilt attach to that numbering of our own people which is going on at this time throughout the land, from one end of it even to the other? If, in the case of David, the measure was condemned so fearfully, and involved so signal a punishment, what are the circumstances in our own case that tend to remove from it any such reproach, and may even lead us to hope that instead of thwarting the will and pleasure of our God, we are really proceeding in conformity to it, and even promoting his purposes of grace and goodness to our land?