Reference links:
Old Testament
Weird story today!
Once again the anger of the Lord burned against Israel, and he caused David to harm them by taking a census. “Go and count the people of Israel and Judah,” the Lord told him.
[David has his men take the census]
But after he had taken the census, David’s conscience began to bother him. And he said to the Lord, “I have sinned greatly by taking this census. Please forgive my guilt, Lord, for doing this foolish thing.”
The next morning the word of the Lord came to the prophet Gad, who was David’s seer. This was the message: “Go and say to David, ‘This is what the Lord says: I will give you three choices. Choose one of these punishments, and I will inflict it on you.’”
So for no reason that we know of, God is mad at Israel. Because of this, he tells David to take a census so that he can later get mad at David and punish Israel. Once again, God is proving himself to be a jerk.
David chooses a plague (actually, his answer could be interpreted as choosing plague or famine, but God decides on plague).
So the Lord sent a plague upon Israel that morning, and it lasted for three days. A total of 70,000 people died throughout the nation, from Dan in the north to Beersheba in the south.
70,000 people? That’s a major tragedy right there. But ignoring that, if God wanted to punish the Israelites, why did he cause David to do something that would give God an excuse to punish him. Was God afraid his reputation would suffer or something?
New Testament
Peter heals a lame man and then preaches at the Jews in the Temple, and I do mean preaches at them:
For it is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—the God of all our ancestors—who has brought glory to his servant Jesus by doing this. This is the same Jesus whom you handed over and rejected before Pilate, despite Pilate’s decision to release him. You rejected this holy, righteous one and instead demanded the release of a murderer. You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead. And we are witnesses of this fact!
Someone might want to let Peter know that even if what he was saying was true, it was not going to make anyone more open to hearing his message. There’s a time and a place to discuss blame, and the opening words of your “please convert” speech probably is not the place.
Psalms and Proverbs
In fact, Peter could probably learn from this proverb:
The wise are known for their understanding,
and pleasant words are persuasive.