So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty pieces of silver. Then David built an altar for the Lord there and offered burnt sacrifices and peace offerings. And the Lord accepted prayers for the land, and the plague was removed from Israel. (2 Samuel 24:24-25)
David lost sight of the fact that God was the source of his military victories. Against the counsel of his advisors, he sent a general to count his fighting men. The result was a plague that killed seventy thousand Israelites.
Grieving over the losses he had caused to his own people, King David went for a prayer-walk. He came to the threshing floor on Mount Moriah. Instead of wheat, it was David’s heart that would be threshed, pummeled, and crushed. He saw the angel of death with a sword raised over Israel. David’s response defined the rest of his life.
The king put on sackcloth, threw himself on his face, and pled for God’s mercy. He bought the threshing floor and sacrificed burnt offerings on the spot. Only a supernatural removal of his heinous guilt could save him and his people.
Seventeen years later, David bequeathed the land where his heart was threshed as the site for the first temple.
Like David, I’ve made epic mistakes in my lifetime. We’ve both been threshed by our own guilt. Can God do for me what he did for David? Can he transform my threshing floor into a temple of praise? The answer depends on my response. If I also repent in anguish and place my shame on the Lamb of God, then yes, I can still see a temple rise where my betrayal once stood.
Prayer: Merciful God, transform my worst sins into praise for your best grace.