Counting Sheep, Counting Sins
When Power Loses Sight—and Mercy Interrupts
Feb 4, 2026 - Wednesday of the Fourth Week in Ordinary Time
2 Samuel 24:2, 9-17
At some point, most of us feel the urge to count.
Grades. Followers. Savings. Achievements. Likes.
Numbers make us feel safe. If we can count it, we think we can control it.
King David reaches that moment too.
He orders a census. He wants to know how many people he has. How strong his kingdom is. How large his army could be.
On the surface, it sounds harmless. But in the Bible, counting people was never neutral.
People were not numbers. They belonged to God, not to the king. To count them as assets was already a step too far.
Even David’s general hesitates. Something feels wrong.
But David insists.
And then the story turns dark.
A plague spreads through the land. People suffer. People die.
The Bible struggles to explain this moment. One version says God allowed it. Another says temptation entered.
What matters is this: David had a choice— and he chose control over trust.
That is where the story becomes uncomfortably modern.
We know this pattern.
Pressure builds. Fear whispers: What if this collapses? So we grasp harder. We manage more tightly. We reduce people to functions, roles, numbers.
And often, others pay the price.
This story refuses to let sin stay private. David’s decision affects the whole community.
Personal choices have social consequences.
When David realizes what has happened, he breaks.
He does not defend himself. He does not shift the blame.
He prays:
“It is I who have sinned. I, the shepherd, have done wrong. But these are sheep—what have they done?”
This is the turning point.
David accepts responsibility. But he refuses collective punishment.
Punish me, he says. Not them.
It is a shocking prayer. And a deeply human one.
Even today, we recognize this instinct: that innocent people should not suffer for the mistakes of the powerful.
Before the three days of plague are over, the story changes again.
Judgment gives way to mercy.
David builds an altar, as if to say:
Here, we will remember that life is not owned. That power has limits. That mercy is greater than failure.
The plague stops.
The land breathes again.
Centuries later, Christians would look back and see something more.
Through Jesus’ self-giving love on the cross, sin loses its power, heaven opens its door, and humanity finds its way home to God.
What David hoped for, Jesus makes real: mercy triumphs over judgment.
And so this story leaves us with questions we cannot ignore:
What are we counting to feel secure?
Where have we confused control with responsibility?
Who might be paying the price for our fear?
And where might mercy still interrupt the damage— if we dare to stop, confess, and let go?
Scripture Attribution
New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993
the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of
Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Content License
© 2025 Krakus.
Licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0 (Creative Commons Attribution–NonCommercial).