Nothing Is Free

Then King David said to Ornan, “No, but I will surely buy it for the full price, for I will not take what is yours for the Lord, nor offer burnt offerings with that which costs me nothing.” (1 Chronicles 21:24)

Jerusalem suffered intensely under the plague as a result of David’s sin of acquiring a census. When David “saw the angel of the Lord standing between earth and heaven, having in his hand a drawn sword stretched out over Jerusalem” (1 Chronicles 21:16), he prayed to God for mercy. Therefore, the angel of the Lord told David to “erect and altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite (1 Chronicles 21:18), so that “the plague may be withdrawn from the people” (1 Chronicles 21:22).

In view of the national disaster that was sweeping the land, Ornan offered to give David the place of his threshing floor, along with oxen for burnt offerings, threshing implements for wood, and wheat for the grain offering. Ornan wanted relief form the plague as much as David did.

David could have just taken Ornan up at his offer. What’s wrong with accepting a free gift, if that gift would mean the end of the plague that was destroying Jerusalem? Ornan did not give away his threshing floor under compulsion. He wanted to give it away willingly, because he wanted the plague to end before his own life was consumed by it – just as any other Israelite would.

In fact, even if Ornan did not offer his threshing floor freely, David could use his authority to seize Ornan’s property, or just take it away from him. Who could deny a king of his wishes?

However, David would not hear of Ornan’s offer. David insisted on paying Ornan the full price for his threshing floor, and he “gave Ornan six hundred shekels of gold by weight for the place” (1 Chronicles 21:25). David understood the meaning of making an offering to the Lord. He knew that an offering would be meaningless if it costed him nothing. He took the right course of action. God accepted his offering and “answered him from heaven by fire on the altar of burnt offering” (1 Chronicles 21:26).

When David had a choice to choose his punishment, he chose the easiest way. But when David had a choice to make an offering to atone for his sins, he chose the proper way – even if it was the harder way.

One may reason that the price that David paid for Ornan’s threshing floor is only miniscule compared to the vast wealth of his treasuries. Paying 600 shekels of gold is nothing big for a king!

However, the point here is not so much about the ratio of the offering to the amount that David is able to offer. David’s offering pleased the Lord because it was done in a proper way. David’s attitude of offering a sacrifice at his own cost made it acceptable unto the Lord.

An offering is considered a sacrifice, only if it came at a cost of the offerer. Our sincerity in our service and in our giving to the Lord is reflected in the way it costs us. If it costs us nothing, it means nothing to God.