Neville Goddard on 1 Chronicles 21:8-17 - Mystical Bible Interpretation

Read 1 Chronicles 21 in context

Scripture Focus

8And David said unto God, I have sinned greatly, because I have done this thing: but now, I beseech thee, do away the iniquity of thy servant; for I have done very foolishly.

9And the LORD spake unto Gad, David's seer, saying,

10Go and tell David, saying, Thus saith the LORD, I offer thee three things: choose thee one of them, that I may do it unto thee.

11So Gad came to David, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Choose thee

12Either three years' famine; or three months to be destroyed before thy foes, while that the sword of thine enemies overtaketh thee; or else three days the sword of the LORD, even the pestilence, in the land, and the angel of the LORD destroying throughout all the coasts of Israel. Now therefore advise thyself what word I shall bring again to him that sent me.

13And David said unto Gad, I am in a great strait: let me fall now into the hand of the LORD; for very great are his mercies: but let me not fall into the hand of man.

14So the LORD sent pestilence upon Israel: and there fell of Israel seventy thousand men.

15And God sent an angel unto Jerusalem to destroy it: and as he was destroying, the LORD beheld, and he repented him of the evil, and said to the angel that destroyed, It is enough, stay now thine hand. And the angel of the LORD stood by the threshingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite.

16And David lifted up his eyes, and saw the angel of the LORD stand between the earth and the heaven, having a drawn sword in his hand stretched out over Jerusalem. Then David and the elders of Israel, who were clothed in sackcloth, fell upon their faces.

17And David said unto God, Is it not I that commanded the people to be numbered? even I it is that have sinned and done evil indeed; but as for these sheep, what have they done? let thine hand, I pray thee, O LORD my God, be on me, and on my father's house; but not on thy people, that they should be plagued.

1 Chronicles 21:8-17

Biblical Context

David confesses his sin and asks God to remove the iniquity; God offers three consequences and sends pestilence, but mercy and responsibility shape the ending as the angel stands over Jerusalem and David pleads for the people.

Neville's Inner Vision

David’s confession is not mere guilt but a turning of attention from external cause to the I AM within. The LORD’s three sanctions are not fates imposed from above but three options your consciousness may entertain when it forgets itself. David’s declaration—let me fall into the hand of the LORD, for very great are his mercies—reveals the desired alignment: reject the punishing hand of man and rest in the tenderness of awareness. The pestilence that follows represents the restless energy of a mind misdirected; the angel of the LORD standing over Jerusalem is your awakened discernment, poised to stay the drama when you awaken to the truth that you are the I AM behind all scenes. When David asks for mercy to reach his house but not the people, he embodies a revision that you can also enact: place the consequences within your own house of thought while blessing all others. The moment you own the responsibility and invite mercy, the imagined pestilence softens and peace enters the city of your heart.

Practice This Now

Imaginative_act: Sit quietly, breathe, and assume the I AM within; revise the scene by declaring that mercy holds the situation and that fear is stayed. Feel the relief as the inner city settles into peace.