1 Chronicles 21

            The key thing that the Chronicler highlights here is the way that David chose and acquired the future site for the temple.  That’s part of a larger agenda that will play out over the next few chapters, an agenda to demonstrate that it could just as well be called David’s temple:  he might not have built it, but he was integral to its planning in all phases.
            I suspect, though, that the thing a modern reader will come away with is a question about responsibility.  After all, 2 Samuel 24 says that the Lord incited David to take the census and 1 Chronicles 21 says that Satan stood against Israel.  Which is it?  God or Satan?  Remember that Satan is less a name and more a job description; the word means ‘accuser.’  So, let me throw this out there:  the Satan/the accuser/the prosecutor stood before the Lord and accused Israel of wrongdoing.  Two things to note:  according to Job 1-2, this seems to be exactly what the Satan did.  Second, he probably wasn’t making things up; he probably had all sorts of evidence about worship at high places, etc. to present.  Under this construction, Satan stood against Israel (1 Chron. 21:1); his accusations angered the Lord, who suggested a test, namely, a census to see if David would trust Him.  David failed the test, but repented when he saw the tragedy being inflicted on his people.
            Now, I think that reconstruction is fair to the biblical evidence, but it’s not terribly helpful in sorting through whether God or Satan is responsible for inciting David.  Lutheran theology teaches that God does not tempt for evil but that He does offer tests for good.  Further, it’s a safe statement to say that Satan uses any such test from God as an opportunity to undermine faithfulness.  (That’s certainly what happens in Genesis 2-3:  the Lord sets a boundary that man may honor Him and Satan is right there challenging the boundary.)  Now the distinction between test and tempt is a fine theological distinction, but it’s a little hard to make in practice.  When you’re in the midst of trial, it’s hard to sort out, “Is God offering me a chance to do what is right, or is Satan tempting me to do what is wrong?”  The answer, unfortunately, seems to be, “Yes.”  Sin/Satan seizes the opportunities presented by God’s command to lead us astray (Romans 7:8).