David said to God, Isn't it I who commanded the people to be numbered? It is even I who have sinned and done very wickedly; but these sheep, what have they done? Please let your hand, O Yahweh my God, be against me, and against my father's house; but not against your people, that they should be plagued.
Now this must have been really something for David. He saw up there in the sky the angel of the Lord with a drawn sword. It must have been a very frightening experience, to say the least. 