2 Samuel 24:17

when he saw the angel The writer of Chronicles, dwelling upon the details of the miraculous circumstances which attended the designation of the site of the Temple, records that "David lifted up his eyes, and saw the angel of the Lord standing between the earth and the heaven, having a drawn sword in his hand stretched out over Jerusalem. And David and the elders, who were clothed in sackcloth, fell upon their faces" (2 Samuel 21:16).

I have sinned, and I have done wickedly It is I that have sinned and I that have done perversely. The pronoun is twice emphatically expressed. Sin is doubly described as missing an aim, coming short of the mark of duty; and as crookedor perverse action, following the leadings of self-will instead of the straightforward path of right. Cp. 1 Kings 8:47; Psalms 32:1-2.

these sheep, what have they done Cp. ch. 2 Samuel 7:8; Psalms 74:1; Psalms 95:7. David takes all the blame upon himself, for his offence had been the immediate cause of the plague, and it is characteristic of true penitence to dwell exclusively on its own sin, without respect to the complicity of others. But it is clear from 2 Samuel 24:1 that the sin was the sin of the people as well as of David. See Additional Note v. p. 238.