I Chronicles 21:16-17, 27, 30

Then David lifted his eyes and saw the angel of the LORD standing between earth and heaven, having in his hand a drawn sword stretched out over Jerusalem. So David and the elders, clothed in sackcloth, fell on their faces. And David said to God, “Was it not I who commanded the people to be numbered? I am the one who has sinned and done evil indeed; but these sheep, what have they done? Let Your hand, I pray, O LORD my God, be against me and my father’s house, but not against Your people that they should be plagued.”

So the LORD commanded the angel, and he returned his sword to its sheath.

But David could not go before it to inquire of God, for he was afraid of the sword of the angel of the LORD.