1 Chronicles 21:16-17, 27, 30

David looked up and saw the angel of the LORD standing between heaven and earth with his sword drawn, reaching out over Jerusalem. So David and the leaders of Israel put on burlap to show their deep distress and fell face down on the ground. And David said to God, “I am the one who called for the census! I am the one who has sinned and done wrong! But these people are as innocent as sheep—what have they done? O LORD my God, let your anger fall against me and my family, but do not destroy your people.”

Then the LORD spoke to the angel, who put the sword back into its sheath.

But David was not able to go there to inquire of God, because he was terrified by the drawn sword of the angel of the LORD.