For the service of the house of the Lord

To me, it always seemed the Levites got the short end of the stick. If they weren't in the lineage of Aaron, they couldn't become full-fledged priests, but since they were Levites, they couldn't live "normal" or secular lives. They were essentially relegated to maintenance positions in the service of the meeting places of God. It was always behind the scenes work, and it seems like it was rarely intensely spiritual or personal. That is, their tasks typically included taking care of the Tabernacle and other related maintenance things. Probably their most cherished task, the task that got them the closest to God, was their responsibility and privilege of being allowed to move the Ark of the Covenant. As that was the physical representation of the presence of God, that was probably about the closest anyone would ever feel to God back then. However, when peace came to Israel, and the Ark was placed securely in the Temple, they lost access to it. That must have felt like a major demotion for the Levites. Furthermore, they picked up the illustrious honor of caring for the needs of the priests. That may not have felt insulting or obligatory back then, but in today's culture at least, it would seem like the Levites had just dropped from managers to secretaries. Was there grumbling and complaining? Possibly, but the Bible doesn't record it (to my knowledge). What is recorded is David's rationale - they would do it all "for the service of the house of the Lord." That is the attitude all servants of God must have - we must accept the ultimate goal of bringing glory to the name of God - that regardless of changing roles and responsibilities, if it advances the cause of Christ, we must be for it.

Created over 1 year ago