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1 Chronicles 23 Commentary
by Brad Boyles
David appoints Solomon king, then numbers the Levites for their special work. He made arrangements to ensure that the worship of the true and living God would continue long beyond his life.
“These were the sons of Levi by their fathers’ houses, the heads of fathers’ houses as they were listed according to the number of the names of the individuals from twenty years old and upward who were to do the work for the service of the house of the LORD.”
1 Chronicles 23:24 ESV
David changed the Levite’s age from 30 to 20 in order to provide more workers for the future temple. A Levite priest would then begin at age 20 and “retire” at age 50, but could still participate in the duties with their brothers. As Selman writes…
“Temple service will certainly have brought increased work, even though the occasional duty of transporting the ark was now to be abolished. In fact, the Levites and their duties had suffered from long-standing neglect.”
Neglect of worship. I have reminded myself of this subtle but damaging trait we tend to fall into. Though it’s not a formal “duty” required for us as Christians, the cross leads us to worship. God in all his glory leads us to worship. But many times we neglect it and push it aside with good intentions. “I’ll do it tonight.” “I’ll do it tomorrow.” “I just don’t have enough time right now.” These are all excuses we’ve all made in justifying our lack of worship.
But within grace, there is a new day to come before the throne of God. Within Christ, we can repent and turn from our lack of commitment and recommit our lives to his purposes. Is this something you need?