The Business of the Lord and the Service of the King
W. Clarkson 1 Chronicles 26:29-32 Of the Izharites, Chenaniah and his sons were for the outward business over Israel, for officers and judges. The duties which an Israelite might render to his Divine and to his earthly sovereign are thus expressed (ver. 30). They are also spoken of as "matters pertaining to God and affairs of the king" (ver. 32). The distinction thus drawn is suggestive of the relation which the two services sustain to one another. We conclude - I. THAT THEY ARE CLEARLY DISTINGUISHABLE, ONE FROM THE OTHER. It is one thing to "serve God" and another thing to "honour the king." We may remember those who have been most devoted courtiers, but indifferent servants of God. "Had I but served my God," etc. (Wolsey). There have been very consecrated men who have lived a life of protest or even of hostility to the "reigning house." Indeed, it may be the bounden duty of a good man to disobey the mandates of his earthly sovereign. The honours we pay to the "noble army of martyrs" are the best witness that we do make this distinction in our minds. It is a possible thing that we may find ourselves citizens of a country where the laws of the land are directly at variance with the will of God. But it is also true - II. THAT THEY ARE COMMONLY FOUND TO BE CONSISTENT ONE WITH THE OTHER. Happily it is not often the case now that a man has to choose whether he will "love the one and hate the other," etc. Usually both may be honourably and faithfully served at the same time. Indeed, it will be found: 1. That we never serve the king better than when we are actively serving God. To be engaging in Divine worship, and thus encouraging piety and the good morals which are its invariable attendant; to be evangelizing, and thus to be elevating and enriching those who have fallen into sin and vice; to be occupied in any of the thousand forms of philanthropy which distinguish this age of ours; to be thus occupied in the "business of the Lord" is to be taking a very true and useful part in "the service of the king." Indeed, the monarch of a land has no more loyal and serviceable subjects than those whose piety prompts them to "every good word and work" among their fellow-subjects. It may be equally true: 2. That we never serve God more truly than when we are serving the king. With the Jew, patriotism and piety were inseparably united. He who wished to please and honour Jehovah strove to serve Israel. He who injured the people of God was an enemy of the Most High. And so with us. The statesman who is faithfully and conscientiously serving his country may be pleasing and serving God quite as much as the minister in the pulpit, or the writer of sacred hooks at his desk. And not only the statesman who is charged with great and high things: all of us in our humbler ranks, when we join with our fellow-citizens in promoting the welfare of our common country, may be "serving God acceptably." Only, if we wish to enjoy his smile and win his Divine blessing in the act, we must do our work (1) unselfishly, (2) devoutly. - C. Parallel Verses KJV: Of the Izharites, Chenaniah and his sons were for the outward business over Israel, for officers and judges. WEB: Of the Izharites, Chenaniah and his sons were for the outward business over Israel, for officers and judges.