Devotional: Psalm 47:4

Good Morning Yamon Ki Yesepar and Nevim Arith Hayomim:
Psalms 47:4: “He shall choose our inheritance for us, the excellency of Jacob whom he loved.”
Do you ever feel like a loser through no fault of your own, the low man on the totem pole, the one who seems to always draw the short stick, the last one chosen in your Physical Education class when choosing up sides?   Are you the one who always scored average or below on the SAT, never get that front office job, just barely passed your classes even though you studied twice as hard as the guy who made the “A?”  Perhaps you are the one who never gets to sing with the worship team, speak before the congregation but is always the first to be asked to clean up after a church social, which you faithfully do.  Are you that minister that just has a ministry that never gets off the ground, the pastor who never sees his church grow and preaches every week to more empty seats than filled?
Is that what is troubling you Bunkie?   Is that what is getting you down?   Then take heart, you have your own special Psalms, twelve of them to be exact.   Psalms 42-49, 84-85, and 87-88 are dedicated to you, the underdog, the ones destined for a life of mediocrity.  You are a spiritual Korahite.
These twelve Psalms were dedicated to the sons of Korah.  Korah was the one who rebelled against Moses in Numbers 16:21.  This is the Korah who was the son of Izah, the great, great grandson of Levi. Although the Talmud is not the inspired Word of God and its historical accuracy is often called into question, it is nonetheless, the best extra Biblical history we have.  The Talmud teaches that Korah discovered the treasures hidden by Joseph in Egypt and became a wealthy man.  This wealth did not come from God and he used this wealth to purchase privilege and power on the journey to the promised land. He was a Levite priest who, through his wealth and influence incited Dothan, Abiram and 250 influential men to rebel against Moses. He accused Moses of making up the commandments; of never even being with God and that as the sons of Levi they had just as much right to the priesthood as Moses and Aaron and not just serve as mere ministers.  They had men of wisdom and knowledge who could make up laws just like Moses and in fact he even challenged Moses’s laws with laws of his own.  Since Korah carried the money bags (quite literally on the backs of 300 mules – Pes. 119a) he was able to buy his influence and support where Moses pretty much had only his personality to go by.  Moses was a sure loser in this popularity election as he did not have two shekels to rub together to buy his way into office.  Not only that but this election was a dirty one, the Talmud teaches that half the silver donated to the tabernacle went missing and they accused Moses and Aaron of pocketing it for themselves (turned out to be an accounting error).  Then they tried to accuse Moses of adultery.   Well, some things never change.  With the polls showing Moses as a sure loser he left the matter to God who put an abrupt end to this election and re-established Moses as the chosen leader.
Unfortunately, as seems to always be the case in these matters, it is the children who had to suffer.  From that point on the descendants of Korah, the sons of Korah were looked up as suspect and never allowed to perform the duties of a priest.  They assigned the lowest and menial tasks of servitude in the tabernacle and later the temple.  They were the janitors and porters; some might rise to be greeters or ushers but never more than that.  They polished the silver but could never minister to the people.
David felt sorry for these people and he worked to elevate their status and eventually started moving them into positions of ministry such as the temple choir or worship teams as we call them today.  But still people looked down on them, and to them David dedicated twelve Psalms.
In Psalms 47:4 he tells the sons of Korah that God chooses our inheritance.  The word inheritance in Hebrew is Nachal which means a portion or possession, but this possession is not just things or wealth, but it is something that is life giving, something that brings peace, comfort, joy and rest.   David explains this further by saying this inheritance is the excellency of Jacob whom he loved.   Jacob was the father of all the Levites, not just the privileged or special Levites who got all the honor and the perks of the office.  The Sons of Korah have just as much right to the excellency of Jacob as the privilege descendants of Jacob.  The word “excellency” in Hebrew is gi’al which is the word for pride.  This is a pride built upon the lovingkindness one receives from God for being an example to others.
Maybe the sons of Korah do not get all the perks of the priest, the honor, the respect, the opportunity to wear the garments of praise, to stand before the people and offer a benediction, but their position is chosen by God and their faithfulness to their chosen position will bring them the love of God that their ancestor Jacob knew.
You may not be the first chosen for the Physical Education team, to score high on the SAT, preach to a church where every seat is filled and have a ministry with a worldwide platform, but you have something equal in proportion to these superstars and that is the love of God.   He loves the one vacuuming the carpet of the mega church just as much as the one preaching in it and one hundred years from now that is all that will really matter.