Charles Spurgeon Commentary Genesis 49:4-7

"Boiling over as water, thou shalt not have the pre-eminence; Because thou wentest up to thy father`s bed; Then defiledst thou it: he went up to my couch. Simeon and Levi are brethren; Weapons of violence are their swords. O my soul, come not thou into their council; Unto their assembly, my glory, be not thou united; For in their anger they slew a man, And in their self-will they hocked an ox. Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce; And their wrath, for it was cruel: I will divide them in Jacob, And scatter them in Israel." — Genesis 49:4-7 (ASV)

Because you went up to your father's bed; then you defiled it: he went up to my couch. Simeon and Levi are brethren; instruments of cruelty are in their habitations. O my soul, do not come into their secret; to their assembly, my honour, do not be united: for in their anger they slew a man, and in their selfwill they digged down a wall. Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce; and their wrath, for it was cruel: I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel.

It is a very remarkable circumstance, well worth noticing, that this curse was turned into a real blessing, especially in the case of the tribe of Levi.

It is true that they were divided and scattered, like handfuls of salt, throughout the whole of Israel, because they were attendants to the Lord's priests and had cities appointed to them. In this way, while they dwelt here, there, and everywhere, it was so that they might reach all the people and prove a blessing to them.

Are any of you struggling with a very serious disadvantage? Does it look to you like a curse? Then pray to God to make it into a blessing. I believe that, often, the worst thing that can happen to Christian men is really the best thing, for, while nature would cry out, "The clouds are to be dreaded," grace can reply:
The clouds you so much dread
Are big with mercy, and shall break
In blessings on your head.