Heman the Seer
an ever-present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear,
though the earth give way
and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,
though its waters roar and foam
and the mountains quake with their surging. (Psalm 46:1-3) (NIV)
This little gem was written by the “sons of Korah” during the reign of David.
Korah was the man who had rebelled against Moses years earlier and was swallowed up by the earth. Although most of his family died with him that day, we know that at least one son survived, because the Bible says that the line of Korah “did not die out.” (Numbers 26:9) (NIV)
When David became king of Israel, about 500 years after Moses, the descendants, or “sons,” of Korah were very active in the Temple. They were the musicians, the prophets, and seers.
David appointed Heman, one of those sons of Korah, to be his head seer. We don’t know much about Heman except that in Psalm 88, he tells us that he had a very difficult life.
Lord, you are the God who saves me;
day and night I cry out to you. May my prayer come before you;
turn your ear to my cry.
I am overwhelmed with troubles and my life draws near to death. I am counted among those who go down to the pit; I am like one without strength.
I am set apart with the dead, like the slain who lie in the grave, whom you remember no more, who are cut off from your care.
You have put me in the lowest pit, in the darkest depths. Your wrath lies heavily on me; you have overwhelmed me with all your waves.
You have taken from me my closest friends and have made me repulsive to them. I am confined and cannot escape; my eyes are dim with grief.
I call to you, Lord, every day; I spread out my hands to you…
… I cry to you for help, Lord; in the morning my prayer comes before you.
Why, Lord, do you reject me and hide your face from me? From my youth I have suffered and been close to death; I have borne your terrors and am in despair. Your wrath has swept over me; your terrors have destroyed me.
All day long they surround me like a flood; they have completely engulfed me. You have taken from me friend and neighbor— darkness is my closest friend. (NIV)
Heman was a lot like David. He drew near to God through the really really hard times, and he found the strength he needed to keep going. Staying close to God in the hard times was his victory.
As Heman drew nearer to God, God drew nearer to him. He began to change. He began to hear God, to see visions of Heaven. We know this because he was the head seer.
When the Bible uses the word seer, it uses 2 different Hebrew words. The first one means, “one who beholds or sees visions.” The second one means “to glow or become warm or on fire.” (Strong 1983)
So Heman had a lot of troubles in his life, but he was faithful to worship God every day, and as he worshiped day after day, he saw visions, and he began to glow and be filled more and more with God’s Holy Fire.
I can’t help but think of a New Testament verse, 2 Corinthians 3:18.
But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. (KJV)
The King James word “beholding” comes from a root word that means “to gaze, ie with wide open eyes, as at something remarkable.” (Strong 1983)
Just as we look at ourselves in the mirror, this verse seems to mean that as we look at the glory of the Lord and we just begin to tell Him how remarkable He is, a mystical transformation takes place: we somehow become more like Him. This is exactly what happened to Heman the seer – as he spent time each day beholding God, he was filled more and more with Holy Fire.
Hallelujah – what a powerful promise!! If we will behold and declare His glory (isn’t this worship?), we will be changed to become more like Him, and we will be filled with His Holy Fire.
As we read over their Psalms, we can see that Heman and the other descendants of Korah could actually see the Heavenly City. They walked around the City of God and described what they saw there.
… As we have heard, so we have seen in the city of the Lord Almighty, in the city of our God...Walk about Zion, go around her, count her towers, consider well her ramparts, view her citadels... (Psalm 48) (NIV)
There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
the holy place where the Most High dwells. (Psalm 46:4) (NIV)
This is actually the Psalm that I started with, Psalm 46. We read verses 1-3, where the sons of Korah tell us that God is always there to help us, and so we don’t need to fear anything, even if the mountains quake and fall in the sea. Now they tell us why we don’t need to fear. They’ve seen a little secret in their journey to the Heavenly City, and it’s the River of God.
They’ve seen the River that flows from the throne of God. And they say because of that River, we won’t fall- God is apparently in the River, and He will help us. Psalm 46:
God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.
There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells. God is within her, she will not fall;
God will help her at break of day.
Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall; He lifts his voice, the earth melts.
The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.
Come and see what the Lord has done, the desolations he has brought on the earth. He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth.
He breaks the bow and shatters the spear; he burns the shields with fire.
He says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth."
The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. (NIV)
The sons of Korah saw this River of God burning the enemy’s shields with fire, breaking bows, shattering spears, and causing the enemy’s kingdom to fall.
Hallelujah!! When God’s River starts to flow, demonic kingdoms and strongholds come crashing down!!
That’s why the sons of Korah never got afraid, even when everything around them was falling apart!
They could tell themselves, “be still, and know that God is in you, and you will not fall. God will help you at the break of day.”
David also saw the River of God that makes us glad. He described it in Psalm 36, where he said, “You give us drink from Your River of Delights!” (Psalm 36:8) (NIV)
So, there is a River that flows from Heaven to us, and it’s full of pleasures and delightful blessings for us, and it’s full of fire to destroy our demonic enemies!
Heman had a hard life.
He had problems— For one, he would always be known as the descendant of the man who rose up against Moses!!! He would always be known as the son of Korah! But he beheld the glory of God.
And he was transformed, filled with Holy Fire, and given tremendous visions of Heaven. And, in the midst of his struggles, he wasn’t afraid anymore. He drank from the River of Delights, and, like David, he was made glad.
Refences
Strong, James. Strongs Exhaustive Concordance: Showing Every Word of the Text of the Common English Version of the Canonical Books, and Every Occurrence of Each Word in Regular Order, Together with Dictionaries of the Hebrew and Greek Words of the Original, with References to the English Words. Baker Book House, 1983.
Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.www.zondervan.com. The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.
Scripture quotations marked (TLB) are taken from The Living Bible copyright © 1971. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.