Superhero Heman – No – Not THAT One!

The Bible doesn’t give us many examples of good parenting. A few weeks ago, I posted a brief bio of Jochebed who (along with her husband) earned a place in the Hebrews 11 list – people who showed exemplary faith in God. And, we know about Lois, the mother of Timothy, who taught her son the Scriptures. (He’d be a good kid to have on your Bible Quiz team.) We could probably find a few others, but not many.

One dad, however, often gets lost in the long list of Bible characters – a man named Heman. No, not the superhero of the 80s, but a dad who, in a way, was a superhero in his own right. He had 14 sons and 3 daughters.

Heman lived at the time David was king and became one of David’s seers, which means he was one of the men whom David went to for wise counsel. Heman was also musical and the thing I like about him is that his children joined him in providing instrumental music in the temple. (Think of them as being the first worship team.)

“All these were the sons of Heman the king’s seer, according to the promise of God to exalt Him, for God had given Heman fourteen sons and three daughters. They were all under the direction of their father in the music in the house of the Lord with cymbals, harps, and lyres for the service of the house of God. Asaph, Jeduthun, and Heman were under the order of the king.” —I Chronicles 25:5,6

Now, there is some question about whether the daughters were actually part of this band – but it does say that they were all under the direction of their father in the temple music …

I like these verses because it shows a family serving together at the temple. And even if it was just the sons, this is a good picture of a family working together to serve the Lord.

Many families use their musical ability to serve the Lord, but even if your family isn’t musical – there are other ways to serve.

*Does your entire family go to Awana? Do you serve as leaders while your kids attend club or do they serve alongside you as student leaders?

*Can you visit a nursing home or a homeless shelter and serve? (I know one family who works together at a food bank.)

*How about going on a missions’ trip as a family?

*Could your family take turns cleaning the church? (Some churches divide janitorial duties up among church families.)

*Could you host a missionary or a dinner for staff?

*Is there some church project that you could undertake as a family? Sending emails/cards for missionary birthdays, painting a wall in the nursery, making posters for an upcoming event?

Often the kids who start serving at a young age are the ones who continue serving as an adult.

Heman and his family sang: “For He is good,  for His steadfast love endures forever.”

Be a Heman (a superhero at it’s best) and serve the Lord with your family.