07 Feb The Power of a Lullaby

I sat in the quiet of a cool dark room, rocking my baby boy. His soft cheek lay firmly against my chest, his pudgy little arms wrapped around my stomach.

I felt his lungs move in and out in perfect rhythm with the lullaby I sang: “Twinkle twinkle little star, how I wonder what you are? Up above the world so high, like a diamond in the sky…“

The warmth of his body against my own, quietly and quickly lulled to sleep by my voice and song, pulled tears from my eyes in silent wonder at this act of lulling my baby to sleep.

I’m sure there is scientific evidence on the power of a lullaby, but what greater science do we need than a child who once was crying, now asleep? And what effect has this lullaby that I sang for his benefit actually had upon me?

I sit still for several minutes in the darkness, surrounded by his loving trust and his tender warmth. I take a deep breath. Downstairs, the world awaits me.

The world with its deadlines and responsibilities and pain and sin and sorrow and three other children with deep needs of their own. But I sit here and rock my boy, because this is the truth:

My arms are therapy for him and his arms are therapy for me. 

Some nights, when the day has been especially hard, I can sing songs of worship to God while holding him and sense the presence of the Lord Himself entering into that nursery and our song.

Some nights, when he has been troubled by some bad dream or rude awakening, his shaking body is lulled back to sleep by once again resting on me or my husband’s chest. This is his safe place.

The truth is, I need our lullaby time just as much as he does. And the truth is, I am much like him. When I am frightened or overwhelmed or just plain tired, my Heavenly Father wants to take me into his arms and sing a lullaby over me, lulling me back into quiet trust and peaceful rest.

The God Who Sings Over Us

Zephaniah 3:17 says, “The Lord your God in your midst,
The Mighty One, will save;
He will rejoice over you with gladness,
He will quiet you with His love,
He will rejoice over you with singing.”

Can we grow quiet enough to hear the sound of Him singing over us? Will we stop for a moment and allow him to gently draw us back into the safe place of His loving arms? Do we even recognize how much we need to hear Him?

Psalm 131 is a beautiful prayer to the Lord for the same quiet trust and rest that a child has with its mother:

“O Lord, my heart is not lifted up;
my eyes are not raised too high;
I do not occupy myself with things
too great and too marvelous for me.
But I have calmed and quieted my soul,
like a weaned child with its mother;
like a weaned child is my soul within me.
O Israel, hope in the Lord
from this time forth and forevermore.”

My friend, never underestimate the power of a lullaby. Linger longer in nursery tonight with your own babe. Linger longer in the secret place of prayer with your Heavenly Father.

Embrace the calm moments and the tender exchanges that remind us of how much we need to keep singing and being sung to.