Hymns as Lullabies

Having a baby at home has motivated me to learn songs and hymns by heart so I can sing them to her throughout the day.  Melody and rhythm are excellent for stimulating those tiny synapses - DIY Baby Einstein, if you like. Memorizing hearty Christian lyrics stimulates my thinking on several levels, promoting meditation and preventing the total onset of "baby brain."  And, if God wills, as Aletheia grows these hymns will lead to gospel conversations and the development of her own devotional theology.

The hymn "Abide With Me" is our most recent acquisition.  This might seem like an odd lullaby for an infant since the lyrics, reproduced below, are really a prayerful end-of-life contemplation.  You could say it's a lullaby for the elderly.  But then, I appreciate the perspective this hymn provides on any stage of life.  It reminds me that my baby, like my grandparents, is facing "death and decay."  It reminds me that I need daily grace to "foil the tempter's pow'r."  It reminds me how urgent it is for the cross to be held up before her mind's eye as well as mine.  And when I look at her tiny baby form and sing on her behalf "Help of the helpless, oh, abide with me," I'm reminded that she is in the care of the sovereign God.


Abide With Me

Abide with me; fast falls the eventide;
The darkness deepens; Lord, with me abide;
When other helpers fail and comforts flee,
Help of the helpless, oh, abide with me.

Swift to its close ebbs out life’s little day;
Earth’s joys grow dim, its glories pass away;
Change and decay in all around I see—
O Thou who changest not, abide with me.

I need Thy presence every passing hour;
What but Thy grace can foil the tempter’s pow’r?
Who, like Thyself, my guide and stay can be?
Through cloud and sunshine, Lord, abide with me.

Hold Thou Thy cross before my closing eyes;
Shine through the gloom and point me to the skies;
Heav’n’s morning breaks, and earth’s vain shadows flee;
In life, in death, O Lord, abide with me.