Sung into the Faith

If you are a parent, from the moment you roll over in the morning to turn off the alarm on your phone, you are met with a barrage of tips, warnings, and new research about how to raise your child. This glut of information is overwhelming.

I want to offer you a different suggestion—not as an expert on parenting, but as a former child. A former child of two busy, loving, and imperfect parents.

And what shaped me most was not a system, or philosophy of parenting. It was that my parents sang to me.

Songs Have Taught Me the Faith

I remember that while growing up, my father would read a passage of Scripture, working sequentially book-by-book, chapter-by-chapter, asking me for the observations I made. Then he would explain the text and try to apply it. Honestly, I do not remember much of what he said. But I do remember these moments—and what has stuck with me were the songs my parents would sing. Songs about the power of God, his character, and the love of Jesus. My mom and dad would sing about the cross of Christ, the grace extended to me, and the hope found in God.

Thinking back on it, my parents were every night living out Paul’s command in Colossians 3:16 (ESV) when he says, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.” These songs did dwell in me and were rooted deep in my mind long before I could even verbalize the gospel. I was catechized without realizing it.

The songs that my parents had sung to me was how I came into the faith. I was drawn to God through the singing of his people. I now with the Psalmist say that “He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. Many will see and fear, and put their trust in the Lord (Psalm. 40:3).” That is what I have done; through these songs I have trust in the Lord.

Songs Have Taught Me to Persevere

As I grew older and more aware, I witnessed my parents endure many hardships. I had front row seats to the challenges of ministries, the financial strain, and cultural pressures as my parents struggled to adapt to a new land. Yet, they kept singing.

My parents lifted their voices to the heavens during these difficulties. They followed the example of Job, who, after losing everything and everyone he loved, “fell to the ground and worshipped (Job 1:20).” These songs were acts of defiance against the darts of the enemy.

In my own life, when I experienced the dark night of the soul, I found out how these songs shaped me. When I could not pray, these songs came to me. When I was deep in despair, the songs that were in my bones comforted me. During those times, it was not my knowledge of theology that came rushing to me. But it was the songs that my parents had planted deep in me that God used to remind me that he was with me.

Songs Have Taught Me that I Am Not Alone

There is something, dare I say, mystical and mysterious about singing. It connects us across space and time. When I sing, I am not singing alone. I am joining in with what my parents have sung—with the global church and those saints who have gone before who are around the heavenly throne. This is the vision that the author of Hebrews points to when he writes of how we are surrounded by a great cloud of witness (Heb. 12:1). When we sing, we join in this choir, and it points to the fact that we are not alone. Our voice is just one that adds to the harmony that exalts the Lord.

When I sing, I remember that these songs are not just pleasant melodies, but prayers that my parents have prayed over me. They are sermons that they want me to carry. They are constant reminders that wherever I go, I am not alone. That my parents, the church, and—above all—God are near me.

A Word to Parents

I am not writing this to add to your burden. I am not trying to paint a picture of what perfect Christians do—parenting is already so very heavy.

This is not a call for you to become a professional family choir. You do not need a perfect voice or to hit every note perfectly.

But I want you to do what you can do. What I hope and pray that you will do. Which is to sing.

Sing while folding laundry. Sing while cooking. Sing as your child falls asleep. Sing in the car. Sing while you walk. Sing at the dinner table. Sing in joy. Sing in suffering.

Just sing.

When you do, you are planting seeds. You are giving the same gift that my parents gave me: the gift of God’s Word and truth deep in your child’s bones (Deut. 6:7).

So sing. With your imperfect voice. Sing with exuberant joy. Sing with faith knowing that God will use it. For you never know how God might use it in the life of your child.

Photo retrieved from Unsplash.