“The Songs Of My Mother”

Sunday, May 10, 2015

Many musicians have noted the importance of a mother’s voice in their formative years. While a woman may have no formal training in music, she can instill a love for learning and music in her children just by acclimatizing them to her songs. It is my opinion that my mother’s singing—which she did for me in abundance—is largely responsible for my love of music and my love of the Lord to this day. Day by day, I heard what was important to her— the joy of singing and the joy of singing to the Lord.

Hannah—one of the great women and great mothers of the Bible—is also connected with song. When God blesses her with a son after an emotional road to motherhood, she pens the following:

My heart exults in the Lord;
My strength is exalted in the Lord.
My mouth derides my enemies, because I rejoice in your salvation.
There is none holy like the Lord;
there is no besides you;
there is no rock like our God. (1 Sam. 2:1-2)

The Bible doesn’t give us any indication that Samuel heard his mother’s song. But later in the same book, he says, “Only fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your hear. For consider what great things he has done for you” (1 Sam. 12:24). Whether or not Samuel was directly influenced by the song of his mother, he grew into a faith that expressed the same kind of praise and passion for the God about whom she sang.

Moms, can I encourage you to share what’s important to you with your kids—even with your grown children? Share the joy of knowing the Lord. Be the kind of woman in whom they can see and hear a genuine passion for God. Be the kind of mother whose life personifies a song of praise to him.

- Dan Lankford

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