Lullabies for a King: An Advent Worship Series
Let every heart prepare him room …
This memorable line from the beloved Christmas hymn, “Joy to the World,” reminds us that the Advent season is a time of preparation for a birth. Think of all that goes into readying a room for the baby who will sleep there. We purchase and assemble furniture. We paint and decorate. We ensure that the baby will be safe in this newly sacred space.
As we prepare the rooms of our hearts for Jesus’ arrival, we are going to look more closely at something that our ancestors did to prepare for his birth: the writing of songs. The psalms are full of a variety of songs that range from praise to lament and everything in between. We know that the psalmists were all singing in anticipation about a Messiah who would come and save the world. Did they realize, however, that the Son of David they watched for would first be a baby, in need of lullabies to sing him to sleep?
As we spend time with the psalms during Advent, I invite you to envision Mary, the young, pregnant mother, humming these same psalms we hold in our Bibles. I invite you to imagine her gently rocking the newborn baby, singing to him the songs of praise her mother sang to her. These are likely the same songs, the same lullabies, he sang under his breath as he went to the cross. What a beautiful opportunity we have to sing over the King of Kings in this holy season, too.
all good things to each of you,
Dr Darian