I was there to Hear your Borning Cry

Dear Isaiah:

This Sunday you will be baptized. Your daddy and I, along with so many family and friends who are so excited for you, will pledge to raise you as best we can, to know and serve the LORD. We acknowledge our dependence on Him to draw you to faith, but we will pray for you and will strive to teach you to follow the LORD.

When I was growing up, at every major life event celebrated in the church (especially baptisms), we sang a tear-jerker song, "I was there to Hear your Borning Cry". I'm sure I sang it no less than 100 times. This winter, though, as we waited and longed and cried for you to come home, your cousin, Simon, was baptized. Of course we sang that song again. I sat there and clung to your daddy and wept quietly because you weren't with us. Because we weren't there to hear your borning cry. Because of the brokenness that has led me to the joy and privilege of having you as my son. I cried and cried. Oh God, why couldn't we have been there? Why so much sadness for my son?

And then, something occurred to me that I had never understood about that song. Something that's critical to understanding the song's meaning. All along I had thought the song was the parent singing to the child. But it isn't; it is the Heavenly Father singing to their child. Though I wasn't there to hear your borning cry, He was. And though now I'll be there, as much as I can, for every joy and every sorrow. I won't be enough for you. I can't be. But He is. He has known you forever. He is your Rock. He is your Redeemer. He is the one who made you. Who formed you in your mother's womb. Who has been with you every moment of your life. Who loved you so much that He sent His only Son to die for you.

Oh, put your trust in Him, Isaiah. This is my prayer for you as you are baptized. That Jesus will be enough for you. That you'll trust Him to wipe every tear away. That you'll not depend on your strength, but His. That you'll serve Him all the days of your life.

Here are the words to that song (admittedly, I should have caught on sooner to the song not being sung by the parents):

I was there to hear your borning cry,
I'll be there when you are old.
I rejoiced the day you were baptized,
to see your life unfold.
I was there when you were but a child,
with a faith to suit you well;
In a blaze of light you wandered off
to find where demons dwell."

"When you heard the wonder of the Word
I was there to cheer you on;
You were raised to praise the living Lord,
to whom you now belong.
If you find someone to share your time
and you join your hearts as one,
I'll be there to make your verses rhyme
from dusk 'till rising sun.

In the middle ages of your life,
not too old, no longer young,
I'll be there to guide you through the night,
complete what I've begun.
When the evening gently closes in,
and you shut your weary eyes,
I'll be there as I have always been
with just one more surprise.

I was there to hear your borning cry,
I'll be there when you are old.
I rejoiced the day you were baptized,
to see your life unfold.