I have six grandchildren, and when they were young and stayed with their “Ma” and Papa, they liked for me to sing them to sleep.

My primary lullaby has always been “In Moments like These.“ The kids say they’ll gather around and sing it at my funeral. I’ll take their word for it.

One of my favorite memories is about the night I sang this song to eighteen-month old Avrie, whom I was rocking though she was already sound asleep. Oh well, I thought as I rocked the sleeping child, at least three-year-old Jake is enjoying it—I could hearing him humming along with me in the other room.

What was most memorable about that night and about that song, however, is what Avrie Ann did in her sleep when I came to this line in the verse: “In moments like these, I lift up my hands, I lift up my hands to the Lord.“

As I sang the line, she slowly lifted her little arm straight into the air, looking for all the world like a worship leader, raising his or her hand in a moment of ecstatic praise.

I sang that verse three or four times, just to see if she would do it again, and each time I sang the line, she lifted her arm from her sleeping side, held it high into the air, and left it there until I finished the line. This is something she had never done when she was awake.

She’s a beautiful thirteen now and laughed when I told her that story last weekend. Although they’re big kids now, I still sometimes sing that song when I check on them before they go to sleep, quietly, quickly: “In moments like these I sing out a song, I sing out a love song to Jesus.“

Well, what could be nicer than singing a love song to Jesus? The lines of the chorus are simple, repetitive and true: “Singing I love you, Lord. Singing I love you, Lord. Singing I love you, Lord. I love you.“

When I sang it as a lullaby, of course, I added a personal touch. I sang the chorus a second time and added the children’s names. “Singing Jake loves, you Lord.“ And I added a line for anyone else who was in listening distance and changed the last line to “We love you.“

Have I told my grandchildren that I want my last words on this earth to be, “I love you, Lord”? Surely I have. I suppose this is why I chose this song for their primary lullaby.

I say primary, because many nights I was persuaded to sing several choruses and hymns before they were satisfied, clearly ending the set with “Goodnight, Our God Is Watching O’er You.“

During a period when I was working on a speech from Psalm 103, I sang a song that became a regular when time permitted. I’ll tell you about that fine song next week.