Fifteen verses where the psalms mention mothers, the womb or women, and a few for Mother's Day.
The psalms mention mothers mostly in passing. One writer remembers trusting God at his mother's breast. Another compares a quiet soul to a weaned child with its mother. Psalm 113 ends with a woman who had no children settled in her home as a joyful mother. None of these psalms is written about mothers, but together they show how the psalms picture mothering.
The verses are grouped into four parts: psalms that mention mothers, pregnancy and waiting for a child, women in the psalms, and verses for Mother's Day. Tick the ones you want and print them on one sheet.
Verses where a mother is mentioned or implied.
Surely I have stilled and quieted my soul,like a weaned child with his mother,like a weaned child is my soul within me.
Surely I have behaved and quieted myself, as a child that is weaned of his mother: my soul is even as a weaned child.
The writer has stilled and quieted his soul like a weaned child with his mother. The picture is of a child who stays close to his mother without crying to be fed.
But you brought me out of the womb.You made me trust while at my mother’s breasts.
But thou art he that took me out of the womb: thou didst make me hope when I was upon my mother’s breasts.
You made me trust while at my mother's breasts. The writer traces his trust in God back to infancy.
When my father and my mother forsake me,then the LORD will take me up.
When my father and my mother forsake me, then the LORD will take me up.
When my father and my mother forsake me, then the LORD will take me up. It is a verse for anyone who has not had a mother to rely on.
LORD, truly I am your servant.I am your servant, the son of your servant girl.You have freed me from my chains.
O LORD, truly I am thy servant; I am thy servant, and the son of thine handmaid: thou hast loosed my bonds.
I am your servant, the son of your servant girl. The writer describes himself through his mother, who also served God.
For expectant mothers and for women still waiting. These verses describe. They do not promise a child.
For you formed my inmost being.You knit me together in my mother’s womb.
For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb.
You knit me together in my mother's womb. The psalm describes God at work in the womb before anyone could see the child.
Your eyes saw my body.In your book they were all written,the days that were ordained for me,when as yet there were none of them.
Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.
Your eyes saw my body, and the days ordained for me were written when as yet there were none of them. It pictures a life fully known before birth.
I have relied on you from the womb.You are he who took me out of my mother’s womb.I will always praise you.
By thee have I been holden up from the womb: thou art he that took me out of my mother’s bowels: my praise shall be continually of thee.
I have relied on you from the womb. The writer says God took him out of his mother's womb, and he promises to praise always.
He settles the barren woman in her homeas a joyful mother of children.Praise the LORD!
He maketh the barren woman to keep house, and to be a joyful mother of children. Praise ye the LORD.
He settles the barren woman in her home as a joyful mother of children. The psalm closes on this reversal: a woman without children becomes a joyful mother.
Women appear in the psalms as musicians, servants, daughters and a royal bride.
The singers went before, the minstrels followed after,among the ladies playing with tambourines,
The singers went before, the players on instruments followed after; among them were the damsels playing with timbrels.
In the procession into the sanctuary, ladies play tambourines among the singers and minstrels. Women are part of the worship the psalm describes.
Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master,as the eyes of a maid to the hand of her mistress,so our eyes look to the LORD, our God,until he has mercy on us.
Behold, as the eyes of servants look unto the hand of their masters, and as the eyes of a maiden unto the hand of her mistress; so our eyes wait upon the LORD our God, until that he have mercy upon us.
Waiting on God is compared to the eyes of a maid watching the hand of her mistress. The picture comes from a household, with one woman looking to another.
Then our sons will be like well-nurtured plants,our daughters like pillars carved to adorn a palace.
That our sons may be as plants grown up in their youth; that our daughters may be as corner stones, polished after the similitude of a palace:
The prayer asks that daughters be like pillars carved to adorn a palace. Sons are pictured as growing plants, and daughters as something strong and finely made.
The princess inside is all glorious.Her clothing is interwoven with gold.
The king’s daughter is all glorious within: her clothing is of wrought gold.
The princess inside is all glorious, and her clothing is interwoven with gold. Psalm 45, headed a wedding song, gives its bride this verse of honor.
Short verses that suit a card, a gift or a word of thanks.
Yes, the sparrow has found a home,and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may have her young,near your altars, LORD of Armies, my King, and my God.
Yea, the sparrow hath found an house, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, even thine altars, O LORD of hosts, my King, and my God.
The swallow has found a nest for herself where she may have her young, near God's altars. It is a small picture of a mother bird finding a safe place for her young.
May the LORD increase you more and more,you and your children.
The LORD shall increase you more and more, you and your children.
May the LORD increase you more and more, you and your children. The blessing includes a parent and children in one line.
He will cover you with his feathers.Under his wings you will take refuge.His faithfulness is your shield and rampart.
He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.
He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will take refuge. It is a picture of God, drawn from a bird covering what it protects.
No psalm was written for Mother's Day, and no psalm has a mother as its main subject. Psalm 113 ends with a childless woman made a joyful mother. Psalm 131 compares a quiet soul to a child with his mother. Psalm 84:3 pictures a swallow with a nest for her young. Any of these can be read aloud or written in a card.
Psalm 91 does not mention mothers. Verse 4 pictures God covering a person with feathers and sheltering them under his wings, an image taken from a bird. Most of the psalm, verses 3 to 13, speaks to you, so a mother can read it with her child in mind. It is a psalm of trust in God as refuge and fortress, and this page presents it as that, not as a charm.
Psalm 131:2 compares a quiet soul to a weaned child with his mother, and Psalm 113:9 ends with a woman settled in her home as a joyful mother of children.
Psalm 113 is short and ends with a joyful mother. For a card, Psalm 115:14 blesses you and your children, and Psalm 84:3 pictures a swallow with a nest for her young.
Psalm 139:13 says you knit me together in my mother's womb. Psalm 22:10 and Psalm 71:6 both speak of relying on God from the womb.
Yes. Women appear as musicians in Psalm 68:25, as a maid watching her mistress in Psalm 123:2, as daughters in Psalm 144:12 and as a royal bride in Psalm 45.
Psalm 113:9 describes a barren woman settled in her home as a joyful mother. It describes what God does in that psalm and is not a promise to any reader.
Psalms for Family and HomePsalms for KidsPsalms for Marriage and LovePsalms for Blessing and FavorPsalms for a BirthdayPsalms for Fathers, Sons and Daughters