The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1853-12-11
Rev. DR.. RaphaII ON tho Sacred Psetry orths
HebroWs.

He spoke In substance foows-We enter In this even
ing lecture upon the nnost sanctuary sacred poetry
Until this period have not approached the sanctuary
Hebrew poesy Unlike the literature Of other nations the
literature OF the hebrews does not proceed from infancy
to perfection The writings of Noses one Of the earliest
suthors have besa It Ia no. in relation
20 its science but with respect to its continuity and
richness that say BEEN az yet In the outward
court Of Hebrew poetry. We shall commence tonight
with the Deborshs chaunt of victory 1t is 90 grand in
its conception, beautiful and regular its verse that
1t affords pess ode, written eight hundred years
before Pndar This ODE and the chann of Noses after
crossing the Red Sea- proves to the high degree of
culture which people had arrived at in those remote
periods And Will, the ode OF Deborah presents
all the ardor requisite to constitute sublime battle
song there deeper feeling that it is the Lord God Of
Israel who is the of the victories achieved You
all know how Jabn committed the government of his
country to Ssera-how Sera tyrsnized the people
how they impored help and God gave them help in De-
horah the prophecies She assembled band OF patriots
under her inspired drection-they rush upon the foe
and conquer After the victory che prepares Tier to
the Lord her God hes prsss and calls upon the people to
join. This IL the irst exordium in her oae-to BE- found
in the second third verses Of ths fifth cha oter of
Judges In the cond exordum she the attention
Of the people to their present deivsnce and future du
ties She contrasts their victory with their late abect
condition OF slavery There be to no better proof
of the estimation in which was held among the
VI tuSA DeD0ren can ma greater
character TO admire In her song than ga mother in
Israeli We invariably And in Scripture that woman was
not only considered equal to man. but 10 her hs chest
quality, mother, she WAS Considered his superior.
In Ieooiahs oe she first calls all the people to join
with her in her praaesthen when expectation raised
she begins her battle song 'Arouss thy self Debo ali
Son Of Abooam lead fort6 thy captvesn The capsves
are led FORTH and Deborah begins to sing In the rst
country battles In the second she iashss those cow
ardy spirits who shrunk back and preferred the spot
i'm of yrant In the two folio wing strophss she des
t1oL uff fys L.
of the yrsn Ssera TT sixth srophe considered one
Of the highest lights Of lyric poetry 1t introduces the
delay Of her son. She imaginss him victorious She
speaks OF his spos and to take up every aros
snd examine them The ode conclu les with this splendid
contrast Thus perish all thine enemies, Lord!' He
Che lecturer) dwelt with unusual length upon this
ODE because he considered that tbs English version
had mot dOns na Nothing but what !.
its poetry is suyer.excellent. When the land Of
Israel was conquered it divided into twelve States
the United States of America. But they had then
arrived at representative government The act OF
MEM was thu temple Of the Lord. As lo,g this
the case, the people united and happy But whoa
they became acquainted with heather nations the re-
straints which their law exacted became burdsnsome
The consequence that their confederation fell
pieces and the distinct tribes became easily prey
that only two tribes would light their counrys bass
In Ill Samson efs single handed to main
tain the dignity Of his country rhsss dsssnsions bs
came incurAbls whea the soma Of Eli corrupted their
sacred Office, and therefore, cannot be surprised that
most Of the Hebrew compositions were thus destroyed
prophet of the. Lord was approved OF by the
people, for in him they found talent, courage,
Phistinss and only administered Justice and psr
formed his religious duties but he founded the school of
the Prophets David, Ashur, the OF Korah aud all
their education in these schools Samuel at last yield
ing to the wishes Of the people, gave them king That
king was Saul he had Zone Of those good Qualities
re0uired vaa Ia Lang
naughty and of unruly temper BE fell into moody
dspositien and bis servants sought for some to
oil know was found for the task He at first favor
ite-then obliged to hy-pursued and maltrea ted-be-
came eventually the champion OF I.rael, and TOOK his
eest On Israels throne. As king and mau David
Is equally great but II is chiefly poet that he de
mands admiration. His empire has ceased to exist
but his soDgs still survive. and will endure until
the end Of time In his verse hs lays his
heart open to us-he unveils his very soul.
~ the :. DAVID
could fall They have given the "reproof OF Nathan"
sna. ths bsss.iini psuitental psalm In ha time the
' early in poetry and nass him
and poetry which lost him that kings friendship When
he fed for his life his harp was his friend and
his troubled spirit as had to Sauls The hottest
of his feelings he breat he'd forth in fong ana when he
took bis Israes throne the harp became his pous
instrument Of devotion to his Cod Ho formed an esta
bill lment of 1900 Lsvites Of vocal and instrumental
performers They divided into 2SS bauds and have
left of the specimens of their Skill to which the
lom, Davids poetic eIvor-whch had lain dormant for
time-reyived Every remarkable event of his reign
celebrated in lyric verse, either by him or his CO.
temporares His labors and those OF his companons
collected and preserved In the Psalms The Ta!mud
mentions that Mechisadec, Abraham, and Moses,
trbuted also to the book of Psalms but with US we do
not And OF the two former The chars cter Of
DGvis poetry subject to the various condolences of
his life But whether he in either extreme OF for
tune in joy in grief be always frn and seadfast
In his faith and certain in his hope 10 dark the
shy, however hopeless bis condition. when he communss
begun in sorrow, ends with expressions OF the ofest
hope and the most unbounded joy Nor is 1t IN this Alons
but in the intense feeling displayed in the Paamists
writings that charmed In the 13lst Psalm he
de crbes his character well: Lord my heart Is
not grown proud, nor am grown naughty. dare not
me- If some Of our friends would initiate Davii's
humility, they would find themselves all the bat
ter and all the happier. David offers his Palms
Of bulls or OF goats. The king coad easily bring
such holocaust to the altar but he brought that which
was peculiarly III bis ,n s Ssss
been with the of prophecy that he foretoe events as
yet in the distant future Some believe that the psalms
known the Psalms of Aspath written by his de-
scendants His forte lies in the ddatic He Ia generally
parabolcs but always forcible and eTec i've. AS
ample he 'ays in the sath Palm But But am con "a
leadest me on to glory" The Of ..rhe Sons OF
KOrah" is preaxsd to eleven psalms But these not
the Joint production Of different persons. The "sons Of
Koran" formed one family rhs gift Of poesy, con.
tnued with them and their descendants until the
days OF King He2ekiah, for We find their names men
toned the book Of Chronicles. They not strsng
to didatiO poetry, and are only surpassed. BY
tho great master, Aspath: would recommend to
your notice specimens the productions of these posts
the forty econd the forty third and particularly the for
ty ninth psalm. Solomon's name is prehxed to three
psalms, but think that these only addressed
by others to him. Moses ia prefxed to the nine
tieth and tradition gives TO him the authorship OF tho
ninety first also. In addition TO the psalms which have
names affixed to them, there atty others which at
trbuted, to JoshuS ard others TO jeremiah Hezek
ah and Baruk But whoever their authors may there
be question respecting their general merit Their
first great mark Of distinction Is their holiness; the
cord, their comprehensivsnsss -plaoing before the
experience Of good and holy men, and thirdly their high
poetic merit These united have constituted them what
they really are the great Of communication be-
tween and his Maker In synagogue In church and
In chapel they alike resorted to- David has rendered In
his psalms great and universal blessings to all generations
He has n,roduoedl music and public Worship. David
regns forty years. In that period he raised his peo
to the highest pinnacle Of military prepondsrancs and
political power He handed all this down to his son
Solomon, to raise temple to the Lord Unaisturbed
pease enabled Solomon to accomplish this purpose. OF
his writings little has reached We possess only
th0 CantiOl0a OF th0 1aat