American citizen. [volume] (Butler, Butler County, Pa.) 1863-1872, 1867-04-17

Ii is ih- dug of all he worshpers of God
10 unite heiJ voices in the celebration of
his p,ai.a. 10 the perfnrmance of this duty
ali nc nnd,rsolemu obligations, az they are
10 read the Scriptures. to pray, tQ m ditate,
in examine themselves, to bear the Word,
and TO eanctify the Sabbath. There is no
warrant to prsi,e God BY proxy. ms is done
in those congregations in which the whole
duty Of praising Him is performed by
choir Of trained singers-of en- though tless,
and even irrsligious. youths.
Kings ofths EARTH all nations princes sarhs Judges,
Both young yea, and Haidsns too, 'na children
snail;
Let them Gods name praise; for his alone .I-
eellcnt"-Ps. cxlviii. lI,l3.
The command is not, praise him ye choir
OF well d ciplined young men and maidens;
aud le, Ill others old men and young chill
dren be silent, lest they should mar the
melody Of the music by their coarse notes.
all ranks and ayes are enjoined to ral.e
their voceS in songs # praise.
"Behod bless ye the Lord, all ye that his
attendants are;
Even you that III God $ temple be. and praise
him nightly there.
Your hands, within G9d's holy place lift up
and praise lisname. - p. cxxxiv, ~.
This command is ef the same import,
making the duty imperative ON all Gods
"attcpdants," or worshipcrs.
The command so often and sole mnly reit-
Grated in the inspired book of Psalms
"Praise ye the Lori"-is addressed to no
one class exclusive Of others; it embraces all
as fully as the precept. /" Serve the Lord"
When David brought the ark and set it in
the mi lst Of he tent he had pitched for il,
he delivered psalm 10 rhpss who were lead.
ers in song, "Aud all the people praised the
Lord. - Chron. xvi. sc.
In reply To all this it is said that though
the congregation is silent yet. in their hearts,
they may be employed in praising God AZ
in prayer none utters words oct those who
lead in the devotions. while all unite in the
Irayer II 10 eat eyror that ha. wrought
10 little evil in the nutter of raising God,
20 consider prayer and praise The same dniy.
and that whatever is allowed in the one is
also in the other. In praise we address God
in poetry and add to 1t the musical modu-
latiuns Of the voice. All this gives a char
acter Of familiarity in approaching him,
which belongs To no other duty. God has
furnished us With manuel Of praise, by the
inspiration of the liolY Ghost, in the Psalms
OF David, and 10th authorized and COM
marded us to use il in our ngs Of pra sc.
lie has not aethorized or gwen the least in /,
timati on If his permitting any other. There
js no ground On which faith can rest that
he win accept any song but those indicated
by the Holy Spirit. AL this plainly dem
onstrates that reapning fiam prayer To
praise. n If hey wese the ,ame duty, is ut
terly inconcIu i've. How frisolous must il
be when ii is directly opposed TO those com.
mands Of Col reeitsd above. and such calIs
70 duty as the foilowing:
20 come let US sing to the Lord;
come, let us every one
A jryful noi,e make TO the rock
Of 0ur Sit lvatioh. ."-Ps. xcv. ].
God calls epeyy one to sing" and make
joyful noise" to him in the celebration OF
his praises. Shall ,wsp presume to say, mo-
so; it is enough to make melody ip the heart
while the tongue is silentr This is surely
presumjng tqo much. and dealing 100 freely
with the solemn coppmands Of Jehovah.
How the New Testament writer's under
stood this matter is abundantly plain frog
repeated declarations of the Apostles.-
" Speakir to yourselves y Tor to one anoth-
erl "in psalms and hymns and spiritual
songs, singing and making melody in your