The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1886-05-19
DR. TALkhGE'S SERMON.
CONGREGATIONAL SINGING.

sound to be heard In pralSlng and thanking
the Lord. I'll. Chron. V. IL.
The Temple was done. 1t was the very
chorus of all magnifcence and pomp. Splen
dor crowded against splendor 1t was ths
diamond necklace of the earth. From the
huge pillars crowned with leaves of flower:
and rows Of pomegranats wrought out II
FURNISHED metal, down even to the tongs and
snuffers made out Of pure gold, everything
was as complete as the God-directe5
architect could make it. 1t seemed
as if q vision from heaven had
alighted on the mountains. The day for
dedication came. Tradition says that there
day 100000 silver trumpets, 10000 harps
10000 timbrels and 200, 00O singers; so that all
modern demonstrations at Dusseldorf or
Boston seem nothing compared with that.
As this great sound surged up amid
the precious stones Of the Temple, it must
have seemed like the river Of life dashlng
against the amethyst of the wall of Heaven:
The sound arose and God, as if to show that
He was we'll pleased with the music which
His children make in all ages, dropped into
the midst of the Temple cloud of glory so
oyerpowering that the officiating priests were
Obliged to stop in the midst of the services.
There has been much discussion as to where
music was born I think that at the begin
ming, when the morning stars sang together
and all the suns of God shouted for Joy, that
the earth heard the echo. The cloud ON
which the angel stood to celebrate the crea-
tion was the birthplace Of song. The stars
that glitter at night are only so many Keys
of celestial pearl on which Gods fingers play
the music Of the spheres Inanimate nature
is full of Gcd's stringed and wind il: r:struments.
Silence itself-perfect silence-is only q nusi-
cal rest in Gods great anthem CT worship
Wind among the leaves, insect humming in
the summer air, the rush of billow upon
beach, the ocean far out sounding its ever
lasting psalm, the bobolink on the edge of the
forest, the quail whistling up from the grass.
are music. While visiting Blackwell's Island
I heard coming from tine window OF the
funatic asylum, very sweet song. 1t was
sung by one who had lost her reason; and
have come to believe that even the deranged
and disordered elements of nature would
make music to ours ear, if we only had
ecuteness enough to listen. l suppose that
even the sounds in nature that are discordant
and repulsive make harmony in Gods ear.
You know that you may come so near to an
orchestra that the sounds are painful instead Of
pleasurable; and think that we stand so near
devastating storm and frightful whlrlwlnd
we cannot hear that which makes to Gods
ear and the ear of the spirits above us
music as complete as it is tremendous.
The Day Of Judgment, which will be day
of uprcar and tumult, I suppose will bring
no dissonance to the ears Of those who can
calmly listen; although it will be as when
some great performer is executing bolster
GUS piece Of music, he sometimes breaks
down the instrument on which he plays; so it
may be on that last day that the grand march
Of God, played by the fingers of thunder and
earthquake and confagration may break
down the world upon which the music is
&ol ot lN- ic ipQn q
of music but God has wonderfully organized
the human voice, 50 that in the plainest
throat and lungs there are fourteen
direct muscles which can make over sixteen
thousand different sounds! Now, there are
thirty indirect muscles which can make, it
has been estimated, more than one hundred
and seventy three millions of sounds. Now,
say, when God has so constructed the human
voice and when he has filled the whole earth
the ancient Temple, have a right to come to
the conclusion that God loves music.
Ipropose this morning ospeak about sacred
music, first showing you its Importance and
then stating some Of the obstacles to its ad-
vancement.
I draw the first argument for the impor-
tance of sacred music from the fact that God
commanded it, Through Paul He tells us to
admonsh one another in psalms and hymns
and spiritual songs; through David He cries
out: Sing ye to God all ye kingdoms OF the
earth And there are hundreds Of other pas
sages might name, proving that it is as
much mans duty to sing as it is his duty to
bray. Indeed think there are more COM
nands in the Bible to sing than tbero are to
pray. God not only asks for the human voice
but for the instruments Of music. He asks for
the cymbal and the harp and the trumpet.
And suppose that, in the last days OF the
church. the harp, the lutte, the trumpet, and
all the instruments of music that have given
their chief ard to the theatre and bacchanal,
will be brought by their masters and laid
down at the feet of Christ, and then sounded
In the church's triumph on her way from
suffering into glory. "Praise ye the Lordn'
Praise Him with your voices. Praise Him
with stringed instruments and with organs.
I draw another argument for the import
ance of this exercise from the lmpreSsiveness
f the exercise. You know something Of
what secular music has achieved. You know
it has made its impressionupon governments,
upon laws upon literature, upon whole gene
fations One inspiriting national air is worth
thirty thousand men as standing army.
There comes time in the battle when one
bugle is worth a thousand muskets. In the
earlier part of our civil war government pro-
posed to economic in bands Of music and many
IF them were sent home: but the generals
IN the army sent word to Washington: You
are making a very great mistake We are
falling back and falling back. We have not
enough music" Then the government
were sent to the field and the day of shame
ful defeat terminated. 1 have to tell you
that No nation or church can afford to
severely economic in music.
Why should we rob the programmes OF
worldly gayety when we have so many ap-
propriate songs and tunes composed III our
own day, as we'll as that magnificent lnherl'
tance OF church psalmody which has come
down fragrant with the devotions Of other
when our great.grandfathers climbed
pew to glory! Dear old souls, how
they used to sing! When they were cheerful
our grandfathers and grandmothers used to
sing "Colchester When they were very
meditative, then the meeting house rang with
sSouth Street. and "St. Edmonds." We're
they struck through with great tenderness,
they sang Woodstock" Were they wrapped
sang "Zionn Were they overborne with the
love and glory of Christ, they sang 'Ariel." D."
And in those days there were certain tunes
married to certain hymns, and they have
lived in peace great while, these two old
people, and we have no right to divorce
chem. ''What God hath joined together let
no man put asunder." Born as we have been
amid this great wealth of church music, aug
mented by the compositions of artists in our
day, we ought not to he tempted out Of the
sphere of Christian harmony and try to seek
unconsecrated sounds. 1t is absurd for a
millionaire to steal.
Many of you are illustrations of what
sacred song can do. Through it you were
brought into the kingdom Of Jesus Christ.
You stood out against the warning and the
argument of the pulpit. but when in the sweet
words of Charles Wesley or John Newton or
Toplady the love Of Jesus was sung to your