St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1886-05-03
Rev. DIR. Talmage Makes Congregational
Singing the Subject of His Sunday
Morning Sermon,
Basing His First Argument For Sacred
Music on the Fact That God Com
manded It.
It's Impressiveness Given as Another
Reason for the Importance of
This Exercise.
The Preacher Advises Each FAMILY
In His Congregation to Bea
Singing school.
DIR. TaImage's Sermon.
Special to the Globe.

BROOKLYN. N. Y, May 2.-Rev. T. De
witt Talmage preached this morning on the
subject of congregational singing He took
his text from Ii. Chronicles ", 10: eft
came even to pass, as the trumNa and
singers were as one, to make one sound to
be heard in praising and thanking the
Lord" Following is the sermon. The
| temple was done. 1t was the very chorus
OF all magnifcence and pomp. Splendor
crowded against splendor. 1t was the
diamond necklace of the earth. From the
huge pillars crowned with leaves of flowers
and rows OF pomegranate wrought out in
Furnished metal. down even to the tongs
and shutters made out of pure gold. every
thing was as complete as the God directed
architect could make it, 1t seemed as if a
vision from heaven had alighted on the
mountains. The day for dedication came.
Tradition says that there were in and
around about the temple on that day 200, 600
silver trumpets, 49, 600 harps, 100000
timbrels, and 100000 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 dashing
against the amethyst of the wall of heaven.
The sound arose and God, as if to show
that He was well pleased with the music
which His children make in all ages,
dropped into the midst of the temple
A CLOUD OF GLORY
so overpowering 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 l think that
at the beginning, 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 angels
stood to celebrate the creation 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. 1nanimate nature is full of
! Gods stringed and wind Instruments ST.
lence itself-perfect silence-s only mu-
steal rest in Gods great anthem of 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 Black
wells island l heard coming from window
OF the lunatic asylum. a very sweet song.
1t was sung by one who had lost her reason,
and l have come to believe that even the
deranged and diSordered elements of nature
would make music to our ear, if we only
| had acuteness enough to listen. L suppose
that even the sounds in nature that are dis
cOrdant and repulsive make harmony in
Gods ear. You know that you may come
so near to an orchestra that the
SOUNDS ARE PAINFUL
instead or plcasurable; and think that we
stand so near devastating storm and fright
full whirlwind we cannot hear that which
makes to Gods ear and the ear of the spir-
its above us music as complete as it is
tremendous The day of Judgment, which
| will be day of uproar and tumult I sup
pose will bring no dissonance to the ears of
those who can calmly listen; although it
will be as when some great performer is
executing boisterous 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
conflagration may break down the world
upon which the music is executed. Not
only is inanimate nature full of music, but
God has wonderfully organized the human
voice, so that in the plainest throat and
lungs there are fourteen direct muscles
which can make over 10000 different
sounds! Now there are thirty indirect mus
cleS which can make, it has been estimated,
more than 173,000.000 sounds. Now, l
say, when God has so constructed the
human voice and when he has filled the
whole earth with harmony and when he
| recognized it in the ancient temple | have
right to come to the conclusion that God
loves music. l propose this morning to
speak about sacred music, first showing
; you its Importance and then stating some
of the obstacles to its advancement. draw
THE FIRST ARG UMENT
| for the Importance of sacred music from the
| fact that God commanded it, Through Paul
he tells us to admonish one another in
| psalms and hymns and spiritual songs;
| through David he cries out, Sing we to
God all We kingdoms of the earth.'' And
| there are hundreds of other passages
might name, proving that it is as much a
mans duty to sing as it is his duty to pray
| Indeed think there are more commands in
the Bible to sing than there 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 aid to the theater 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
We the Lord!' Praise him with stringed
| instruments and with organs. draw an
other argument for the Importance of this
exercise from the impressiveness of the ex-
ercise. You know something of what sec
ular music has achieved. You know it has
made its impression upon governments,
I0xry L4ln
generations. One inspiring national air
is worth $4,000 men as standing army
There comes time in the battle when one
bugle is
WORTH A THOUSAND MUSKETS.
In the earlier part of the civil war the
government proposed to economic in bands
of music aud many of 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 changed its
mind; more bands of music were sent to
the field and the day of shameful defeat
terminated. I have to tell you that no
nation or church can afford to severely
economic in music. Why should we rob
the programs of worldly gayetv when we
have so many appropriate songs and tunes
composed III our own Gay, as well as that
magnificent inheritance of church psalmody
which has come down fragrant with the
devotions of other OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES no
more worn out than when our great grand
fathers climbed up on them from the
church pew to glory? Dear old souls. how
they used to sing! When they were cheer
full our grandfathers and grandmothers used
to sing Colchester" When they were
meditative then the meeting house rang
| with ''South Street" ard ''St. Edmonds. {"
Were they struck through with great ten
derness they sang Woodstock" Were
they wrapped in visions of the glory of the
church they sang Zion" Were they
overborne with the love and glory of Christ
they sang Ariel" And in those days
there were certain tunes married to certain
| hymns, and they have
LIVED IN PEACE