The Wellington enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 1867-188?, 1886-05-12

proohyh laDernacle, congregational
Singing" taking for his text:
It came even to pass, as the trumpeters
and singers were as one, TO make one sound
to be heard in pralslng and thanking the
Lord-Iu. Chronicles, v, 49,
The temple was done. II was the very
chorus Of all magniHcence and pomp.
Splendor crowded against splendor. II
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 snuffers made out of
pure gold, every thing was as complete rs
the God-directed architect could make it.
1t seemed as II vision from Heaven had
elighted on the mountains. The day for
dedication came. Tradition says that
there were In and around about the temple
on that day 100000 silver trumpets, 900
harps, 10000 timbrels and 200, 900 singers;
so that all modern demonstrations at Dus-
seldorf or Boston seem nothing compared
with that. As this great sound. surged
up amid the precious stones of the
temple, II must have seemed like the
River Of Life dashing against the
amethyst Of the wall Of heaven. The
sound arose and God, as II TO show that
he was well pleased with the music which
his children make In all ages, dropped
into the midst of the temple q 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 birth
place of song. The stars that glitter at
night are only so many keys of celestial
pearl on which Gods fingers play the mu-
sic Of the spheres. Inanimate nature Is
full Of Gods stringed and wind instru-
ments. Silence itself-perfect silence-is
only musical rest In Gods great an
them Of worship. Wind among the
leaves, insect humming in the sum-
mer air, the rush of billow upon
beach, the ocean far out sounding
its everlasting psalm, the bobolink on the
edge of the forest, the quail whistling up
from the grass, are music. While visiting
Blackwell's Island heard coming from q
window Of the lunatic asylum 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 ell
ements Of nature would make music to our
ear IL we only had acuteness enough to
listen. 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
whirlwind we can not hear that which
makes to Gods ear and the ear Of the spir-
its above us music as complete as 1t Is
tremendous.
The day Of Judgment, which will be a
day Of tumult and uproar, suppose, will
bring no dissonance to the ears of those
who can calmly listen, although 1t will be
as when some great performer, In execut-
ing a boisterous piece Of music, he some-
times breaks down the instrument upon
which he plays; so 1t may be on that last
day that the grand march of God, pla yed
by the fingers of thunder and earth.
quake and conAagration, may break
down the world upon which the music
is executed. Not only is inauimate ma.
ture full Of music, but God has wonderfully
organized the human voice, so that In the
plainest throat and lungs there are four
teen direct muscles which can make over
10000 different sounds Now, there are
thirty indirect muscles which can make,
It has been estimated, more than la, 900 900
Of sounds. Now, I say, when God has so
constructed the human voice, and when he
has filed the whole earth with harmony,
and when He recognized II In the ancient
temple, have right to come to the con-
clusion that God loves music.
Ipropose this morning to speak about
sacred music. first showing you its i'm
portance and then stating some Of the OBJ
stacles TO Its Advancement.
draw the first argument for the I'm.
portance Of sacred music from the fact
that God commanded IL. Through Paul
He tells us 10 admonish 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 passages
might name, proving that II Is as much a
mans duty to sing as It Is to pray. In
deed 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, dnd 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 the.
ater 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 Lordp Praise him
with your voices. Praiseh him with stHinged
instruments and with organs.
draw another argument for the impor.
tance Of this exercise from the impressive
ness Of the exercise. You know something
Of what secular music has achieved. You
know IL has made It's impression upon
governments, upon laws, upon literature,
upon whole generations. One inspiritlng
National air is worth thirty thousand men
as standing army. There comes time
in the battle when one bugle is worth
thousand muskets. In the earlier part Of
the civil war the Government proposed to
economize In bands of music, and many Of
them were sent home; but the Generals in
the army sent word to Washington: "You