The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1893-05-19
HARP AND JAvELIN.
DR.. TALMAee BREACHES ON A NOV
e. SUBJECT.

Tne WOhuertuh ooothihk anu AhonihhH = wv
or Of Music as Illustrated by David be-
fore saui-when Resisted, the Evil Is All
the Greater.
BROOKLYN, May l4.-In his sermon
this forenoonin the Brooklyn Tabernacle
Rev. DR.. Talmage brought ina novel and
practical conjunction that is suggested
by text perhaps never before chosen.
The opening hymn, led by organ and
cornet and joined in by thousands Of
voices, was;
Before Jehovah's awful throne
Ye nations bow with sacred Joy.
The subject was: Harp and
Javelin," the text being l Samuel, eight
zenith chapter, tenth and eleventh verses;
And David played with his hand as at
other times, and there was javelin in
Saul's hand. And Saul cast the javelin,
for he said, will smite David even to
the wall with it. And David avoided out
of his presence twice."
What spectacle for all agesl Saul, a
giant, and David, a dwarf. An unfor-
tunate war ballad had been composed and
sung eulogizing David above Saul. That
song threw Saul into paroxysm Of rage,
which brought on one of his old spells of
insanity to which he had been subject.
If one is disposed to some physical all
ment and he get real mad, it is very apt
to bring on one Of his old attacks. Saul
is a raving maniac, and he goes to imi-
tating the false prophets or sibyls, who
kicked and gesticulated wildly when
they pretended to be foretelling events.
Whatever the physicians of the royal
staff may have prescribed for the dis
ordered king know not, but David pre-
scribed music. Having keyed up the
harp, his fingers began TO pull the rhythm
from the vibrating strings. Thrum!
Thruml Thru1n! No use. The king will
not listen to the exquisite cadences. He
lets fly a javelin, expecting to pin the
minstrel to the wall, but David lodged
the weapon and kept on, for he was con-
fident that he could, as before, subdue
Sauls bad spirit by music.
Again the javelin is flung, and David
lodges it and departs. What contrast
Roseate David with harp and enraged
Saul with a javelin. Who would moi
rather play the one than fling the other
But that was not the only time in the
worlds history that harp and javelir
met Where their birthplace was can
not declare 1t is said that the Tyre was
first suggested by the tight drawing Of
the sinews of tortoise across its shell
and that the flute was first suggested by
the blowing of the wind across bed Of
reeds, and that the ratio of musical in
tervals was first suggested to Pythago
ras by the different hammers on the anvil
of the smithy, but the harp seems to mt
to have dropped out of the sky and the
javelin to have been thrown up from the
pit.
The Oldest stringed instrument of thu
world is the harp. Jubal sounded hi
harp in the book of Genesis. Davii
played many of his psalms on the harl
while he sang them. The captives il
Babylon hung their harps on the willows
| Josephus celebrated the invention of thu
1O-stringed harp. Timotheus, the Mile
sian, was imprisoned for adding thu
twelfth string to the harp, because to-
much luxury Of sound might enervat,
the people. Egyptian harps, Scottish
harps, Welsh harps, Irish harps hav,
been celebrated. What an inspired tri
angle!
Everlasting honors to Sebastian Erard
who by pedals invented called the foo
as well as the hand to the harp. Whel
the harpsicord maker for whom h
worked discharged him for his genius
the employer not wanting to be eclipset
by his subordinate, Erard suffered from
the same passion of jealousy that threw
Saul Of my text into the fit during whicl
he flung javelin at the harpist. TIL
harp is almost human, as you find whe1
you put your finger on its pulse.
Other instruments have louder voic
and may be better for battle charge
but what exquisite sweetness slumber
between the harp strings, waking at tn
first touch of the tips of the fingers.
can weep. 1t can plead. 1t can soothe
1t can pray. The flute is more mellow
the trumpet is more startling, the orga
is more majestic. the cymbals are NOR
festive, the drum is more resoundine
but the harp has richness of its ow
and will continue its mission through a.
time and then take part in celestial syn
phonies, for st. John says he heard i
heaven the harps Of God.
THE ANCIENT JAvELIN.
But the javelin of my text is just a
old 1t is about 81 feet long, with wood
en- handle and steel point, keen and SHARP
But it belongs to the great family {
death dealers and is brother to swor
and spear and bayonet, and first cousi
to all the implements that wound an
slay 1t has cut its way through I'll
ages 1t was old when Saul, in the seer
of my text, tried to harpoon David.
has gashed the earth with grave trenche
Its keen tip is Redeemed with the bloc
of American wars, English wars, Ge
man wars, Russian wars, French war
Z Crusader wars and wars Of all nation
: and of all ages.
The structure of the javelin show
what it was made for. The plowshal
is sharp, but aimed to cut the earth
preparation for harvests. The lightnir
rod is sharp, but aimed to disarm IL
lghtnings and secure safety. The ak
sharp, but aimed to fell forests al
clear the way for human habitatio
The knife is sharp, but aimed to cut Il
bread for sustenance. But the javel
is sharp only to open human arteries al
extinguish human eyesight and tai
human life and fill the earth with Il
cries of orphanage and widowhood al
childlessness.
: Oh. am SO glad that my text brin
them SO close together that we can s
the contrast between the harp and &
I iavelin. The one to soothe, the other
hurt: the one to save, the other to destro
the one divine, the other diabolic; t
one to play, the other to hurl; the one
David's skillful hand, the other in Sau
wrathful clutch. May God speed t
harp, may God grind into dizziness t
+, sharp edge of the javelin.
Now what does all this make you thi
of: 1t suggests to me music as me
cine for physical and mental disorde
:, David took hold of the musical inst