Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1893-06-03
REV. DR.. TALMAGE
THE BROOKLYN DIVINE'S Sun
DAY SERMON.

i HT3rUI CiI o. 20 TTESAf4c. FTtlE. -
Samuel xviii, IL Il.
WHIT = Spectacle for all ages, Saul. :
giant, and David. a dwarf. An unfart4-4a,s
war taliad had been conro.es ana eInc
euloeizins David above radl. Thag sona
Threw SauI into = raro1ysm Of rage. whi.t
brought N ore " his old spells II insanity IL
which h had been subject. IF ono i dls95-4.i
to sone physical ailment AMI he get rrai
mad. II Is very apt t. bring On one o. his oId
attacks. Saul IL a raviny maniar. an he
goes to initiating the false prophets or gIhxl-.
who kicked and gesticuIated wildly when
theF pretended to be foretellinc events.
Whatever the physicians IF N loyal stat
nay have prescribed for ire ii-c-derei king
] snow not, but David prescribed music.
haTins keyed up The harp, his fingers began
70 pun the .hsthm from the vibrating strrc..
1hrumt Ihrum, Thrum. M "se. The
king viii not listen to the"-4u isite cadence7.
lie let's fly a javeln. expecting to pin the
MInsfrel to tht wall. but David lodged the
weaEch And kept on, for be was confident
thh' ~ could. rs before. subdus. Saul5 bad
sT1r.t&y music.
Again tho ~iayelin is narr s2a David
lodges it and departs. What a contrast
Fo4.ate David witt 4 harp AMI enraced saul.
WIN Iayelisy Who would not rather play
u ; ono Than fling the other? But that vas
not the only time in the worlds history that
t'rp and ~javelin met. Where their birth
place was cannot declare. 1t Is rai1 chat
The Tyre was first suggested by the tight
drawing ofthe sinews Of a tortoise across it5
shell, and that the flute was first suggested
by the blowing Of the wind across q bed Of
reeds. and that the ratio Of musical Intervals
was 1rst suggested to PythagOras by the diff
l"rent hammers on the anvil of the smitfv.
tnt the harp seems to me TO have dropped oLa
.. the sky and the j%avelint to have been thrown
W from the pit.
81" oldest strineed instrument ofthe world
j. the harr. Jubal sounded his harp in the
tooE q Genesis. David played many Of his
TsaH.s on the harp while he sang them. Tho
c~tttlVes In Babylon hung their harps on tho.
willows. Josephus celebrated the invention
81 th" 10-stringed harp. Timotheus, the
Mllf7lan, was. imprisoned for addin; thsS
twelfth string to the harp. because too much
luxury Of sound might enervate the people.
Egyptian harps. Scottish harps, Welsh harps,
Irish harps have been celebrated. What an
Inspired triangle!
Everlasting honors to Sebastian Erard,
who by pedals invented called the foot az
wei! rs the land to the harp. When the
harFiscord maker for whom he worked dis
charged him for his genius, the employer
not wanting to be eci'psed by his subordi-
nate. Erard suffered from the same passion
OF jealousy that threw Saul Of my text into
the tit during which he flung a @javelin at the
haFplst. The harp Is almost human, as YOU
dnd when you put your finger on its pulse.
Other instruments have louder voice and
may be better for a battle charge. but what
exquisite sweetness slumbers between the
harp strings, waking at the first touch Of the
tips Of the fingers. 1t can weep. 1t can
plead. 1t can soothe. 1t can pray. The
flute is moro mellow, the trumpet is more
startling, the organ is more majestic, tho
cymbals are more festive. the drum is more
resounding, but the harp has a richness of its
own and will continue its mission through
oil time and then take part in, celestial SYM
phonies. for st. John says he heard in heaven
the harps of God.
But the javelin of my text is just as old.
1t is about five and a half feet long, with
wooden handle and steel point, keen and
sharp. But it belongs to the great family of
death dealers and is brother to sword and
spear and bayonet. and first cousin to all the
I'm ple}nents that wound and Stay. 1t has cut
It's way through the ages. 1t was old when
Saul, IN the scene of my text, tried to har-
poon David. 1t has gashed the earth with
grave trenches. Its keen tip is redeemed
with the blood Of American wars, English
wars. German wars, Russian wars. French
wars, Crusader wars and wars Of all ages.
The structure OF the ~javelin shows what
It was made for. The plowshare is sharp,
but aimed to cut the earth in preparation for
haryests. The lightning rod is sharp, but
aimed to disarm the lightnings and secure
safety. The OK is sharp, but aimed to fell
' hld acc liz way ~ lux ltttl-
tation. The knife is sharp, but aimed to cut
the bread for sustenance. But the javelin is
Sharp only to open human arteries and extin-
gulsa human eyesight and take human life.
and III the earth with the cries Of orphanage
RLd W~idowhood and childlessness.
Oh, | IN 80 glad that my text brings them
SO Close together that we can see the contrast
between the harp and the javelin. The one
10 soothe. the other to hurt the one to save.
th"Hothcr to destroy the one divine, the other
diaholic the one to play, the other TO hurl,
the one in David's skillful hand. the other in
Sauls wrathfuf clutch. May God speed the
harp. may God grind into duliness the sharp
edge ~ the javelin.
Now what does all this make you think Of?
1t suggests to me- music as a medicine for
physical and mental disorders. David took
hold =. .hc musical ifG rument which he best
knew how to play and evoked from it sounjA
which were for klnc Saul's diversion AMI
medIcalent. But. YOU SLY the treatment III
this case was a failure. Why was it q failure?
Saul refused to take the medicine. \ whole
apothecary shop OF curative drugs will do
nothing toward healing your illnesses ii YOU
refuse to take the medicine. 1t was not the
fault OF Davids prescription, but the fault OF
Saul = o~bstlnacy.
David. one of the wisest and best Of all
ages. stands before us in the text administer
Ing musle for nervous disorder and cerebral
disturbance. and David was right Music is
the mightiest force in all therapeutics. Its
results may not be seen as suddenly as other
forms OF cure, but il Is just as wonderful.
You will never know how much suffering and
sorrow music has assuaged and healed. A
soldier in the United States army said that
on the days the re~gimental band played near
the hospitals all the sick and wounded re-
vived. and men who were So lame they could
not walk before got up and went cut and sat
il the sunshine. AMI those so dlspiriiei that
they never expected 70 get home began 10
pack their baggasesand ask about timetables
on steamboat and rail train.
~Theodosius. the emperor. wrath.ui at the
behavior Of the people II Antioch. who. on
some sudden proyocation tore down the
statues Of emperor and empress. resolved
severely 10 punish them. but the bishop,
knowing that the emperor had "a group O,
boys rs sing to him while eating at the table
taught the boys a plalntIye song il which tbs
people laIented thel- tad behavior. and the
king under the pathos q the MUSE criet out
The city 81 Antioch Is forgiven The rage
O. Achilles was assuacei y a harp. Ascle
pladcs swayed rehelllo4s uultituies " {
harp.
After. the battle OF Yorktown. when {
musician was 10 suffer aEpQtatlon, and tie
fore TIE Gays OF aDGSrneTcs. ire vorn -esI
arts; called for a musical inst-Qnent I'll