Milford chronicle., 1893-05-19
AT HETABERNACLE.
REV. DR.. TALMAeE's ELOQUENT SER
MON ON THE HARP AND JAVELlN.

REV. DR.. TAlMAGE'S ELOQUENI SEh-
MON ON THE HARP AND JAVELlN.
An Extremely Vivid Word Picture--Perils
That Can Be Avoided-JaveIlns of Wit,
Of Irony, of sophistry and Of Diabolie
Hostility.
BROoKLYN, May IA. in his sermon this
forenoon in the Brooklyn Tabernacle Rev.
DR.. Talmage brought in a novel and prac-
tical conjunction that is suggested by u
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 announced was Harp and
Javelin," the text being / Samuel, eight
eenth chapter, tenth and eleventh verses
"Aud David played with his hand as az
other times, and there was a javelin in
Saul's hand And Saul cast the jayelin,
for ne said, will smite David even to the
wall with it. And David avoided out Of
his presence twice"
What a spectacle for all agesl Saul,
giant, and David a dwarf An unfortunate
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 ailment and he
get real mad, it is very apt to bring on one
of his old attacks. Saul is a raying maniac,
and he goes TO initiating the false prophets
or sibyls, who kicked and gesticulated
wildly when they pretended to be eforetelling
events
Whatever che physicians Of the royal
staff may have prescribed for the dlsor-
dered king ! know not, but David pre-
scribed music Having keyed up the harp,
his fingers began to pull the rhythm from
the vibrating strings. Thruml Thrum
Thruml No use. The king will not listen
to the exquisite cadences. He let's fly a
javelin, expecting to pin the minstrel to
the wall, but David lodged the weapon
and kept on, for he was confident that he
could. as before, subdue SauFs bad spirit
by music,
Again the Javelin is flung, and David
dodges it and departs. What a contrastl
Roseate David with harp and enraged
Saul with a iavelin Who would not rath
er play the one than fling the other? But
that was not the only time in the worlds
history that harp and javelin met. Where
their birthplace was | cannot declare. 1t
is said that the Tyre was first suggested by
the tight drawing Of the sinews of tor
toise across its shell, and that the flute was
! first suggested by the blowing of the wind
across a bed of reeds, and that the ratio Of
musical intervals was first suggested to
/ Pythagoras by the different hammers
on the anvil of the smithy, but the harp
seems to me to have dropped out of the sky
and the iavelin to have been thrown up
from the pit.
The Oldest stringed instrument of the
world is the harp Jubal sounded his harp
| in the book of Genesis. David played many
of his psalms on the harp while he sang
them The captives in Babylon hung their
harps on the willows. Josephus celebrated
the invention of the 1O-stringed harp.
| Timotheus the AIilesian was imprisoned
for adding the twelfth string to the harp,
because too much luxury of sound might
enervate the people. Egyptian harps, Scot
tish harps, Welsh harps, Irish harps have
/ been celebrated What an inspired tri-
/ angle
Everlasting honors to Sebastian Erard,
who by pedals invented called the foot as
well as the hand to the harp. When the
harpsicOrd maker for whom he worked dis
charged him for his genius, the employer
not wanting to be eclipsed by his subol
/ dinate, Erard suffered from the same pas
sion of jealousy that threw Saul of my text
| into the fit during which he flung javelin
| at the harpist. The harp is almost human,
as you find when you put your finger on its
| pulse.
/ Other instruments have louder voice
| and may be better for battle charge, but
/ lt hnf
| the harp strings, waking at the first touch
of the tips of the fingers It can weep. 1t
can plead. 1t can sooth. It can pray The
flute is more mellow, the trumpet is more
startling, the organ is more majestic, the
cymbals are more festive, the drum is more
| resounding, but the harp has richness o!
| its own and will continue its mission
! through all time and then take part in ce-
/ lestial symphonies, for St. John says he
heard in heaven the harps Of God.
! But the javelin of my text is just as
old It is about 516 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 implements that wound and slay. 1t
has cut its way through the ages 1t was
| old when Saul, in the scene Of my text
[ tried to harpoon David. 1t has gashed the
| earth with grave trenches. Its keen tip Is
| reddened with the blood of American wars
| English wars, German wars, Russian wars
I French wars, Crusader wars and wars oi
! all nations and of all ages
The structure of the javelin shows what
it was niade for The plowshare is sharp
| but aimed to cut the earth in preparation
for hurvests. The lightning rod is sharp
but aimed to disarm the lightnings and
secure safety The ak is sharp, but aimed
to fell forests and clear the way for human
| habitation. The knife is sharp, but aimed
to cut the bread for sustenance. But The
iavelin is sharp only toopen human ARTERIES
and extinguish human eyesight and take
human life and fill the earth with the crie'
Of orphanage and widowhood and childless
ness.
Oh, am so glad that my text bring
them so close together that we can see th'
contrast besween the harp and the Javelln
The one to soothe, the other to hurt; the
one to save, the other to destroy; the one
divine, the other diabolic; the one to play
tho other to hurl; the one in David's skill
full hand, the other in SauPs wrathfu
clutch. May God speed the harp; may Coz
grind into dullness the sharp edge of th'
javelinl
Now what docs all this make you thinh
OFF It suggests to me music as mediein,
for physical and mental disorders Davic
took hold of the musical instrument whict
he best knew how to play and evoked from
it sounds which were for King Sau's diver
sion and medicament. But you say th'
treatment in this case was failure. Why
was it a failure2 Saul refused to take tbs
medicine A whole apothecary shop o.
curative drugs will do nothing toward
healing your illnesses if you refuse to take
the medicine. It was not the fault o.
David's prescription, but the fault of Saul.
ohstinaey
David, one Of the wisest and best OF al
ages, stands before us in the text admins
tering music for nervous disorder and cere
bral disturbance. And David was right
/ Music is the mightiest force in all thera
peutics It's results may not be seen as