The Bolivar bulletin. (Bolivar, Tenn.) 1888-1946, 1893-05-26

song. Why does not the church on
earth take the hint? Heaven is the
great musical center of the universe,
the place of doxologies and trumpets
and harps, and in preparation for that
place, we ought to make more of music
on earth. The band of music at Wa
terloo played the retreat of the Forty
second Highlanders back to their
places, and sacred music has returned
many faltering host of God into the
Christian conflict with as much deter
mination and dash as Tenny-
sons six Hundred" Who can
tell what has been accomplished
by Charles Wesley's seven thousand
hymns, or by the congregational singing
of his time, which could be heard two
miles off? When my dear friend, Dio
Lewis (gone to rest all too soon), con-
Quoted a campaign against drunken
ness at the west, and marshaled thou
sands of the noplest women of the
land in that magnificent campaign,
whole neighborhoods and villages and
cities shut up their grog-shops, do you
know the chief weapon they used? 1t
was the song:
Nearer, my God, to Thee,
Nearer to Thee
They sang il at the door of hundreds of
liquor saloons which had been open for
years, and either at the first charge of
the campaign or the second the saloon
shut up. At the first verse of Nearer,
My God, to Thee the liquor dealers
laughed; at the second verse they
looked solemn; at the third verse they
began to cry, and at the fourth verse
they got down on their knees. You say
they opened their saloons again. Yes,
some of them did. But it is a great
thing to have hell shut up if only for a
week. Give full swing to a good Cos
pei hymn and it would take the whole
world for God!
But when In my text see Saul de-
clining this medicine of rhythm and
cadence and actually hurting a javelin
at the heart of David, the harpist, be-
think myself of the fact that sin would
like to kill sacred music" We are not
told what tune David was playing on
the harp that day, but from the char
acter of the man we know it was not a
crazy madrigal, or senseless ditty, or
sweep of strings suggestive of the
melodrama, but elevated music, God
given music, inspired music, re-
ligious music, a whole Heaven of
it encamped under harp string.
No wonder that wicked Saul hated
it and could not abide the sound.
and with all his might hurled an in
strument of death at it. / know there
are styles of music that sin admires,
and you hear it as you pass the casino
or the dance hall, and the devil has
stolen most of the fiddles, though am
glad the Ole Bulls have snatched up
the charmed strings from their desc
Grafton; but it is a fact that sin has a
javelin for sacred sounds. In many
churches the javelin of criticism has
killed the music, javelin flung from or
gan loft or from adjoining pew of the
supersensitive. Sauls javelin aimed at
David's harp. Shousands of people so
afraid they may not sing scientifically,
they will not sing at all, or sing with
such low tone that no oRe hears them.
In many church the javelin of criti-
cism has crippled the harp of worship.
If Satan could silence all the Sunday
school songs and the hymns of Chris
tian worship he would gain his great
est achievement. When the millennial
song shall rise land its being made
ready there will be such a roll of
voices, such a concentred power of
stringed and wind instruments, such
majesty, such unanimity, such CONT
mental and hemisphere and planetary
acclamatio that it will be impossible
to know where earth stops and Heaven
begins. Roll on, roll in, roll up, thou
millennial harmony.
See also in my subject that the fact
that man sometimes lodges is not
against his courage. NV text says that
when assailed him David avoided out
of his presence twice." that is, when
the javelin was flung he stepped out of
its direction, or bent this or that; in
other words, he lodged. But all those
who have read the life of David know
that he was not lacking in prowess.
David had faults, but cowardice was
not one of them. When David, who
was, 1 guess, about four and a half
feet high, went out to meet the
giant, who was, guess, about ten feet
high, it was a big undertaking, and
the inequalities of the struggle were so
great that it struck the giants idea of
the ludicrous, and he suggested to the
little fellow that he would make fine
dinner for a buzzard or jackal. Come
to me and will give thy flesh unto the
fowls of the air and to the beasts of the
field" When David went out to meet
that giant and conquered, he demon
strated, as he did on other occasions,
his courage. But am glad that when
Saul flung that jayelin David lodged
IL, or the chief work of his life would
never have been done. What lesson
this is to those who go into useless
danger, and expose their lives or their
regulations or their usefulness unnec-
essarily. When duty demands go
ahead, though all earth and hell oppose
Bulge not one inch from the right po-
sition. But when nothing is involved,
step back or step aside. Why stand in
the way of perils that you can avoid?
Go not into quixotic battles to fight
wind-mills. You will be of more to
the world and the church as an active
Christian man than as a target for
javelins. There are Christians always
in fight. If they go into churches
they fight here. If they go into
presbyteries or conferences or associa-
tions they fight there. My advice to
you is, if nothing is to be gained for
God or the truth, stand out of the way
of the javelins. ! Sam xviii, 11,''David
avoided out of his presence twice. -
Washington was as mighty in his re-
treats as in his advances. His army
would several times have been de-
strouad IL he had not dndnad He