Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1893-05-31
XIV. DIR. TALNAGR.
The Brooklyn Divine's
Sunday Sermon.
Subieet:-r{fnrn aud I
subjeet:"Hnrp and Javelin.. /.

,,lst EXT And Ddrid played ,uih his hand y,
b,cJ 'e' times ana there lcdS a jquelin in S1ur,
'ctH sn'ite Ddcid eUea 10 he ran I'm :, is
IJSetd 7 S dro1ded out Of has prese,.cs tioics ~
1 Samuel xviii, 1O-ll. '"''s'
What spectacle for ALL oo,as, g.,
Elaht and David, dwarf. An unfortnn,+a
war Gallad had been composed and snno
euioSizlnS David above Saul That go
tnreN saul into a paroxysm OF race vhic5
uLUuSnt on one of his old spells of insanity to
" sa re nau been subject. If one is disposed
MAJ, 1t Is very apt to bring on one of his old
ot'tcNs' saul Is raying maniac, and ha
80 70 initiating the false prophets or sihvls
80 - AIcAed ana Sesticulated wildly whsp
'nSy ~ pretended to be foretelling events.
Whatever the physicians OF the roval sta,
may nave prescribed for the disordsraj lin,
l know not, but David prescribed music
.iaNlnS keyed up the harp, his fingers began
NJ ~, pun ne rhythm from the vibrating strincs
thrum Thrum! ThrumI No use, Tie
SIi ntnS VIII not listen to the exquisite cadences.
ne lets ny iayelin. expecting to pin the
Minstrel to the wall, but David lodged the
Weapon and kept on. for he was confident
tnat ne could, as before, subdus SauIs bad
spirit by music
Again the .javelin is flung, and Davio
contrast
Roseate David with harp and enrapsd saul
with lavelin. Who would not rather play
the one than fiing-the other? But that was
not the only time in the worlds history that
harp and layelin met Where their birth
place was l cannot declare II In said tha.
the Tyre was first suggested by the tight
drawing OF the sinews of a tortoise across its
smell, 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 diff
terent hammers on the anvil OF the smithy.
but the harp seems TO me TO have dropped out
OF the sky and the javelin to have been thrown
up from the pit
The oldest stringed instrument OF the world
Is the harp. Jubal sounded his harp in the
booA 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 lO-stringed harp. Timotheus, the
Milesian, was imprisoned for adding the
twelfth string TO the harp because too much
luxury OF sound might enervate the people,
Egyptian harps. Scottish harps, Welsh harps,
IRISH harps have b8en celebrated. What an
inspired trianglei
Everlasting honors to Sebastian Erard,
Who 10y pedals invented called the foot as
well as the hand to the harp When the
harpscori maker for whom he worked dis
charged him for his genius, the employer
not wanting to be ecHpsed by his subordi-
nate, Erari suffered from the same passion
OF Jealousy that threw Saul of my text into
the II during which he flung a iayelin at the
harDist. The harp is almost human, as you
ind when you put your finger on its pulse.
Other instruments have louder voice and
may be better for 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. It can
plead. 1t can sOothe. II cen pray. The
flute is more mellow, the trumpet is more
startling, the organ is more ma ajestic, the
cymbals are more festive, the drum Is more
rc5OundnC, but the harp has a richness of its
own and will continue its mission through
ali 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.
II 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
implements that wound and slay. 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 iavelin shows what
It was made for. The plowshsre Is sharp,
but aimed to cut the earth in preparation for
harvests. The lightning rod is sharp, but
! aimed to disarm the Hghtnings and secure
safety. The ak is sharp, but aimed to fell
forests and clear the way for human habi-
| tation. The knife is sharp, but aimed TO cut
the bread for sustenance. But the iaveln Is
sharp only to open human arteries and extin-
guisn human eyesight and take human life
i and fill the earth with the cries of orphanage
/ and widowhood and childlessness.
Oh, 1 am so glad that my text brings them
| IN ~ a
between ths harp and the javelin. The one
/ to soothe, the other to hurt the one to save,
| the other to destroy the one divine, ths other
! dlabolic the one to play, the other to hurl,
| the one in David's siiliful hand, the other in
Saul's wrathful clutch. May God speed the
harp, may God grind into dullneas the sharp
| edge OF the javelin.
Now what does all this make you think Off
| It suggests to me music as medicine for
physical and mental disorders. David took
| hold of the musical instrument which he best
knew how 20 play and evoked from it sounds
which were for King SauIs diversion and
medicament. But, you say, the treatment In
| this case was a failure. Why was It Q failureE
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 David's prescription, but the fault OF
Saul 10 obstinacy.
| David, one of the wisest and best OF all
ages. stands before US in the text administer
| ing music for nervous disorder and cerebral
disturbance, and David was right. Music Is
the mightiest force in all therapeutics. Its
results NAV not be seen as suddenly as other
forms of cure, but it IS Just as wonderful;
You will never know how much sunerinY ana
sorrow music has assuaged and healed
soldier in tine United States army said that
| on the DAYS the regimental band played near
\ the hospitals all the sick and wounded re,
yiyed and men who were 50 lame tney coulu
not walk before got up and went out cnd sat
| in the sunshine, and those so dtspirlted that
thew never expected to get home began 10
| pack their baggage and ask aoout tiInetapie'
\ on steamboat and rail train
| Theodosius, the emperor, wrathful at tlAn
behavior of the people OF Antioch, VINO, on
| some sudden provoaatlon tore GOWN tns
| statues of emperor and empress, resoiVeu
| severely to punish them, put tue psnop; =;
| knowing that the emperor had group oi
bows to sing to him while eating at the taoie,
| taIlpht the boys plaintiye song IN Wnlcn tle
| peopIe lamented their bad behavior, anu tue
| King under the pathos OF the music 9rled out,
''The city Of Antioch is forgiven. ine -, -
of Achilles was assuaged by harp. Ascle-
go. sy,vsd rebeliious multitudes by 9
| harp. ban ,
musician was to suffer amputation, anu pc,
fore the days Of aDesthetlcS, the "ounueo
| artist called for a musical Instrument anu
| Lost mot a note during the forty minutes OF
| smuutatiop. Filippo Palma, the great 9iusi- mus.
clan. confronted by an angry creait1r, . th ,
played so enchantngly before nm NJ enM dsb,o1 .n1
| ceraditor forgave the debt and gave the deotor
ten puineas more to appease other creditors
An eminent physician OF olde" time con
| tended (oi course carrying our theory too 90
iar) that all ailments OF the Woriu eSuns avsr az
osrort their recoveries by this mode: But IN
Nbat twilight hour has many saint OF goo
soIaced heartache with hymn 1a,a hummea sans ..
suny or played jerome OF Prague sang
,hif. burning at the stake. Over what keys
Of picno or organ consolation has & walked: aaeo.
Yea' in church one hymn has roneo peace
| over a thousand OF the Worrieo' P'ipieA00
While there are hymns and tunes ready foi
the iubiIsnt, thepa is rich hymn9iiS9gy an5 1ol
the suffering-''Naorni' and bYent,ae Iroonsn- az
lILutumn Leaves ard "CoEoe ye disconso
late" tie and whole portfolios and hbretios o
tears set to music. All the wondeSu
ltriumphs of surgery and all the new noae. QUE
L mt n nhvSlCaI