Fisherman & farmer. [volume] (Edenton, N.C.) 1887-19??, 1893-05-26
REV. DIR. TALMAGE.
THE BROOKLYN DIVINE'S sun
DAY SERMON.
Subject: ssHarp and Javelin-"


TEXT: "And Ddrid played nth has hand as
at otIaer times and there s7Gs q jGreEtn IN Sdnfs
hand. And Saul cast the jdrettH. for ne sGad;
ociu snaite Ddrtd eren to the sodH t1atl a. And
Dduid dUoided out Of his presence taotce- -
I Samuel xviii, 10-11.
What spectacle for all ages! 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 or rage, Whlcn
brought on one of his old spells OF insanity 10
which he had been subject. Il 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 raving maniac, ana he
goes to initiating the false prophets or sloyls,
who kicked and gesticulated wildly When
they pretended to be foretellinS events.
Whatever the physicians OF the royal stan
may have prescribed for the disordered king
/ know not, but David prescribed music
Having keyed up the harp, his fingers began
to pull the rhythm from the vibrating strings.
Thrum. Thrutn Thrum No use. Inc
king will not listen 20 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 confident
that he could. as before, subdue SauIs bad
spirit by music.
Again the iavelin is flung, and David
lodges it and departs. What contrast
Roseate David with harp and enraged Saul
with aveltn. Who would not rather 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 birth
place was I cannot declare. 1t is said that
the Tyre was first suggested by the tight
drawing OF the sinews OF tortoise across It's
shell, and that the flute was first suggested
by the blowing of the wind across bed OF
reeds and that the ratio OF musical intervals
fret aH n Py1h6OOraS
ferent hammers on the anvil OF the smlthy,
but the harp seems to me to have dropped OUT
of the sky and the iavelin to have been throWp
up from the pit.
Is the harp. Jubal sounded his harp in the
book OF Genesis. David played many Of mis-
psalms on the harp while he sang them The
captives in Babylon hung their harps on the
willows. Josephus celebrated the invention
of the 10-strinSed harp. Timotheus, the
Milesian. was imprisoned for adding the
twelfth string to the harp. because too mucn
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 as
we'll as the hand to the harp. When the
harpiscord maker for whom he worked dis
charged hin for his genius, the employer
not wanting to be eclipsed by his subOrdI
nate, Erard suffered from the same passion
of jealousy that threw Saul Of nay 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 what
exquisite sweetness sIumbers between the
harp strings, waking at the first touch Of the
tips of the fingers. It can weep. 1t can
plead. It can soothe. It can pray. The
flute is more mellow, the trumpet is more
r,4o klN4 &c inc$J hn
cymbals are more festive, the drum is more
resounding, but the harp has richness of its
own and will continue its mission through
all 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.
It is about five and a half feet long, with
wooden handle and steel pojQt, keen AMI
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 STAY. It has cut
its way through the ages. It was old when
Saul, in the scene of my text, tried to har-
pooh 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 jaZelin shows what
it was made for. The plowshare is sharp,
but aimed to cut the eartn in preparation for
haryests 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 javelin is
sharp only to open human arteries and extin-
Guish human eyesight and take human life
and fill the earth with the cries of orphanags
and widowhood and childlessness.
Oh, am SO glad that my text brings them
SO close together that We can see the contrast
between the harp and the iavelin. The one
to soothe, the other to hurt the one to save,
the other to destroy the one divine, the other
the one in David's skillful hand, the other in
Saui's wrathful clutch. May God speed the
harp, may God grind into dullness the sharp
edge of the javelin.
Now what does all this make you think of?
It suggests to me music as medicine for
physical and mental disorders. David took
hold Of the musical instrument which he best
knew HOY to play and evoked from it sounds
which We're for King SauTs diversion and
'nedicament. But, you say, the treatment in
this case was failure. Why was it a failure?
Saul refused to take the medicine. A whole
apOthecary shop of curative drugs will do
nothing toward healing your illnesses if you
refuse to take the medicine. It was not the
fault Of David's prescription, but the fault Of
Sauls 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 mlghtlest force in all therapeutics. Its
results may not be seen as suddenly as other
forms of cure, but it is Just as wonderful
You will never know how much suffering and
sorrow music has asseaaS-,ed and healed A
soldier II SfQfn soil hat