The Grenada sentinel., 1897-10-02
TALMAGE'S SERMON.
An Appeal for More Hearty Con-
gregational Singing.
Music Commended by God-Thc impress
siyeuess OF Sacred Song-It Has Power
to SOoihe Perturbation or to
Arouse Action.

Rev. I. Dewitt Talmage, in the fol
lowing sermon, rallies the churches t,
more hearty congregational singing
1t is based on the text:
II came even 10 pass, as the trumpcters anc
singers werr as one, to make one sound to bt
heard in praiSing and thanking the Lord II
Chronicles. v, ID
The temple was done. 1t was the
very chorus of all nagniticence and
pomp. Splendor crowded agains,
spiendor 1t was the diamond neck
lace of the earth. From the huge
pillars crowded with leaves and flowers
and rows of pomegranate wrought out
in FURNISHED metal, down even to the
tongs and snuffers made O1t Of pure
gold, everything was as complete as
the God-directed architect could make
it. 1t seemed as if vision from Heaven
had aliThted on the mountains. The
day for dedication came. Tradition
says that there were in aud around
about the temple on that day 200,
oGO silver trumpets, 10000 tlmbreis and
200, 900 singers; So that all modern
demon strutions d: Dusseldorf or BoS-
ton seem nothing compared with that.
As this great sound surged up amid
the precious stones Of the temple, it
must have seemed like the river OF
life daShiur against the amethyst Of
the wall of llvavcu. The sound arose,
and God, as II to show that lie was
well pleased with the music which His
chilur,n make il al ages, dropped into
the miist of the temple Il cloud OF
glory 81 uverpowcriny that the otiiclat-
ing priests Were obliged to stop ia the
mIust of the services.
There has been much discussion as
to where music was born. Think that
at the beginning, when the morning
stars sang together and all the sons Of
God shouted for joy" that the earth
heard the echo. The cloud on which
the angels stood to celebrats the crea-
tion was the birthplace of song. The
stars that glitter at night are only 50
many keys Of celestial pearl. on which
Gods fingers play the spheres. lnanI-
mate nature is fu.l OF stringeu and
wind Instruments. Silence itsrlf-per-
feet sIlence-is ON Y musical rest in
God great anthem OF worship. Wind
among the leaves, insect humming in
the sumter air, the rush of biIlow
upon the beach, the ocean far out
soUu,ting its everlasting psalm, the
boUulink Oh the edge Of the forest,
the QuaN whjstling up from the
gras, are music. While visiting Back
well island. | heard, coming from a
window OIL the .unatlc asylum, very
sweet song. 1t wa, sung by one who
had .ost her reason, AMI | have come
to believe that even the deranged and
disOrdtreL clements Of nature would
make music to our ear if we only had
acuteuess enough TO listen. suppose
that even the sounds i'll nature that
arc uiscOrdant and repulslve MAKE har-
m0uy in Gods ear. You know tuat
that the sounds are painful instead OF
pleasurable, and think that we stand |
So near devastating storm aud fright
ful WAlr."Iu We can not hear tAat
W WAirA nalica to cod, ear aud the ear |
OF tho spirits above Us a music as com
picte as il j, tremendous.
propose to speak about sacred nu
sir, first showing YOU it's Importance
an! then stating some Of the obstacles
to is advancement.
draw the first argument for the i'm
pOrtauct Of sacred music from the fact
that God cunmuuded ii, Through |
Paul lie tc.., Us to admonlsA one
another i'll psalms and hymns and
splrltua. song, through David lie |
erie, out: ">lng ye to God, all ye
king ,!oms Of tAc earth Aud there
are hundreds of other passages might
name, proving tHat 1t Is as much a |
man duty 80 sing d, 1t /, his duty to
pray. lntccd, | think there are |
more commands in the EiUle to
sing than there are 10 pray. God |
not on Y asks for the human voice, bnt
for the Instrument, Of music. He ask,
for the cyIuba, and the harp and the |
trumpet And | suppose that in the |
last days Of the church the harp the ,
Aott' VIC ~ hi1 ptt. anu az ehC ihoei
ments Of music that have given their
chief aid to the theater and bacchanal,
will be brought by their masters and
laid down ut the feet Of Christ and
then sounded in the churcll's S triumph |
on her way from suffering into glory.
''Pra.se ie the Lord" Praise Him
with your voices. Praise Him with
stringed instruments and with organs.
! draw another argument for the
of this exercise from the
of the exercise. You
know something OF what secular mu-
sic has achieved. You know it has
made its impression upon govern
ments upon laws, upon literature,
upon whole generations. One inspir-
ing national air is worth 80, 900 men as
q standing army. There comes time
in the battle when one bugle is worth
a thousand muskets. In the earlier
part Of our civil war the government
proposed to economic ia bands OF mu-
sic and many OF them were sent home,
but the generals in the army sent |
word to Washington: You are making
q great mistake. We are falling back
and falling back. We have not enough
music have to tell you that no ma