St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1897-10-30

- We have bee, amid this great wealth
0f church music. augmented by the
of artists ID our day, we
ought not to be tempted out OF the
sphere of Christian harmony. and try
10 seek unconsecrated sounds. 1t is
absurd for 4 millionaire to steal.
Many Of you are illustt ations Of
what sacred song can do. Through
It you were brought into the kingdom
of Jesus Christ. You stood out against
the warning and the argument OF the
pulpit, but when. in the sweet words
of Charles Wesley or John Newton or
Toplady, the love Of Jesus was sung to
v ur soul. then you surrendered, rs an
armed castle that could not be taken
by a host. lifts its window to listen to =
harp's trill.
There was . Scotch soldier dying In
New Orleans. and Scotch minister
came in to give him the consultations
Of the Gospel. The man turned over
on his pillow and said: Don't talk to
me about religion" Then the minister
began to sing . familiar hymn that
was composed by David Dickens0n, b.
ginning with the words:
Oh. mother dear, Jerusalem.
When shall come TO theer
He sang it to the tune Of Dundee, and
everybody in Scotland knows that
and. as he began to sing. the dying
soldier turned over on his pillow and
said to the minister: ''Where did you
learn that:" why" replied the min
lister, my mother taught me that"
$50 did mine" said the dying soldier;
and the very foundation Of his heart
was upturncd. and then and there hs
yielded himself to Christ. Oh, 1t has
m Irresistible power. Luther's SER
mons have been forgotten, but his
Judgment Hymn sings on through the
ages. and will keep on singinR until
the blast Of the erchangels trumpet
shall bring about that very day which
the hymn celebrates / would to God
that you would take these songs Of
salvation Is messages from Heaven; for
just IS certainly IS the birds brought
food to Elijah BY the brook Cherith, %
these winged har,nonies, 6od-sent. arc
flying to your soul with the bread OF
life. Open your mouth and take it. q
hungry Elijah!
have also noticed the power Of So
cred song to soothe perturbation. You
may have come in here with = great
many worriments and anxiety. yet
perhaps in the singing Of the arst
hymn you lost them nil. You have
read in the Bible Of Saul, and how he
was sad and angry. and how the boy
David came in aud played the evil
spirit out Of him. A Spanish king was
melancholy. The windows were al
closed. lie sat in the darkness. Moth
ing could bring him forth until Fra
nell came and disc0ursed music Tor
three or four days to him. On the
fourth day he looked mp and wept and
reioiced, and the windows were thrown
open, and that which all the splendors
Of the court could not do the power oi
song accomplished. II you have anxi-
eties and worriments, try this heaven
" charm upon them. Do not sit down
on the bank Of the hymn. but plunge
in, that the devil of care may b
brought out Of you.
1t also arouses to action. Do you
not know that = singing church Is all
ways . triumphant church? Ha con
kregation is silent during the exercise
or partially silent, it is the silence Of
death. II when the hymn is given oul
you hear the faint hum of here and
there father aud mother in Israel
while the vast majority are silent, thai
minister of Christ who is presiding
needs to have . very strong constitu
tion II he does not get the chillS Hs
needs not only the grace OF God. bu'
nerves like whalebone. 1t is amazing
how some people with voice enough x
discharge all their duties in the world
when they come into the house OF Goo
have no voice to discharge this duty
I really believe that il the Church o
Christ could rise up and sing Is i
ought to sing. where we have . hun
dred souls brought into the kingdom
of Christ there would be thousand
How was it in olden times? Cajetal
said: Luther conquered NJ BY hi
sOngs."
But I must now speak OF some Of tn
obstacles in the way Of the advance
meut OF this sacred music, and the ars
is that it has been impressed into tn
service of Satan. am far from believ
ing that music ough; always to be posi-
lively religious. Refined art has opene'
places where music has been sec
ularized, and awfully %. The draw
ina-room, the concert BY the gratifica
tion Of pure taste. and the production
Of harmless amusement and the i'm
provement OF talent. have become yer.
strong forces Ia the advancement
OF our civilization. Music has as muc
right TO laugh in Surrey gardens g
has to pray Ia St PAuls. In the king
dom Of nature we have the glad fifinI
of the wind - we'll IS the long metr
psalm Of the thunder. But while u
this Is %. every observer has notice
that this art which God intended fo
the improvement Of the ear and tn
voice. and the head and the heart. hs
often been impressed into the servic
OF error. Tartini. the musical CON
poser. dreamed one night that Sata
suatched from his hand IN lnstrumeu
and played upon it something yer
sweet-e dream that has often bee
fulfilled in our day. the voice and th
instruments that ought to have bee
devoted to Christ, captured from "a
church and applied TO the purposes .
! sin.
Another obstacle has been IN mo
dinate fear Of criticism. The vast m,
iority Of people singing in church nev
er want anybody else TO hear thel
sing. Everybody il waiting for som.
body else q do his duty. II we .
aaua then the inaccuracies that ara O
dent whom only . few sing would .
drowned out God asks you to do Z
IN AAA than II Won n