The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1897-11-04
THE POWER OF SONG.
Rev DR.. Talmage Pleads for Con-
gregational Singing.
While a Great and Valuable Adjunct to
Worhisp, There are, Nevertheless,
Some Obstacles to Its GEN
erai Advancement.

The 1OliONtDb NlStouiSc ny htV. L.
DeWitt Talmage contains a plea for
more general congregational singing,
tooether with recital Of some of the
obstacles thereto. 1t is based on tire
text:
IL came even to pass. as the trumpeters and
singers were as one, to make one sound to be
heard in praising ami thanking the Lord.-II
Chronicles, v, IL
The temple was done. 1t was the
very chorus of all magniticence and
pomp. Splendor crowded against
spleudor 1t was the diamond neck
lace of the earth. From the huge
pillars crowded with leaves and flowers
and rows of ponegranate wrought out
in FURNISHED metal, down even to the
tongs and snuffcrs made out of pure
gold, everything was as complete as
the Goi-directcu architect could make
it 1t seemed as if a vision from Heaven
had alighted on the mountains. The
day for dedication came. Tradition
says that there were in and around
about the temple on that day 300
900 silver trumpets, 40, 600 timbrels and
200, ,00t singers; SO that all modern
demonstrations a: 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 dashing against the amethyst of
the wall of Heaven. The sound arose,
and God, as if to show that He was
well pleased with the music which Ills
children make i'll al ages, dropped into
glory so overpOWering that the otticiat-
ing priests were obliged to stop in the
midst 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 vas the birthplace of song. The
stars that glitter at night are only SO
many keys of celestial pearl. on which
Gods fingers play the spheres. lnani-
mate nature is full OF stringed and
wind instruments. Silence itsclf-per-
feet silence-is only musical rest in
God great anthem OF worship. Wind
among the leaves, insect humming in
the summer air, the rush Of biilow
upon the beach, the ocean far out
sounding its everlasting psalm, the
bobolink on the edge of the forest,
the quail whistling up from the
grass are music. While visiting Black
wells island, ! heard, coming from a
window of the lunatlc asylum, q very
sweet song. 1t was sung by one who
had lost her reasol, and | have come
to believe that even the dcranged and
disordered elements of nature would
make music to our ear if we only had
aeutenesS enough to listen. | suppose
that even the sounds in nature that
are discordant and repulsive make har-
mony in Gods ear. You know that
you may come 50 near to an orchestra
that the sounds are painful instead OF
pleaSurable, and | think that we stand
SO near devastating storm and fright
ful whlrlWind, we can not hear that
which makes to Gods ear and the eal
of the spirits above US music as com
plete as it is tremendous.
lpropose to speak about sacred mu
Sic, first showing you its Importance ce
and then stating some of the obstacles
10 Its advancement.
l draw the first argument for the i'm
portance of sacred music from the fact
that God commanded it. Through
Paul He tells us to admonish one
another in psalms and hymns anC
spiritual songs; through David He
cries out: Sing ye TO God, all ye
kingdoms of the earth.' And there
are hundreds of other passages | nigh
name, proving that it is as much /
mans duty to sing as it is his duty tt
pray. Indeed, think there are
more commands in the Bible tt
Sing than there are to pray. Goo
not only asks for the human voice bu
Tor the instruments of music. He ask:
Tor the cymbal and the harp and tn,
trumpet. And l suppose that in tn,
last days of the church the harp, tn,
iute, the trumpet, and all the instru
ments of music that have given thel
chief aid to the theater and bacchanal
wlll be brought by their masters ant
iald down at the feet of Christ, ant
then sounded in the church's triumph
on her way from suffering into glory
Praise Ie the Lord Praise Hin
With your voices. Praise Him witt
strlnged instruments and with organs
draw another argument for tn
Importance of this exercise from tn
ampresslveness Of the exercise. Io
KNOW something of what secular mu
Sic has achieved. You know it ha
made its impression upon govern
ments, upon laws, upon literature
upon whole generations. One inspil
ing national air is worth so, 900 men a
astandlng army. There comes a tim
Al the battle when one bugle is wort
thousand muSkets. In the earle
part OF our civil war the governmen
proposed to economize in bands of mt
sie, and many of them were sent home
oas the generals III the army sen
"ora to Washington: You are maxim
great mistake. We arQ falling bae
saa falling back. We haTs not enoug