Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1899-09-13
Let those refuse to sing
Who never knew our God,
But children OF the heavenly King
Should sneak their iOys abroad

4 Which seem hArsn Anu uo.erwhetMina, . lesxs
as when you stand in the miist OF great
orchestra and the sound almost rends your
ear because you are too near to catch the
blending OF the music. SO. my friends, we
stand too near the desolating storm and
the frightful whirlwind to catch the blend
ing of the music; bnt when that music
rises to where God Is, and the invisible
being who float above us, then l suppose
the harmony Is as sweet as 1t Is tremen-
dous. In the Judgment day, that day
of tumult and terror. there will be no
| dissonance to those who can appreciate
the music. 1t will be as when some-
times great 'organist, in executing
stFument upon which he is playing the
music. So when the great march OF the
Judgment day is played under the hand OF
earthquake and storm and conhagratfon
the world itself will break down with the
music that Is played on it. The fact Is, we
are all deaf, or we should understand that
the whole universe Is but one harmony
| the stars OF the night only the ivory keys
OF great instrument on which Gods fin
| gers play the music OF the spheres.
| Music seems dependent on the law OF
acoustics and mathematics, and yet where
these laws are understood at all the art Is
practiced. There are to-day 500 musical
Journals in China. Two thousand years be-
fore Christ the Egyptians practiced the art.
Pythagoras learned it Lasus of Hermoine
wrote essays on 1t. Plato and Aristotle in
! troduced 1t into their schools. But have
not much interest in that. My chief inter-
est is In the music Of the Bible.
The Bible, like a great harp with innu-
merable strings, swept by the fingers OF in
spiration, trembIes with it. SO far back as
tho fourth chapter of Genesis you find the
first organist and harper-Jubal. So far
back as the thirty-arst chapter Of Genesis
you find the first choir. All up and down
the Bible you find sacred music-at we'd
dtngs, at inaugurations, at the treading OF
the wine press. The Hebrews understood
how to make musical signs above the mus
ical text. When the Jews came from their
distant homes to the great festivals at
Jerusalem, they brought harp and timbrel
and trumpet and poured along the great
Judaean highways river OF harmony un-
til In and around the temple the wealth OF
q nations song and gladness had accumu-
lated. In our day We have division OF
labor in music, and we have one man to
make the hymn, another man to make the
tune, another man to play it on the piano
and another man to sing It. Dot so In
Bible times. Miriam, the ri ter OF Moses.
after the passage OF the Red Sea, composed
a doxology, set 1t to music, clapped 1t on a
cymbal and at the same time sang 1t.
David, the psalmist, was at the same time
poet, musical composer, hnrpist and singer,
and the majority OF his rhythm goes vi
birating through all the ages.
There were In Bible times stringed in
by fret and bow; a harp OF ten strings,
responding only to the ilngers OF the per-
former. Then there was the crooked trum-
pet, fashioned out OF the horn Of the OK or
the ram. Then there were the sistrum and
the cymbals, clapped in the dance or
beaten In the mar h. There were 1000
lLevites, the best men Of the country,
whose only business 1t was TO look after
the music OF the temple. These 1000 Levites
were divided into two classes and offic-
ated on different days. Can you Imagine
the harm ony when these white robed Le-
vites, before the symbols OF Coos pres
ence, and by the smoking altnrs, and the
candiesticks that sprang upward and
branched out like trees Of gold, and under
the wings Of the cherubim, chanted the
One Hundred and Thirty-sixth Psalm
OF David2 Do you know how 1t
was done. One part of that great
choir stood up and chanted, "Oh,
give thanks unto the Lord, for He is goodF
Then the other part Of the choir, standing
in some other part OF the temple, would
come In with the response, "For His mercy
endureth forever" Then the first part
would take up the song again and say,
unto Him who only doeth great Won
ders." The other part Of the choir would
come in with overwhelming response, "Foi
His mercy endureth forever" until in the
latter part OF the song, the music floating
with harmony, every trumpet sounding.
every bosom heaving, one part OF thil
great white robed choir would lift tn,
anthem "Oh. give thanks unto the God o
heaven," and the other part OF the I.evit'
choir would come IN with the response
, "For His mercy endureth forever"
But I am glad to know that all through
1.-The ages there has been great attentio;
:" :" sacred music. Ambrosius. Angus