Democratic messenger. [volume] (Snow Hill, Md.) 1869-1973, 1899-09-09
A SERVICE OF SONG.
REV. DR.. TALMAGE'S SERMON ON
MUSIC IN RELIGION.

WHOM Nv hGAiofCNs
The r-~t Mosir Rendered Uncer
Trouble - Cod Nennt Al 90 ling.
The Proper Mus a. For a church.
copyright louis Iliop-ch isa01
WASHINGTON. sept 3 Dr. Talmage
today discussed most attractive depart
merit II religious worship the scrvi Of
sang. lIis ideas win h. received with in
iercst by all who love To- lit their voices
In praise in the Lords house. The text
is Nehemiah vii. 90. And they had two
hundred forty and five singing men and
singing women"
The best music has been rendered I'M
der trouble. The first dnei that | know
anything 81 was given by Paul and Siias
when they sang praises To- God and the
prisoners heard them. The Scotch Cow
enanters. bounded by the dogs 81 perse-
eutian. sang the psalms of David with
more spirit than they have ever since
been rendered. The captiveS in the text
had music lcft in them. and ! declare that
II they eouli find. amid MI their trials.
two hundred and forty and FIVE singing
men and singing women then in this day
II gospel sunlight and free from all per
secutinn there ought ia be n great multi
tude Of men aud women willing TO sing
the praises 81 God. All our churches
need arousal on this subject. Those who
can sing must throw their souls into the
exercise. aud those VINO cannot sing must
learn how. and il shall be- heart to heart.
voice 10 voice. hymn TO hymn. anthem 10
anthem. and the music shall swell jubi-
liant with Thanksgiving and tremulous
with pardon.
Have you ever noticed the construction
of the human throat as indicative OF
what God means rs To do with IL? In
only nm ordinary throat and lungs there
are II direct muscles and 30 indirect
muscles that can produce very great
variety OF sounds What does that mean?
IL means that you should sing, DO you
suppose that God, who gives us such n
musical instrument rs that. intends ms to
keep il shut: Suppose some great tyrant
should get possession of the musical in
strumcnts Of the world and should lock
up the organ OF Westminster abbey, and
the organ of Iucernc. and the organ at
Haarlem. and the organ M Freiburg
and all the other great musical instrn-
ments OF the world. You would call such
man as thai m?nsfer. and yet you
are more wicked II. with the human
Voice. musical instrument II more won
derfni adaptation than all the musical
instruments that man ever created. You
shut il against the praise of God.
LIT. those rrfuse 10 sing
Who never knew om God.
But eli sirsu q the heaNenlv King
Should speak their JOYS abroad.
Music seems Co have been born In the
soul Of the natural world. The omnipo-
tent voice with which Tod commanded
the world into being SEEMS to linger yet
with its majesty ana sweetness. aud you
hear IL in the :srainfied. IN the swoop of
the wind amid the mountain fastnesses.
in the canary's warbie and the thunder
shock. in the brooks tinkle and the
oceans pacan. There are soft cadences
In nature and loud notes. some ~ which
we cannot hear at all and others that
are 50 terrific that we cannot appreciate
them. ...
The Judgment Days Great March.
The animalcuae have their music. and
the spicula 90 hay and the globule Of
water are as certainly resonant with the
Voice Of God as the highest heavens in
which the armies ~ the redeemed cele
brate their victories. When the breath Of
the flower strikes the air. and the wing Of
the freely clcayes IL, there L. sound and
there is melody: and as Ia those utter
anccs Of nature which seem harsh and
overwhelming. il Is as when you stand in
the midst Of great orchestra, and the
sound almost rends your ear because you
are too near TO catch the blending Of the
music. So. ms friends. we stand too near
the desolating storm aud the fiightful
whirlwind to catch the blending of the
music. but when that music rises to
where God is. aud the invisible beings
who float above Us. then ] suppose the
harmony is sweet as il is tremendous.
In the Judgment day. that day Of tumult
aud terror. there will bc no diSsonance 10
those who can appreciate the music. II
viii be as when sometimes a great organ
ist. in executing some great piece. breaks
down the instrument 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 conhagraiion. the world itself viii
break down with the music that is played
ON il. The fact is. We are all deaf. or we
should understand that the whole uni
verse IS hut one barlnony-the stars of
the night only the ivory keys of a great
instrument on which Gods fingers play
the music Of the spheres
Music seems dependent on the law Of
acoustics and mathematics. and yet
where these laws are not understood nj
all the art is prac,iced. There are today
900 musical Journals in China Two
thousand years before Christ the Egyp-
tians practiced this art Pythagoras
learned IL. Lasus Of lIermone wrote
essays on IL. Plato and Aristotle intro
ducsd IL into their schools, but ! have no.
much interest IN that. My chief interest
is in the music Of the Bible
The Bible. like a great harp with in
numerahl" strings. swept 10y the fingers
Of inspiration. trcmblcs with H. SO far
back as the fourth chapter 81 Genesis
you find the first organist and harper
Juhal. So far back rs the thirty first
chapter ~ Genesis you find the first
choir. All up and down the Bille you
find sacred music-at weddings, nj inau-
gurations. at the trcading ~ the wine
press. The Hebrews understood how to
make musical signs above the musical
text. When the Jews came from their
distant heines 10 the great festivals nj
Jerusalem. they brought harp aud tim
hrel aud trumpet and poured along the
great Judacan highways n river ~ har-
mony until in and around the temple the
wealth OF nation : song and gladucss
had accumulated In our day We have
n division 81 labor in music. and we have
one man 10 make the hymn. another man
10 make the tune. another man to play il
on the piano aud another man 90 sing II.
Not 50 in Bible times. Miriam. the sis
Ger II Moses. after the passage 81 the
Red sea. composed doxology. set il TO
music. clappcd il on a cymbai and NJ the
same time -ang IL. David. the psalmist.
was NJ the saIhc time poet. musioal com
poser harpi,t and singer. aud the ma
jority Of his rhythm goes vibrating
through an the ages.
Music Of BIbIe Times.
There were in Rible times stringcd in
strumenfs. harp of three strings play
81 by fret and bow. harp Of ten strings
resembling only 90 the fingers Of the per