The Greenville times. [volume] (Greenville, Miss.) 1868-1917, 1899-09-09

harmony and we ought 10 love II
There is no devotion In a howl OF
yelp. In this day when there are Sc
many opportunities of high culture II
this sacred art / declare that thns'
parents are guilty Of neglect who le
their sons and daughters grow NJ
knowing nothing about music II
some of the European eathearals ln'
choir assemblies every morning our
every afternoon Of every day the whole
year 10 perfect themselves in this am
and shall we begrudge the half hourw
spend Friday nights in the rehearsal
of sacred song for the Sabbath2
Another characteristic must be spirit
and life. Music ought TO rush from the
! audience like the water from rock
clear, bright sparkling, If all the other
part of the church service is dull, do not
have the music dun. With so many
thrilling things to sing about, away
with all drawing and stupidity. There
is nothing that makes me so nervous
as to sit in a pulpit and look off on an
audience with their eyes three-tourths
closed, and their lips almost shut,
mumbling the praises of God. During
one of my journeys | preached to an
audience of 1000 or 5000 people, and
all the music they made together did
not equal one sllylark! People do not
sleep at a coronation; do not let us
sleep when we come to a Sayldurs
browning.
In order TO a proper discharge of this
duty, let us stand up, save as age or
weakness or fatigue excuses us. Seated
in an easy pew we cannot do this duty
half so well as when upright we throw
our whole body into it. Let our song be
like an reclamation of victory. You
have a right to sing-do not surrender
your prerogative. If in the perform
ance of your duty, or the attempt at it,
you should lose your place in the mu-
steal scale and be one c below when you
ought to be one c above, or you should
come in half bar behind, we viii eX-
cuse you! Still, it is better to do as Paul
says and sing with the spirit and the
understanding also"
Again l remark church music must
be congregational. This opportunity
must be brought down within the range
of the whole audience, A song that the
cannot sing is of no more
use to them than sermon in Choctaw.
What an easy kind of church it must be
where the minister does all the preach
ing and the elders all the praying and
the choir all the singing. There are
but very few churches where there are
''245 singing men and singing women"
In some churches it is almost consid-
'red a disturbance if a man let out his
voice to full compass, and the people
get up on tiptoe and look over between
he spring hats and wonder what that
nan is making all the noise about. In
Syracuse in a Presbyterian church |
here was one member who came to me |
when was the pastor Of another church |
n that city and told me his trouble, |
low that as he persisted in singing on .
he Sabbath day a committee, made up .
# the session Of the choir, had come to
SIX him if he would not lust please TO
,eep still! You have a right to sing.
jonathan Edwards used to set apart
whole days for singing. Let US wake up
o this duty. Let us sing alone, sing in
ur families, sing in our schools, sing
n our churches.
| want to rouse you TO an unanimity
4 Christian song that has never yet
een exhibited. Come, now: clear your
hroats and get ready for this duty. I
ever shall forget hearing Frenchman
ing the "Marseillaise" on the Champs
lysees, Paris, just before the battle of
edan, in 1870 | never saw such en-
husasm before or since. As he sang
hat national air, oh, how the French
len shouted Have you ever in an
nglish assemblage heard band play
God Save the Queen?" If you have, +
on know something about the enthu-
assn of a national air.
Now, | tell You that these songs we
ng Sabbath by Sabbath are the ma
onal airs of the Kingdom of Heaven,
nd ifyou do not learn to sing them here
ow do you ever expect to sing the song
Moses and the Lamb? l should not
2 surprised at all if some of the best
lthems of Heaven were made up of
'me of the best songs of earth. May
cd increase our reverence for Chris
an psalmody and keep us from dis
'acing it by our Indifference and friv-
ity
When CromwelPs army went into bat
he stood at the head of it one day
I'd gave out the long meter doxology
the tune of the "Old Hundredth,"
ID that great host, company by COM
my, regiment by regiment, division
division, joined in the doxology:
Praise God, from whom all blessings flow: !
Praise Him, all creatures here below;
Praise Him above ye heavenly host; |
Praise Father Son and Holy Ghost. {
And while they sang they marched, t
I'd while they marched they fought, 6
d while they fought they got the vic |
ry' Oh, men and women of Jesus q
IriSt, let us go into all our conflicts t
lging the praises of God, and then. '
stead of falling back, as we often do, t
ON defeat to defeat, we will be march, I
on from victory to victory. GLORIA T
ENceisis" is written over many or O
MS Would that by our appreciation t
the goodness of God, and the mercy c
Christ, and the grandeur of Heaven. r
could have Gloria in EXcelsis" writ y,