Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1902-02-05


g that are seldom recognized and shows
how to cultivate a cheerful spirit; text
Psalms xxxiii., ., "Sing unto him with a
psaltery and an instrument of ten
strings"
a musician as well as poet and con-
queror and king was David, the author
of my text. He first composed the sa-
cred rhythm and then played it upon a
harp, striking and plucking the strings
with his fingers and thumbs. The harp
Is the oldest Of musical instruments.
Jubal kavented it. and he was the sew
enth descendant from Adam. Its music
was suggested by the twang of the bow
string. Homer refers to the harp in the
"Iliad." 1t is the most eonsecrated of
all Instruments The flute is more ell
low, the buge more martial, the cornet
more ineisive, the trumpet more reso-
nant, the organ J ore mighty, but The
harp has a tender ncss and sweetness be-
longing to no other instrument that |
know Of 1t enters into the richest sym
bolism of the Holy Scriptures. The cap
tives in their sadness hung their harps
upon the willows" The raptures of
heaven are represented under the figure
of "harpers harping on their harps" We
learn from coins and medals that in the
Macca oean age the harp had only three
strings. In other ages it had eight
strings. David's harp had ten strings,
and when his great soul was afire with
the theme his sympathetic voice, accom-
panied by exquisite vibration of the
chords, must have been overpowering.
In my text David calls upon the people
to praise the Lord with an instrument
of ten strings. like that which he was
accustomed to finger. The simple fact
is that the most of us, if we praise the
Lord at all, play upon one string or two
strings or three strings when we ought
to take a harp fully chorded and with
glad fingers sweep all the strings. In
stead of being grateful for here and there
a blessing we happen to think of, we
ought to rehearse all our blessings so far
as we can recall them and obey the in
junction of my text to sing unto him with
an instrument of ten strings.
Remember Daily Blessings.
Have you ever thanked God for de-
lightsome food? What vast multitudes
are a-hungered from day to day or are
obliged to take food not toothsome or
pleasant to the taste! What millions
are in struggle for bread! A Confederate
soldier went to the front. and his family
were on the verge of starvation, but they
were kept up by the faith of a child of
that household, who, noticing that some
supply was sure to come, exclaimed,
Mother, | think God hears when we
scrape the bottom of the barrel
Have you appreciated the fact that on
most of your tables are luxuries that do
not come to all? Have you realized what
varieties of flavor often touch your tongue
and how the saccharin and the acid have
been afforded your palate? What fruits,
what nuts, what meats regale your appe-
tite, while many would be glad to get
the crusts and rinds and Feelings that
fall from your table. For the fine flavors
and the luxurious viands you have enjoy
ed for a lifetime perhaps you have never
expressed to God word of thanksgiv-
ing That is one of the ten strings that
you ought to have thrummed in praise
to God but you have never vet put it in
vibration.
Have you thanked God for eyesight
as originally given to you or, after it was
dimmed by age, for the glass that brought
the page Of the book within the compass
of the vision? Have you realized the
is as black as the night and who never
see the face Of father or mother or wife
or child or friend? Through what pain
full surgery many have gone to get one
glimpse of the light The eyes so deli.
cate and beautiful and useful that one
of them is Invaluable! And most of u,
have two of these wonders of divine
mechanism. The man of million of dol,
I, tlx- nd eVpv
ply of optic nerve would have been will.
ing to give all his millions and lecomc q
day labOrer if he could have kept off the
blindness that gradually crept over his
Vision.
You may have noticed how Christ's
sympathies were stirred for the blind
Ophthalmia has always been prevalent in
Palestine, the custom of sleeping on the
housetops, exposed to the dew and the
flying dust of the dry season. inviting
this dreadful disorder. A large percent
age of the inhabitants could not tell the
difference between l. o'clock a noon and
II o'clock at night. We IRE told OF
six of Christ's miracles for the cure a
these sightless ones. but | suppose they
We're only specimens of hundreds of re-
stored visions. What a pitiful specta-
Gle Saul of Tarsus, the mighty man
three days led about in physical as vel
as spiritual darkness he who afterward
made Felix trembe by his eloquence and
awed the Athenian philosophers on Mars
hill and was the only cool headed man
in the Alexandria cornship that went Il
pieces on the rocks Of Miietus, once ;hf
mighty prosecutor of Saul, afterward the
glorious evangelist Paul, for three day,
not able TO take safe step without guild
anee!
Two Strings of Gratitude,
Have you ever given thanks for two
eyes-meda between the soul inside and
the world outside, media that no one but
the infinite God could create? The eye
the window Of our immortal nature, the
gate through which ali colors march, the
picture gallery Of the soul. Without the
eye this world is a big dungeon. l feal
that many Of us have never given one
hearty expression of gratitude for treas
ure Of sight the loss Of which is The
greatest disaster possible unless it be tht
loss of the mind Those wondrous seven
muscles that turn the eye up or down. tc
right or left or around. No one but God
could have created the retiDa. II sc
have ever appreciated what God dle
when he gave US two eyes, it was wher
we saw others with obliterated vision
Alas. that only through the priyaror
of others we came 10 a realization o
our own blessing. II You had harp il
hand and swept 9ll the strings Of graft
tude. you would have struck this. which
IS one Of the most dulcet Of the tel