Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1917-10-05

less company of kindred high souls,
have been heartene6 by the inspired
and inspiring Hebrew songs. Kings
and statesmen and men of large af- ,
fairs have turned for comfort and
sustenance to these melodies from
royal pens, Armenians, deported to
death, have quaffed the comfort of
these lines The aspiring youth, the I
burdened man and woman, the grief
stricken, the doubling, the fearful !
and dying, in innumerable hosts, |
nave turned first to this never-fail- |
ing. spring of sustenance.
! Davids share of the Psalms are
| greater work than Staying Goliath,
or shifting the Philistines or ruling |
Kingdom. And of the other writers,
some OF them unknown, we can only /
rejoice that there have been men !
! who have spoken from the depths
and the heights, and that their heart
| cries have lived, In the wine-press |
OF intense experiences, their souls
have given forth the wine of COM
| tort to an uncounted company. Sim |
| ilarly, Matheson's rejection because |
OF his blindness by the woman he
| loved has been blessed to millions in I
his hymn, 20. Love That Will Not
Let Me Co." Samuel Rutherford's
| imprisonment at Aberdeen bore fruit
in his Letters" and from these Mrs
Anne Cousins extracted the phrases
which she wove into the exquisite
| hymn, THE Sands of Time Are Sink
ing"
When Heart Speaks to Heart
As we consider the Psalms and this
! particular one in which the souls of
returned exiles found utterance, the
| query is forced upon us, Where are
the great soul songs for today? Triv-
ial verses we have a-plenty; esoteric,
| neurasthenlc, nebulous musings in
! rhyme, burden the mail of editors;
! but where are the songs that vocaliZe
/ the deep sentiments of the people?
! The woman suffragistS of New York
once offered prize for a hymn
and all they got was twaddle. Vari-
GUS publications and organizations !
! are Offering substantial sums for a |
! new American national anthem, but
! in vain. There seem to be no ring |
/ ing English words to express the |
| stirred emotions of men in a mass. !
II The national anthems to both the |
! United States and Canada are con-
/ fessedly inadequate. We have not |
I yet reached the great songs of our
1 own time.
\ The best music is religious; there
are many hymns, in addition to the |
Psalms, that voice the deepest feel |
ings Of the soul. Even here, how
I ever, there are strange hiatuses. |
! Who can pick out worthy hymn of |
| invitation to the unconVerted. Most |
of the so-called missionary hymns |
are filled with bad geography, bad |
history, and ineXcusable provincial |
L Il. \
| sweeping over the world, there is as
yet no worthy brotherhood hymn. |
Good citizenship has evoked no dis !
| tinctive and great hymn; nor has the |
passion for social amelioration. |
What field for poets, if they would
but forget themselves and catch a
Vision
Still we turn to the psalms for the
clearest echo of the souls mood.
They speak from heart to heart.
We are not sure who wrote them all.
Some seVenty-three are definitely as
cribed to David; Moses wrote at least
one, and Solomon wrote some; Asaph
and the sons of Korah, are also in
the index; but many of the hundred
and fifty are anonymous; and we can
only say that in each case it was the
truest and best expression of hu-
man heart, intensely sensible of Je-
hovah, that cried out in sincerity
and 10! the cry still lives.
The Shepherd With His Flute
One evening, under the eastern
slope of Mount Carmel, 1 saw shep-
herd boy leading home his sheep;
and as he walked in front of them
he played upon a homemade flute. |
The melody was simple, sweet, joy
Gus, unusual-a bit of natures mu-
sic in the open air. 1 have forgotten
the performances of many great or
/ oh I Tp-I
member that strangely sweet music, |
apparently improvised, of the shep-
herd boy of Samaria, who called up
visions of the shepherd Psalmist of
three thousand years ago.
The passion for music is prini- |
tive with the oriental. He naturally |
breaks forth into it. When he is |
happy he sings; when he is sad he
sings; when he dies, his friends sing |
dirges over his death. Equally funda- |
| mental to the oriental is the thought |
of God. He cannot conceive of life |
apart from the supreme Deity. |
"In'sh Allah"-It is the will of God!"
still sprinkles the conversation Of |
every Arab.
Help From on High
Thus we have the Psalms of deliv- |
| erance. Westerners\ might have |
talked of good luck, or boasted of
their own meritsj but these exiles |
baDylOn lilOuSlll lllSL anu Olly |
| of God. Their instictive cry, as one |
of their singers phrases it, was:
when Jehovah brought back those |
that returned to Zion,
We were like unto them that dream, |
Then was our mouth filled with |
laughter,
And our tongue with singing:
Then said they among the nations, |
Jehovah hath done great things for
! them.
Jehovah hath done great things
| for us:
Whereof we are glad"
These Jews clearly traced, as cause |
and effect, the favor of Jehovah, with |
the forgiveness of sin, and their de- |
liverance from exile.
Jehovah, thou has been favorable |
| unto thy land;
Thou hast brought back the captiv-
ity of Jacob.
Thou hast forgiven the iniquity of
thy people;
Thou hast covered all their sim"
This is the essence of the lessons
! teaching. 1t is the heart of hearts
of the five books of Psalms; the fa-
vor of Jehovah is the one supreme
blessing of life.
"Our midnight is thy smile with
| drawn,