xt7fxp6v1g9s https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7fxp6v1g9s/data/mets.xml Wilson, Samuel R. (Samuel Ramsey), 1818-1886 1872 books BV459 .W547 1872 English Robert Clarke & Co Contact the Special Collections Research Center for information regarding rights and use of this collection Samuel Wilson Collection Hymns, English Music in churches Music -- Religious aspects -- Christianity Hymns of the Church, Ancient and Modern: for the Use of All Who Love to Sing the Praises of God in Christ, in the Family, the School, or the Church, With a Discourse on Music As a Divine Ordinance of Worship, 1872 text xxi, 124 pages, 20 cm. Call Number: BV459 .W547 1872 Samuel Wilson Collection (Special Collections copy 1-2) Samuel Wilson Collection (Special Collections copy 1-2).Library copy contains 2 unnumbered preliminary pages and pages v-xxi (Special Collections copy 1) Samuel Wilson Collection (Special Collections copy 1-2).Library copy contains 2 unnumbered preliminary pages and pages v-xxi (Special Collections copy 1).Library copy contains preliminary pages v-xxi (Special Collections copy 2) Hymns of the Church, Ancient and Modern: for the Use of All Who Love to Sing the Praises of God in Christ, in the Family, the School, or the Church, With a Discourse on Music As a Divine Ordinance of Worship, 1872 1872 1872 2022 true xt7fxp6v1g9s section xt7fxp6v1g9s TO THE MEMORY

Of my NOBLE AND VENERATED FATHER, who, in the Morning and Even—

ing \Vorship of a IIAPPY How}, taught me to love and to sing the
Songs of Zion, this Collection of the HYMNS OF THE CHURCH is affec-

tionately IVgCRIBTD

 

  

 

Prefatory Note.

IT is not the intention in offering this collection of Hymns
to the Church to supersede or interfere with the books used by
the several denominations of Christians, but to supply a want
felt by many Pastors in these various portions of the Church.
There are a large number of Hymns, both ancient and modern,
of the highest order, some of which are found in all the Hymn
Books in use, but very many of which are not in any of those
books. These hymns are eminently adapted both to excite and
to express devotional feeling. And are suited alike to the Family
Circle, the Prayer Meeting, the Sabbath School, and the
Assemblies of the whole Congregation. It has been the object
of the compilerof this volume to bring together some of the
choicest of these hymns in a form suitable to general use. In
addition, a Tune has been carefully selected as adapted to the
style and sentiment of the Hymn to which it is appropriated.
The aim has been to find tunes plain, substantial, and of an ele-
vated character, and easily learned by the people. How far
success has been attained in this very difficult part of the work,
these who may use the Book will be able to judge. No doubt
some changes for the better will be suggested by experience.
But when once a Tune is found to be well suited to a Hymn,
let it be always sung to that hymn. Thus, Tune and Hymn be-
come identified with each other, and the result will be most
happy in promoting good singing by the whole body of wor-
shipersin the Church. Most certainly must this so desirable
a result follow if the same hymns and tunes used in the Prayer-
room and the Church shall be sung around the fireside of
Home, and in the Sabbath School. Both parents and children
will then learn to speak the same language of praise, and the
voices in harmony go up from all in the House of God. The
hope of promoting, in some degree, this desirable end, has
prompted to the undertaking this work. And should any suc-
cess, by the blessing of God, be granted to the labor, this will
be esteemed a sufficient reward.

 

 

""' “Y

  

 

*1
ii

MUSIC

ASA

DIVINE ORDINANCE OF WORSHIP.

 

PSALM XXX] II: 1—3.

Rejoice in the Lord, ye Righteous:
For praise is comely for the upright.
Praise the Lord with harp :
Sing unto Him with the psaltery,

An instrument of ten strings.
Sing unto Him a new song;
Play skillfully with a loud noise.

T1111 religion of the Bible has its origin in the love of God, and in
its effects makes manifest His infinite benevolence. In “bringing
many sons unto glory through Jesus Ch1ist God has designed to
show forth His own perfections and promote the highest happiness of
man The Redeemer not only saves from death in sin, and gives
shelter from “the w 1ath to come to those who flee to Him ior refuge,
He also secures them to an inheritance cincorruptible, undefiled, and
that fadeth not away. He not only sets before them “ many: (Treat and
precious promises,’ but He also gives to them a present earnest and
f01etaste ot these glorious things He calms the restless spi1it with
peace, inspiies the heart with hope that can not make ashamed,
causes man to be joyful oven in the midst of son ow, and puts a new
song into his mouth, even praise unto the God who saves The ( l1ris-
tian receives the oil of Joy instead of mourning, and the garments of
praise for the spirit of heaviness. Though he still must suffer, he
rejoices; though he sighs vet for all that he sings
So far, then, from this holy religion hav 1ng anything either 111 its
principles, nature, or tende eney to diminish the happiness of men, it is
quite the contra1y.\V herever it 1s truly received “ in the love of it,”
it cherishes and elevates the social affections, expands the intellect,

(V)

 

 

 

  

vi MUSIC AN ORDINANCE OF WORSHIP.

and refines the taste. It sanctifies every lawful enjoyment and
ennobles every useful occupation, whilst it calls into full play all the
faculties of the soul and gives ample scope for the exercise of all the
powers of mind and body.

Among those faculties with which God has endowed his creature
man, in the use of which he can honor God and derive enjoyment to
himself, the faculty of speech takes a foremost place. And no instru-
ment can be compared to the tongue and voice in their adaptation to
show forth the praises of the Creator and minister to the delight of
man himself. Indeed, the organs of the human voice combine all
instruments in one, and far surpass them all. It is for this reason
that David, the royal poet and sweet singer in Israel, so frequently
speaks of his voice and tongue as his “GLORY.” Take for example the
following: Psalm xvi: 9. My GLORY rejoiceth. Ps. xxx: 12, That my
GLORY may sing praise to Thee, and not be silent. Ps. lvii: 7, 8. My
heart is fixed; oh God, my heart is fixed; I will sing and give
praise. Awake up my GLORY; awake psaltery and harp. Ps. cvii: 1.
Oh God, my heart is fixed; I will sing and give praise, even with my
GLORY.

And that, in thus speaking of the organs of speech and song,
David uttered what God approved, is evident. For not only has God
declared His complacency in praises offered to Him in hymned words
—but He has put the highest honor upon the tongue and voice in the
consecration of them to His special service in proclaiming His Truth
and celebrating IIis worship. And then, on the other hand, no sins are
more distinctly condemned than those of the tongue, and no social
vices are more abhorrent to God than those which are accompanied
and stimulated by the degradation of music and turning man’s GLORY
into shame.

In order to learn the high estimate that the God of Christianity
has set upon Music and Song, and the claim He makes to their use in
honorng and worshiping Ilim, we have but to open the Bible and
read. In every part of it we find the same testimony touching the
use or abuse of these admirable gifts. From the Genesis to the
Apocalypse—~fi'om the first Sabbath song when “the morning stars
sang together,” and all the sons of God shouted for joy over the i
finished creation, down to the opening splendor of the Eternal Sab-
bath when the Sons of Glory shall break forth into singing over the
perfected new Creation. Everywhere in these holy oracles the Spirit
of God, by Prophet and by Apostle, has condemned the maxims and
the practice of those who indulge in inconsiderate gaiety and yield to
the seductive influence of licentious melody. And everywhere the

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

MUSIC AN ORDINANCE OF WORSHIP. vii
voice of the same Divine Paraclete has taught the Children of Zion to
make “ ajoyful noise unto their King,” to “serVe the Lord with grad-
ness, and come before His presence with singing,” to “praise the Lord
with harp, to sing unto Him a new song, and play skillfully with a
loud noise.”

Thus the Christian is to Offer unto his Redeemer God, the sacrifices
of praise, even “the calves of his lips,” and to aspire to the pure and
exalting pleasures of sacred harmony.

It is upon this theme I make a few observations, as one of the
greatest practical importance to the whole church. And what I desire
at this time to say upon this subject will relate chiefly to the ORIGIN,
OBLIGATION, and EFFECTS of Sacred Harmony, or MUSIC as an Ordinance
of God.

It is of this that the Psalmist is {speaking in the precept of the
text. For his words have more immediate respect to the music than
to the song. This will appear plain from a glance at the verses as they
stand at the head of this Discourse. They call upon the Righteous to
“praise the LORD with HARP,” “ to SING unto Him with the PSALTERY
of ten strings ;” to “SING unto Him a new song,” tO “ PLAY SKILL-
FULLY, with a LOUD NOISE.”

I. THE ORIGIN OF SACRED HARMONY 1s FOUND IN THE CONSTITUTION or
MAN.

The organization both of his body and his mind renders Man cap—
able of cultivating and enjoying the melody and harmony of musical
numbers. The beautiful structure of the ear affords access for those
harmonious sounds by which the delicate nerves are thrilled with
sensations Of. delight. The marvelous structure of the vocal organs
gives power to express the thoughts and emotions Of the soul in the
flowing numbers of poetry and song. And the soul finds the best ex-
pression Of its deepest and strongest emotions, its saddest and its
mostjoyous feelings, its purest and most elevated conceptions, in the
cadence Of words or of measured sounds. Hence, Music is a kind of
universal language. All nations on the globe, however diversified in
speech or manners, are alike sensible to its influence. The most rude
and savage, as well as the refined and civilized, amongst men have
exercised their powers to invent and to perform in this admirable art.
And there are none so degraded as not in some degree to understand
and relish its eloquent expressions. \Vhilst the higher men have
risen in the scale Of mental and moral improvement, the more has
their capacity for the enjoyment Of melody been increased, and the
more have they striven to render music subservient to culture and

 

    

  

viii MUSIC AN ORDINANCE OF IVORSIIIP.

happiness. In the tent of the shepherd, in the palace of kings, in the
schools of philosophers, amidst the shock of embattled hosts, and in
the peaceful worship of God, the whole current of human emotion has
ever been wont to yield itself to the stirring or soothing influence of
pipe and harp, of voice and song.

The exercise of the religious faculty, more than any other, draws
after it all the emotions of the soul. In the contemplation of the
wonders of creative energy and the beauties of the works of God; in
meditating upon the power, justice, and goodness displayed in IIis
government of creatures, and in striving after some true conception
of the Divine nature, the reason is expanded, full play ,is given to the
imagination, and the soul is roused and fired with the emotions of hope
and fear, of love and adoration, toward the Great Author of nature
and source of all good. And the adoration thus excited spontaneously
bursts forth in poetry and song. Thus, Milton has struck upon the
true source of sacred harmony in depicting the devotions of the first
pair:

Lowly they bow’d adoring, and began
Their orisons, each morning duly paid
In fit strains, pronounced or sung
Unmeditated, such prompt eloquence
Flowed from their lips.

More tuncahle than needed lute or harp
To add more sweetness.

The minds of our first parents, pure and untainted by sin, were
no doubt filled with rapture as they surveyed the works of their Cre-
ator amid the holy splendors of Paradise. Theirjoyo‘us and enraptured
emotions would naturally overflow in strains of melody. The first use
of music was to hail the Sabbath morn of creation and celebrate the
praise of God who “spake and it was done,” who “commanded and it
stood fast.” And so I may say of MUsu‘, she is the (':)lfs1’)1-ing of Nature,
the Daughter of Love, the Sister of Poetry, and the IIandmaid of
Religion.

II. THE OBLIGATION or SACRED IIARMONY, on THE DUTY OF EMI’LOYING
MUSIC IN THE \Vonsnlr or GOD.

This obligation is manifest, and may be enforced by a considera-
tion of the origin of the Musical Art itself. That origin has been
traced to the powers and capacities with which man has been endowed,
of showing forth the praise of God his Creator in harmonious sounds,
and of deriving the most refined pleasure from this religious exercise.
And has Hod gifted us with faculties which we must not or may not
use in His service? Are the ear and the tongue and the voice not to

 

 

  

 

MUSIC AN ORDINANCE OF VVORSIIIP. ix

be sanctified to the praise of Him who has made them the glory of
man’s frame and the organs of unspeakable delight? Surely no one
can assent to such a proposition unless he has already begun to say in
his heart, “There is no Get .” The Theist and the Christian must
both agree in the sentiment expressed by the sacred poet:
“ With all my powers of heart and tongue,

I ’ll praise my Maker in my song;

Angels shall hear the notes I raise,

Approve the song, andjoin the praise.”

The testimony of history confirms the correctness of the viewl
have expressed. The religious faculty has found a means of culture,
and a vehicle of manifestation amongst all nations in measured words
and tones. Music has made a part of the religious worship of the
rudest tribes, whilst it has adorned and enlivened and elevated the
devotions of the most civilized nations. It is a deep-rooted and
universal sentiment of mankind that hymned praise ought to be
offered to the Deity. Why is this? I answer, either because it is
prompted by the instinctive feelings of man’s nature; or because rea-
son has clearly announced its propriety, or because express revela-
tion from God has enjoined it. Or it may be because of these three
influences combined. In either case the obligation to worship God
with song and harp is manifest and indubitable.

This duty is enforced by an authority higher than instinct, tradi-
tion, or reason—an authority to which every Christian will bow with
reverent and unquestioning obedience. This authority is God speak-
ing in the living oracle of Holy Scripture. The utterances of this
oracle upon the subject we are considering are full, explicit, and
abundant. Both by approved example and reiterated precept, the
Spirit of God in the \Vord has inculcated the use of music, in all its
varied forms, as a part of worship acceptable to God. This plain and
direct sanction was necessary to secure this valuable art to the service
of true devotion against a very plausible objection. This Art, it might
be said, was indeed pure in its origin, but man has so perverted it by
unliallovad abuse, as to make it no longer fit for the service of a God
Who abhors the polluted in sacrifice. “Sublime and celestial were the
anthems of holy and innocent beings when nature had not yet
languished at the sight of sin, but bloomed and glowed before them in
the unsullied luster of its Eden charms. But at the presence of sin
the beauty of Paradise faded; and the fall of man introduced a sad
change in the music of mortals. Harmony soon shaped itselfto the

modulations of sorrow, learned to wait the sigh of the \i'1'<,>telied, and
poured forth the melting strains of pity and of grief. Music was no

 

  

x MUSIC AN ORDINANCE OF VVORSIIIP.

longer the sole companion of devotion. The war song roused the courage
of the hero and animated the sufferer to patience. The dirge wept at
the tomb of departed friends. The pastoral cheered the watchful
hours of the wandering shepherd, and soothed the solitude of the
languishing swain.” But the change went far beyond all this. Soon
the divine art of music was degraded to the polluted purposes of folly,
luxury, and vice. Poesy and song were made to serve at the altar of
impure love and to speak the language and stimulate the ardor of
guilty passion.

From this sad and sinful perversion of music it might have been
argued that it was no longer fitting for the pure worship of a holy
God. But the argument will not bear the test of sound reasoning, and
the objection is suflicicntly answered by the practice of the purest
worshipers from the remotest times and the express command of God
to honor Him with the praises of voice and of tongue.

The first glorious manifestation of the power of Jehovah in giving
triumph to His chosen people over their mighty and implacable
enemies was celebrated in that most ancient Te Deum Zaudanws, the
song of Moses and Israel at the Red Sea. “Then sang Moses and the
children of Israel this song unto the Lord:

“ I will sing unto the Lord,
For he hath triumphed gloriously !
The horse and his rider
Hath he thrown into the sea.
The Lord is my strength and song,
And he is become my salvation!
The Lord is a man of war,

Jehovah is his name I”

“And Miriam, the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a timbrcl
in her hand; and all the women went out after her with timbrels and
with dances. And Miriam answered them:

“Sing yeito the Lord,
For he hath triumphed gloriously!

The horse and his rider
Hath he thrown into the sea.”

From this dark night of Egypt’s doom and the morning dawn of
Israel’s unfading glory, music was consecrated by the people of God to
its highest and noblest uses, and became forever after a principal part
of the worship of Jehovah, their Redeemer. If, under the former dis-
pensation, the Church celebrated some signal deliverance from trouble
and danger, or came with devout adoration into the sanctuary, or kept
holy day and solemn feast before the Lord, or gave lessons of wisdom,

 

 

a ,,__.. " ”a.

     

 

  

MUSIC AN ORDINANCE OF WORSHIP. xi

or with prophetic foresight declared the counsel of God concerning
things to come, she never failed to call in the aid of vocal and instru—
mental harmony “ to give energy to her instructions, expression to her
joys, and life to her devotions.” Listen to these stirring strains in
which the Church calls upon all to unite in the chorus of her praises:
“Make a joyful noise, all ye lands; serve the Lord with gladness;
come before his presence with singing; enter his gates with thanks-
giving, and his courts with praise; for it is good to sing praises unto
our God; for it is pleasant, and praise is comely. Sing unto the Lord
a new song and his praise in the congregation of saints; sing unto the
Lord with thanksgiving; sing praise upon the harp unto our God.”
“Let Israel rejoice in him that made him; let the children of Zion be,
joyful in their King; let them praise his name in the dance; let them
sing praises unto him with the timbrel and harp !”

And when we pass over from the former to the present dispensa-
tion, we do not find that the Church has left behind her the voice of
praise. When from desolate Jerusalem she went forth to bear the
glad tidings of her Redeemer’s love to the Gentiles, and invite them
to the feast he had prepared, she took with her her timbrel and
harp and tuneful voice, that with them she might teach the nations
to sing the New Song:

“ Unto him who hath loved us
And washed us from our sins
In his own blood;
And hath made us
Kings and priests unto God
Anal his Father,
To him be glory and dominion
For over and ever. Amen."

In the New Testament scriptures example and precept unite, as
in the Old Testament, to inculcate the use of sacred harmony in the
Church as an abiding ordinance of God and means of grace.

When Jesus made his entry into Jerusalem, six days before his
crucifiXion, the people met him with palms and with songs of exulta-
tion, while the children in the temple took up the chorus of praise, and
sang:

“ Hosanna to the Son of David I
Hosanna in the highest 1”

And when it was demanded of him by the Pharisees that he should
rebuke their singing, he refused, and said to them: “I tell you that
if these should hold their peace the stones would immediately cry
out.” Our blessed Lord himself led the choir of the holy Apostles
at the close of the Last Supper. “And when they had sung an

 

 

   

  

xii MUSIC AN ORDINANCE OF “’ORSHIP.

hymn they went out into the Mount of Olives.” Paul and Silas
soothed their sufferings, and cheered the gloom of their prison at
l’hilippi by singing praises at 111idnight, so loud and sweet that the
prisoners heard and wondered.

It is this Apostle, whose voice first broke the dreary stillness of a
toman dungeon with the music of sacred melody, who writes to the
Christians of Colosse: “ Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in
all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and
hymns, and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the
Lord,” and to the saints at Ephesus, “ Be filled with the Spirit, speak-
ing to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing,
and making melody in your hearts to the Lord." And to the Hebrews
he writes, “By him (Jesus) therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise
to God continually, that is the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to his
name.” And James echoes and confirms the words of Paul, “Is any
merry, let him sing psalms.”

Surely no one with such an array of Scripture proof before him
will question the propriety or duty of praising and worshiping God
with audible harmony-

But perhaps some one may ask: Is this harmony to be made by
human voices alone, or may instruments be also employed in the wor-
ship of Jehovah ‘?

At what time Instrumental Music was first introduced into the
worship of the true God we have no certain knowledge. \Ve have
seen it already used in celebrating the praises of Jehovah, the \Varrior
King of Heaven, who had triumphed over the pride and power of the
Egyptian oppressor. And from that time tori ard instruments of music
continued to be employed both in the public and private devotions
of the sincere worshipers of God, as calculated to enkindle religious
emotion, and add to the pleasures of a hearty worship.

the P1opl1ets of Is1ael assisted their meditations with the skill
of the musician, and gave inst1uctions or uttered predictions in
poetic numbers to the sound of the tabret or pipe. We read of a col-
lege of prophets who prophesied with a l’salte1 v, and a Tabiet, and
a Harf’p And when Jehoshaphat came to Elisha that he might
i1111ui1e of Jehovah in his distress and danger, it is recorded that
Elisha said: “Bring me 1L Minstrel. And it came to pass, when the
minstrel played, that the hand of the Laid came upon him,” and he
announced the victory of the allied kings over the )Ioabites.

Lndei David, music in the worship 0t (1011 reached its highest
degree of perfection As the Shepherd son of Jesse ,he ha d alrea1 11ly
W011 for himself a name as the sweet singer and the skilllul play er.

 MUSIC AN ORDINANCE OF WORSHIP. xiii

As the princely Hero of Israel, the father and founder of the most
royal and enduring of all dynasties, he not only gave to the Church
her inspired psalmody, but was the composer of music and the inventor
of instruments with which to praise the Lord. Much of his time and
labor were employed in the work of perfecting this part of the worship
of God. When he brought up the Ark of the Covenant from the
house of Obededom to the royal city, he selected some most skilled,
and appointed them under the direction of Heman and Jeduthun,
with trumpets and cymbals for those that should make a sound, and
with musical instruments of God, “ to give thanks to the Lord, for His
mercy endureth forever.” And before he was gathered to his athers,
David had completed the organization of that magnificent orchestra,
unequaled by anything of a similar kind before or since, in which not
less than four thousand Levites were appointed “ to praise the Lord
with the instruments which David had himself made." This did not
belong to the original service of the tabernacle, nor make a part of the
typical ordinances which were fulfilled, and thus abolished by the
sacrificial death of Messiah. If typical at all, it was like the Jubilee
Sabbatism, a type of the splendid worship of the New Jerusalem in
her final and eternal glory, when the groans of the creature shall give
place to the melody and harmony of the choir of the redeemed in the
Sabbatism of the New Creation.

Instrumental music is several times mentioned in the New Testa—
ment, but nowhere, I think, with disapprobation. The words of James
imply the contrary. The word which is in the English translation
rendered, “let him sing psalms,” is literally, “let him play upon an
instrument of music." To the Christian Jews, to whom James wrote,
it would at once suggest the chanting of psalms or hymns to the ac-
companying harmony of harp or psalter. And so in the visions of the
Apocalypse, as the ad rancing victories of Christ and his Church are
celeb 'ated in the hearing of the Holy Seer, instruments of music ac—
company the voice of anthems, and swell with their dulcet chords the
g'and diapason of praise. “And I looked, and lo! a Lamb stood on
the Mount Zion, and with Him a hundred and forty and four thou—
sand having Ilis Fathers name in their foreheads; and I heard the
voice of harpers, harping with their harps, and they sung as it were a
new song before the throne, and no man could learn that song but the
hundred and forty and four thousand which Were redeemed from the
earth.” And again: “ I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with
fire; and them that had gotten the victory over the Beast and over
his image, and over his mark and over the number of his name, stand

 

  

xiv MUSIC AN ORDINANCE OF WORSHIP.

on the sea of glass, having the harps of God. And they sing the song
of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb.”

With these Seriptu 'al testimonies before me, I can not doubt for a
moment the lawfulness, propriety, and utility of instrumental music
both in the private and social worship of God. It stands with those
things in which God’s people have always and do still enjoy liberty.
To sing with the voice is a commanded duty to the Christian; to ac-
company his singing with a well-tuned instrument is a privilege to be
used as convenient. The Christian Church may, I think, still sing
as the Holy Ghost has taught in the closing anthem of the Book of

Psalms:

“ Praise ye the Lord l
Praise God in his sanctuary!
Praise him in the firmament of his power:
Praise him for his mighty acts;
Praise him according to his excellent greatness!
Praise him with the sound of the trumpet;
Praise him with the psaltery anrl harp;
Praise him with the timbrel and dance;
Praise him with string’d instruments and organs;
Praise him upon the loud cymbals;
Praise him upon the high-sounding cymbals.
Let everything that hath breath praise the Lord.

Hallelujah l

PRAISE u; THE Lean.

III. THE EFFECT OF SACRED Music.

All that has been said upon the origin and obligation and use of
vocal and instrumental harmony will be illustrated and confirmed by
a consideration of the effects produced by each alone, or by both com-
bined.

Such is the frame of our nature that the different tones of music
excite emotions in our minds congenial with themselves. Deep and
grave airs fill the mind with awe and reverence; the elevated and
sprightly inspire with joy and animation; the soft and languishing
soothe and melt the heart; while the mournful and plaintive generate
sorrow and melancholy. Music has the power of exciting all the pas—
Sions; it is friendly to every affection which gives dignity to the
nature and conduces to the true happiness of man, and only then be-
comes dangerous to virtue when perverted from its original purity and
purpose. Music softens the asperities of temper, refines and ennohles
the intellect, mitigates the cares and disquietudes of life, and exercises
a surprising power over the depraved passions. And these effects are

.M

:“V-———-—

  

    

MUSIC AN ORDINANCE OF WORSHIP. xv

often'more happily produced when instrumental is joined with vocal
music.

The popular conception of “ the natural effects of music," says Lord
Bacon, “ is set forth in a lively manner by the ancients in that feigned
relation of Orpheus's theatre, where all beasts and birds assembled;
and, forgetting their several appetites, some of prey, some of game,
some of quarrel, stood all sociably together, listening to the airs and
accords of the harp: the sound whereof no sooner ceased, or was
drowned by some louder noise, but every beast returned to his own
nature.”

There is a remarkable and striking instance of the salutary effects
of instrumental music in the history of David and Saul. The mad
fury of Saul was allayed and subdued, and the power of the evil
demon over his mind was for the time broken under the charms of the
shepherd minstrel’s sweet—toned lyre.

The llistory of Medicine furnishes clear proofs of the beneficial
effects of Music upon the nervous system, in the treatment of some
forms of disease.

But the Moral effects of this Heaven-sent Art are more interesting
and important, and far surpass its influence upon the mere physical
nature. As an Ordinance of God, to be used in our approach to Him
in acts of devout worship, it addresses man as a rational being, and
aims to carry home divine and saving truth to his heart through the
medium of the senses, and by the union of sentiment and sound in
agreeable cadence. The main design of sacred psalmody is to en-
lighten, to persuade, and to cheer. When a psalm or hymn, or
spiritual song, expressing the truths of Christianity in their purity and
simplicity, is rehearsed with rhythmical sounds, which correspond to
the sense of the words uttered, the result will seldom fail to be a deep
impression of the reality and importance and beauty of the religion
of Christ. The Apostle recognizes the value of this ordinance and its
effective influence, when showing the uselessness to the Church of
praying or singing in an unknown or inarticulate tongue, he says : “ I
will pray with the spirit and I will pray with the understanding also;
I will sing with the spirit and I will sing with the understanding also.”
And as a most valuable vehicle of conveying truth to the mind, he
commends Christians to employ the voice of melody in teaching and
adnionishing one another. And he teaches us that the most powerful
and blessed results are to be expected from the skillful and constant
use of music in the churches of Christ. The experience of centuries
has attested the wisdom of the Apostle. The best influences of the
Holy Spirit have ever accompanied the study and use of sacred

  

  

xvi MUSIC AN ORDINANCE OF \VORSIIIP.

harmony in the worship of the Church Catholic. It is, indeed, the
lloly (,.‘onit'orter who gives saving eiiieacy to the lVord and Ordinances.
And it is through the Truth that men are renewed and sanctified. But
the truth is most elihctually brought into contact with the soul when
uttered with the living voice. And when prompted and accompanied
by the inward working of the Spirit, sanctified music has a divine power
to awaken the soul to a perception of the truth, and to excite, expand,
revive and strengthen every holy affection. Not a few are the
instances of persons who have traced their first serious impressions of
gospel truth to hearing others sing a few verses of some hymn or
psalm. The case of Jack the Sailor has often found its parallel. Dis-
satisfied in the midst of his wild and roaming life, he passes the door
of an humble working-woman, and hears her singing cheerily at her
work the simple refrain:
“I’m a poor sinner,
And nothing at all,
But Jesus (“lirist
Is my All in all.”

The melody and the words penetrate deep into the weather-beaten
seaman’s heart. The Holy Spirit fixes them there, and quickens the
good seed into life. And Jack, the wild sailor lad, is soon joining the
chorus of that vast multitude who have learned to sing the same

humble song:
I ”M A POOR SIKNER,
AND xwrmNo AT ALL,
BUT Jnsrs (‘nitisr
Is MY ALL IN ALL.”

Another example to the same effect I take from a recent occur-
rence in a far different circle of life. The daughter of an English noble.-
man was brought to a saving knowledge of Christ. Her father, by
threats, temptations to extravagance in dress, by reading, by traveling
in foreign countries and to places of fashionable resort, took