Bain Discourse II.

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DISCOURSE II.

“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.”—COL. iii. 16.

Theme.—The fulness and sufficiency of the Scripture Psalms as a manual of praise.

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To praise God is to celebrate his glorious perfections and works in devout and hearty song. His majesty most excellent, his sovereignty absolute and unlimited, his power unrestrained and boundless, his wisdom infinitely manifold, his justice inflexible and untarnished, his holiness pure and immaculate, his faithfulness unchanging, his mercy everlasting, his love sovereign, saving, matchless, and eternal, his work of creation and providence wonderful

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and glorious in wisdom and greatness, his work of redemption amazing, miraculous, and ineffably excellent—to sing of all these is to praise God in an acceptable and profitable manner; and all this is done in the Book of Psalms. No other book, even of the Bible, contains such a portrait of Deity, such a full exhibition of the Divine character; no other speaks so much, or in such lofty strains, of his attributes, his wonderful creative and providential work, and in such matchless strains of his work of grace. No other book of the Bible contains so full an exhibition of the sinful character of man, and the guilty and miserable condition of the human race. No other part of the Bible contains such a treasure of Christian experience; in fact, I think the Psalms are, principally, just the out-gushing of the heart of Christ and his people, in every conceivable condition of joy and sorrow.

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But before illustrating the suitableness and sufficiency of the Psalms for matter of praise, allow me to show you that they have been in uninterrupted use in the church for at least 2,800 years; while the Neodistic denominations, that is, those who use human hymns, cannot trace a fragment of the matter of their praise back farther than the second century, and very little of it is more than two or three hundred years old. Some of the human hymnists have asserted that the Psalms were exclusively Jewish, and went out of use with that dispensation. We would just ask such when they were re-introduced into the church? for they are certainly used now, and history tells of no time when they were not used in some portion of the church. The truth is, their use never was for any period abandoned, and I believe never will be. God’s people, under the old dispensation, used them, and

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transmitted them to his people under the new or Christian dispensation, and they have always been used by some portion of them. Among many proofs I will only detain you for one. It is admitted by all historians and authors, that the Nestorians and the Vaudois Church of Piedmont are the oldest denominations, and form the connecting link between the apostolic and modern Christian churches.

Rev. Bogden, the Nestorian priest, who lectured in your City Hall in the summer of 1868, said the Nestorians had always used in worship the Psalms exclusively. A writer in the (O. S.) “Princeton Repertory,” reviewing a History of the Vaudois Church, by Antoine Monastier, published at Toulouse, in 1847, thus remarks: “The Vaudois Church, as our author justly observes, visibly connects the evangelical churches of the present day with

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the primitive and apostolic, clearly establishing the fact, that their doctrines, discipline, and worship were long anterior to the heresies and idolatries of Rome.” In connection with this, I ask your attention to the following letter from a gentleman travelling in Piedmont a few years since: (from the Preacher, Vol. ix. No. 50) “At half-past ten pastor Bonjour entered his well-filled Church, and commenced by the usual invocation, then a portion of the 89th Psalm was sung, in which the people joined universally, all having Psalm-books, with music for the whole Psalm. In the morning, while the young Vaudois girl of the inn was preparing the breakfast-table, we asked her if Psalms alone, or hymns likewise were sung in the churches? She disappeared, and brought back in her hand a neat, gilt volume, in a small leather case, and with the honest pride which accompanies

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any allusions or explanations connected with their worship, said, we should find there the Psalms of David, with the music, and that they used no other.” Those are the people who resisted and were preserved from the heresies, idolatries, and persecutions of Rome, when “all the world wondered after the Beast.” These are the devoted people whose cause Milton, with the power and pathos peculiar to himself, thus pleads:

“Avenge, O Lord, thy slaughtered saints, whose bones

Lie scattered on the Alpine mountains cold;

Even them who kept thy truth so pure of old,

When all our fathers worshipped stocks and stones;

Forget them not!”

The songs of God the Spirit, were found sufficient for the praise of such a people; so they are for us. Let us for a little examine their treasures.

1st. Would you praise the Divine ma-

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jesty in becoming language! What sublimer than these Psalms?

Psalm 93.

The Lord doth reign, and cloth’d is he

With majesty most bright;

His works do show him cloth’d to be

And girt about with might.

The world is also ’stablished,

That it cannot depart.

Thy throne is fix’d of old, and thou

From everlasting art.

Psalm 90.

Lord, thou hast been our dwelling-place

In generations all,

Before thou ever hadst brought forth

The mountains great or small;

Ere ever thou hadst form’d the earth,

And all the world abroad;

Ev’n thou from everlasting art

To everlasting God.

Psalm 99.

Th’ eternal Lord doth reign as king,

Let all the people quake;

He sits between the cherubim,

Let earth be mov’d and shake.

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The Lord in Zion great and high

Above all people is;

Thy great and dreadful name, for it

Is holy, let them bless.

Psalm 18.

Up from his nostrils came a smoke,

And from his mouth there came

Devouring fire, and coals by it

Were kindled into flame.

The heavens also he bowed down,

And thence he did descend;

And thickest clouds of darkness did

Under his feet attend.

And he upon a cherub rode,

And thereon he did fly;

Yea, on the swift wings of the wind

His flight was from on high.

He darkness made his secret place;

About him, for his tent,

Dark waters were, and thickest clouds

Of th’ airy firmament.

And at the brightness of that light,

Which was before his eye,

His thick clouds pass’d away; hail stones

And coals of fire did fly.

The Lord God also in the heav’ns

Did thunder in his ire;

And there the Highest gave his voice,

Hail stones, and coals of fire.

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2d. Would you praise his unlimited sovereignty? What can be more suitable than these Psalms, 24th, 47th, 86th, 98th?

Psalm 24.

The earth belongeth to the Lord,

And all that it contains.

The world that is inhabited,

And all that there remains.

For its foundations firmly he

Upon the seas did lay,

And he hath it established sure

Upon the floods to stay.

Psalm 47.

All people, clap your hands; to God

With voice of triumph shout:

For dreadful is the Lord most high,

Great King the earth throughout.

God is with shouts gone up, the Lord

With trumpets sounding high.

Sing praise to God, sing praise, sing praise,

Praise to our King sing ye.

For God is King of all the earth;

With knowledge praise express.

God rules the nations; God sits on

His throne of holiness.

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Psalm 86.

Lord there is none among the gods

That may with thee compare,

And like the works which thou hast done,

Not any work is there.

All nations whom thou mad’st shall come

And worship rev’rently

Before thy face; and they, O Lord,

Thy name shall glorify.

Psalm 98.

Let all the earth unto the Lord

Send forth a joyful noise:

Lift up your voice aloud to him,

Sing praises and rejoice.

With harp, with harp, and voice of psalms,

Unto JEHOVAH sing:

With trumpets, cornets, gladly sound

Before the Lord the King.

Let seas and all their fulness roar:

The world, and dwellers there.

Let floods clap hands, and let the hills

Together joy declare,

Before the Lord, because he comes,

To judge the earth comes he;

He’ll judge the world with righteousness,

His folk with equity.

3d. Would you praise his infinite wisdom? What can be better than

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Psalm 104.

He sets the moon in heav’n, thereby

The seasons to discern:

From him the sun his certain time

Of going down doth learn.

Thou darkness mak’st, ’tis night, then beasts

Of forest creep abroad.

The lions young roar for their prey,

And seek their meat from God.

The sun doth rise and home they flock,

Down in their dens they lie.

Man goes to work, his labor he

Doth to the ev’ning ply.

How manifold, Lord, are thy works!

In wisdom wonderful.

Thou ev’ry one of them hast made:

Earth’s of thy riches full.

Psalm 19.

The heav’ns God’s glory do declare,

The skies his hand-works preach:

Day utters speech to day, and night

To night doth knowledge teach.

Psalm 146.

Who made the earth and heavens high,

Who made the swelling deep,

And all that is within the same;

Who truth doth ever keep.

4th. Would you praise the Divine

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Justice, the joy of his people? What grander than Psalms 97th, 37th, 9th?

Psalm 97.

God reigneth, let the earth be glad,

And isles rejoice each one.

Dark clouds him compass; and in right

With judgment dwells his throne.

Fire goes before him, and his foes

It burns up round about:

His lightnings lighten did the world;

Earth saw, and shook throughout.

Psalm 37.

For evil-doers fret thou not

Thyself unquietly;

Nor do thou envy bear to those

That work iniquity.

For, even like unto the grass,

Soon be cut down shall they;

And like the green and tender herb,

They wither shall away.

But wicked men, and foes of God,

As fat of lambs, decay;

They shall consume, yea, into smokeThey shall consume away.

Psalm 9.

The Lord is by the judgment known

Which he himself hath wrought:

The sinners’ hands do make the snares

Wherewith themselves are caught.

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They who are wicked into hell

Each one shall turned be:

And all the nations that forget

To seek the Lord most High.

5th. Would you praise his spotless holiness? What more expressive than Psalms 97th, 99th?

Psalm 97.

Ye righteous in the Lord rejoice;

Express your thankfulness,

When ye into your memory

Do call his holiness.

Psalm 99.

The Lord our God exalt on high,

And rev’rently do ye

Before his footstool worship him:

The Holy One is he.

Do ye exalt the Lord our God,

And at his holy hill

Do ye him worship: for the Lord

Our God is holy still.

6th. Would you praise his infinite mercy, that endureth forever? What more suitable than Psalm 119th, 136th?

Psalm 119.

O Lord, thy mercy fills the earth:

Teach me thy laws, I pray.

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Psalm 136.

Give thanks to God, for good is he:

For mercy hath he ever.

Thanks to the God of gods give ye:

For his grace faileth never.

Thanks give the Lord of lords unto:

For mercy hath he ever.

Who only wonders great can do:

For his grace faileth never.

7th. Would you praise his matchless grace? What can be equal to the 103d and 116th Psalms?

Psalm 103.

O thou, my soul, bless God the Lord;

And all that in me is

Be stirred up, his holy name

To magnify and bless.

Bless, O my soul, the Lord thy God,

And not forgetful be

Of all his gracious benefits

He hath bestowed on thee.

All thine iniquities who doth

Most graciously forgive:

Who thy diseases all and pains

Doth heal, and thee relieve.

Who doth redeem thy life, that thou

To death may’st not go down;

Who thee with loving-kindness doth

And tender mercies crown:

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Such pity as a father hath

Unto his children dear;

Like pity shows the Lord to such

As worship him in fear.

Psalm 116.

I love the Lord, because my voice

And prayers he did hear.

I while I live, will call on him

Who bowed to me his ear.

Of death the cords and sorrows did

About me compass round;

The pains of hell took hold on me

I grief and trouble found.

Upon the name of God the Lord

Then did I call and say,

Deliver thou my soul, O Lord,

I do thee humbly pray.

God merciful and righteous is,

Yea, gracious is our Lord.

God saves the meek; I was brought low,

He did me help afford.

Of course these are designed but as brief specimens of the character of the book, in suitable fulness; for the learned Tholuck eloquently and truthfully says: “Here is God praised who before the mountains, the earth, and the world

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had been created, is from everlasting—who surrounds his creatures, whose presence cannot be avoided, whether in the heavens above, or the earth below—from whom darkness cannot hide—who reigns as the Lord Omnipotent in the heavens, who thunders in his might, who telleth the number of the stars and calleth them all by their names, who is good unto all, has compassion on all his works, who giveth food to the young ravens when they cry, who, like as a father pitieth his children, pitieth those that fear him, dealeth not with us after our sins, nor rewardeth us according to our iniquities. Whatever truths or praises can be said of the wisdom, eternity, omnipotence, holiness, justice, and mercy of God, are expressed in the Psalms. Here is a piety, which on the one hand losing itself in praises of God’s care, preserves on the other, an open eye for his glory in nature, before whose

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view the declaration in the book of the law and that in the book of creation entirely commingle. Here we have the unceasing praise of God, in gloomy as well as joyous days, for mercies temporal and spiritual, in every variety of tone and expression. The last Psalms, the many tongued echo of the entire book, call with their unceasing, ‘Praise ye the Lord,’ upon Israel, and all mankind, the heights and the depths, and the heavenly spirits, to offer the sacrifice of their praise to the Lord.”

2d. These Psalms praise the living God as subsisting in three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. If it could be shown that they speak of but one of these persons to the exclusion of the others, or very indefinitely or obscurely of any or all three, this would be a very weighty and fatal objection against their use in praising the Triune God. But no one can examine with

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any care Psalm lxxxix., 19th and 28th verses inclusive; or Psalm xlvii., 5th verse, or Psalm lxviii., 18th and 20th verses inclusive, or Psalm ii., 7–12, or Psalm li., 11, or Psalm cxliii., 10th verse, without seeing clearly revealed, the living God in three distinct persons, of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. I have mentioned a few passages among many, and to save space have referred to but a few, without writing them out or giving any exposition of them, but any person who sincerely desires to examine this subject, will, I trust, turn to the passages and give them a candid investigation.

3d. These Psalms present the fullest and most accurate exhibit of fallen man’s natural state and character before God, and this in the manner best fitted to awaken deep conviction of sin, and deep humility. They present the fallen human character, in contrast with

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the ineffable majesty and holiness of man’s Creator. In a few lines is drawn a truthful picture of guilty, depraved man, yet, perhaps, in the very next, the inspired penman paints some glorious perfection of God. Psalm li., 4, “Against thee, thee only have I sinned, that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest.” Psalm lvi., 1st, “Be merciful unto me, O God; for man would swallow me up.” Psalm lii., 1, “Why boastest thou thyself in mischief, O mighty man? the goodness of God endureth continually.” These Psalms give the noblest expression of man’s original dignity, and honor, and future glory; as in the 8th Psalm, “Made a little lower than the angels, crowned with glory and honor.” Psalm 11th, “When I awake with thy likeness.” Yet no other book of the Bible gives so full and truthful a picture of the condition of the race by reason of sin as Psalm lxii., 9:

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“Surely men of low degree are vanity, and men of high degree are a lie: to be laid in the balance, they are altogether lighter than vanity.” And Psalm xiv., 3, “They are all gone aside, they are altogether become filthy; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.” Or the 90th Psalm: “Frail man, his days are like the grass, in the morning it flourisheth and groweth up, in the evening it is cut down and withereth.” No other book contains such expression of contrition, confession and repentance for sin. While the writers sometimes assert their perfect innocence of certain specific charges of their enemies, and maintain their integrity and sincerity of purpose, yet they freely and ingenuously confess their native depravity, bewail their deep sinfulness, and supplicate and hope for deliverance, only through Divine mercy. Proof passages of this are so abundant

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they must readily occur to any one in the least acquainted with the Psalms.

1st. The Psalms are full of Christ. As this is a vitally important point, I will present it with more fulness. 1st. The majesty of the person of Christ is most fully set forth. When Paul, writing to the Hebrews, would prove Christ’s superiority to angels he quotes from the 2d Psalm: “Thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee.” And from the 89th Psalm, “I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son.” And Psalm 97th, “Worship him all ye gods.” And from Psalm 45th, “But unto the Son he saith, thy throne, O God, is forever and ever.” And Psalm 102d, “Thou Lord in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the work of thy hands,” etc. And the 110th Psalm, “Sit thou on my right hand until I make thine enemies thy footstool.” Of seven quo-

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tations in the first chapter of Hebrews to prove the Divinity and glory of Christ, six at least are from the Psalms. When Paul would prove that Christ as a prophet and legislator, is superior to Moses, he refers to the 2d Psalm, to show that he is a Son over his own house; and to the 95th Psalm, to show that the Israelites in tempting God tempted Christ. When, in the second chapter of Hebrews, Paul would prove the incarnation of Christ and the necessity of it to the redemption of men, he refers to Psalm viii. 4, and Psalm 22d, “I will declare thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee;” Psalm 18th, “I will put my trust in him.” When he would prove the Divine origin, dignity, efficiency, permanency and superiority of Christ’s priesthood to that of Aaron, he appeals to Psalm 110th, “Thou art a priest forever,” etc.; and when he speaks

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of his “offering up strong crying and tears to him that was able to save him from death,” he doubtless refers to the 22d Psalm. When Paul would prove the ascension of Christ to the right hand of God and his universal authority, he refers in Hebrews ii. 8, 9, to Psalm 8th, and in Rom. 15th quotes Psalm 18th, and Psalm 117th.

2d. Our divine Redeemer sustains a three-fold office of Prophet, Priest and King, and in the Psalms he is presented as acting in all these offices. As a prophet he says in Psalm 22d, “I will declare thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the congregation I will praise thee.” As a prophet he speaks in Psalm 40th, “I have preached righteousness in the great congregation, I have declared thy faithfulness and thy salvation, I have not concealed thy loving kindness and thy truth from the great congregation.” In the 10th chapter of

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Hebrews, Paul, speaking of his priesthood, refers to Psalm 110th and Psalm xl. 6, “Sacrifice and offering thou wouldst not, but a body hast thou prepared me. Then he said, Lo! I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me) to do thy will, O God.” His very thoughts and feelings in his priestly offering are expressed in Psalm 31st, “Into thy hands I commit my spirit;” also Psalm 22d. His Kingly office is declared in Psalm 2d, “Yet have I set my King upon my holy hill of Zion;” and in Psalm 72d, “The sceptre of thy kingdom is a right sceptre, yea, all kings shall fall down before him, and all nations shall serve him.” In Psalm 89th, the perpetuity of his reign is declared, “His seed and throne shall endure as the days of heaven.” In Psalm 16th, his arising as a mighty conqueror over death and hell is described. In Psalm 47th, his triumphant ascent to

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the throne on high is described, “God is gone up with a shout, the Lord with the sound of a trumpet;” also in Psalm 68th, “Thou hast ascended on high, thou hast led captivity captive.” Paul, writing to the Ephesians, quotes this as his ascension song. The glory of his entry into the courts above is described in Psalm 24th, “Lift up your heads, O ye gates; be lifted up ye everlasting doors,” etc. Nearly all these places I have referred to are quoted in the New Testament.

3d. The tenderness and compassion of Christ is celebrated in Psalm 23d, “The Lord’s my shepherd, I’ll not want,” and he tells us himself, “I am the good shepherd.” Also in the 80th Psalm, his shepherd care is praised. In the 121st Psalm, his guardian watchfulness is praised, “The Lord thee keeps, the Lord thy shade on thy right hand doth stay, the Lord shall keep thy soul”

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In Psalm 27th, he is described as more constant and faithful than father or mother, “When my father and my mother forsake me, the Lord will take me up.” In Psalm 16th, he is presented as the sure portion of the believer, redeemed and glorified, “The Lord is the portion of mine inheritance;” also Psalm 73d, “God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever;” also Psalm cxix. 57, “Thou art my portion O Lord.”

4th. The subjugation of our Redeemer’s enemies, the destruction of Satan’s policy and kingdom, the overthrow of Mohammedanism, of Pagan and Popish idolatry, and the universal extension of Christ’s kingdom, are celebrated in loftiest strains in Psalm 2d, “Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thy inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession;” also in the 72d Psalm, “His

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large and great dominion shall from sea to sea extend,” etc. And in Psalm 96th, “All nations whom thou mad’st shall come and worship reverently,” etc. There is no characteristic glory of his kingdom that is not celebrated in these Psalms.

5th. Most of the leading events of Christ’s life on earth are referred to in them. His rejection by the Jews is referred to in Psalm 118th, as is proved from Matt. xxi. 42, Acts iv. 11, 1st Peter ii. 7, 8. His public entry into Jerusalem is referred to in Psalm 8th, as is proved from Matt. xxi. 5, 16. The combination of all nations against Christ, and his defeat of them is referred to in Psalm 2d, as is proved from Acts iv. 26–28. The partition of his garments, the preservation of his bones, and giving him vinegar and gall, are all minutely described in Psalm 22d, and 34th, and 69th, as is proved from John

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xix. 23, 24. That the Jews sang Christ’s Gethsemane and Crucifixion agonies in Psalm 22d, is proved from Matt. xxvii. 46, and Luke xxiii. 46. That nearly every portion of the Psalms I have quoted, refers particularly to Christ is proved by the inspired writers of the New Testament. And from Luke xxiv. 44, we know that Christ found himself in the Psalms, and by this key opened the understanding of his disciples to these Scriptures. Yet there are persons who say they use uninspired hymns, because they cannot find Christ in the Psalms! If the Jews and disciples found him there, surely Christians, with light so much clearer and brighter, ought to find him. They are truly to be pitied who cannot. For I am persuaded that the Psalms are nothing else, so much, as they are just the outpourings of the soul of the man Christ Jesus: all the humiliations, trials, per-

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secutions, sorrows, and agonies of his life are uttered here, all the praise and joys and triumphs of his redemptive work are here given a voice and words. The learned Dr. Cook, of Belfast, agrees with this opinion. He says: “Truly I believe there is one view of Christ that can be discovered only in the Psalms, I mean his inward life. The Holy Spirit has there laid open the inmost thoughts, sorrows, and conflicts of our Lord.”

The Psalms contain the richest treasure of Christian experience ever given to the world. The utter insufficiency of human wealth, power, wisdom, or learning, to relieve man in his guilt and misery is most forcibly taught. (See Psalms 33d, 49th, 146th.) The soul’s perishing necessities and unfed yearnings, are most pleadingly uttered. In them are to be found the most heart broken confessions of sin, in its guilt, defilement, and power: (See Psalms 19th,

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32d, 51st, 130th.) and most earnest supplications for pardon: (See Psalms 30th, 32d, 51st.) These are addressed to God as a merciful God, and in dependence on the “blood of sprinkling:” (See Psalms 32d, 51st, 118th.) a deep and an abiding sense of the need of divine teaching, and of the help of the Spirit of Christ: (See Psalms 9th, 30th, 143d.) ardent spiritual desires and affections: (See Psalms 43d, 44th, 63d.) strong faith, sometimes conflicting with remaining unbelief: (See Psalms 3d, 4th, 13th.) gratitude and thanksgiving on almost every page; hopes of heavenly blessedness, deep interest in the welfare of the Church, of friends, of brethren, of mankind: (See Psalms 122d, 35th, 95th, 96th.) the duty and happy results of true Christian unity: (See Psalms 122d, 133d.) adoring praise everywhere throughout the Psalms, rising to the loftiest strains; high esteem of the Word

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of God, and devout recognition of His law, in its spirituality, extent, purity, and obligation. (See Psalms 19th, 25th, 119th.) Such is the Book of Psalms, and unspeakably more than this, for no uninspired tongue can tell all its fulness, richness, beauty, and glory. Such has been the estimate of the Psalms by the most eminent Christians and Christian teachers, ancient and modern. Examine a few extracts from some of the most distinguished. Chrysostom says: “The grace of the Holy Ghost hath so ordered it, that the Psalms of David should be recited and sung every day. In the Churches’ vigils, in the morning, at funeral solemnities, the first, the midst, the last, is David. In the night when men sleep, he wakes them up to sing, and collecting the servants of God into angelic troops, turns earth into heaven, and of men makes angels chanting David’s Psalms.” Athanasius, in the

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fourth century, said of the Psalms, “They appear to me a mirror of the soul of every one that sings them. In its pages you find portrayed man’s whole life, the emotions of his soul, and the frames of his mind. If you need penitence, if anguish or temptation have befallen you, if you have escaped persecution, or affliction, if immersed in trouble, concerning each and all you may find instruction and state it to God in the words of the Psalter.” Ambrose of Milan, in the fourth century, said of the Psalms: “The law instructs, history informs, prophecy predicts, correction censures, and morals exhort; but in the Book of Psalms you find all these. The Psalter deserves to be called the praise of God, the glory of man, the voice of the Church, and the most beneficial confession of faith.” Luther styles them “an epitome of the Word of God, a little Bible in themselves,” and says, “In

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the Psalms you find most earnest expressions of joy, praise, and thanksgiving! You look right into the heart of saints as into fair and pleasant gardens, or heaven itself, and behold beautiful, laughing, and delicate flowers, of all manner of fair and joyous thoughts of God and his love, springing lustily into life. So, when the Psalms speak of fear and hope, they abound in words so significant, that no painter could thus portray, no Cicero or orator thus describe them.” The learned Calvin says, “You cannot read anywhere, more glorious praises of God’s peculiar grace to the Church, or of his works, than in the Psalms; you cannot find anywhere, an enumeration of man’s deliverances, or praises for the proof of his Fatherly care for us, or a more perfect representation to praise him becomingly, or more fervent exhortations to the discharge of this holy duty.” The opinion of the

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great Edwards may be found in the preceding discourse. Dickson, of Scotland, calls them “this sweet-smelling bundle of Psalms.” Gerhard, of Germany, says: “The Psalter is a deep sea, in which are hid the most costly pearls; it is a paradise bearing the most delicious fruits and flowers.” Lamartine says: “The Book of Psalms is a vase of perfume broken on the steps of the temple, and shedding abroad its odors to the heart of all humanity. The little shepherd has become master of the sacred choir of the universe. A chord of his harp is to be found in all choirs, resounding for ever in unison with the echoes of Horeb and Engedi. David is the Psalmist of eternity; what a power hath poetry when inspired by Almighty God.” Says Rev. Theodore L. Cuyler: “When we come to the Book of Psalms, we seem to leave the world, and enter the temple of Jehovah. The gates of

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God’s house swing open before us and we hear the solemn voices issuing forth, ‘How amiable are thy tabernacles, O Lord of hosts.’ As we enter this house of prayer, the paltry vanities of earth pass away from our sight. Our souls are drawn upward from the world; and something of the feeling that overawed the disciples on the Mount of Transfiguration steals over our spirit. Before the soul’s inner eye are unfolded things the most tender; the most melting, the most soothing, and the most lofty and majestic. At one time we are lifted into adoring rapture as we hear the voice of inspiration chanting forth, ‘The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament showeth forth his handiwork.’ Then the mighty roll of triumphant anthems shakes the arches. ‘Oh, sing unto the Lord a new song, for he has done marvellous things. His right hand and his holy arm hath gotten him the

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victory!’ Every utterance of devotion, from the loftiest praise to the lowliest penitence, finds here a place. In ‘this epitome of the Scriptures,’ nearly every thing that belongs to the divine glory, or to the Christian’s experience, is embodied. Both the external universe of God, and the internal realm of the human heart, are alike unfolded. All that can alarm the wicked, revive the penitent, console the afflicted, and elevate the saint, are to be found in this marvelous and comprehensive Book of Psalms. Sweeter are they than honey and the honey-comb!” The love and admiration of great, learned, and pious men, of all ages, for Luther’s “little Bible,” the Book of Psalms, if recorded, would fill volumes; for no truly learned and pious mind ever studied them without being excited to love, joy, wonder, and praise! Why should not the Church be satisfied with such a manual of praise,

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whose sufficiency and fullness no finite mind can exhaust? That God is satisfied that his Church praise him in singing these songs exclusively, is manifest from the fact that he provided them for her, that he gave no supplement in New Testament times, and has not even promised a Spirit of Psalmody to qualify any one for such a work. Now, if God is satisfied to be praised with these alone, why should not his whole Church be satisfied to praise him with them? He gives you six days to sing songs of your own choosing, for social or intellectual pleasure, for improvement, entertainment or amusement, why may he not for the few hours you are engaged in singing his praise, in his own instituted ordinances, dictate the songs you shall sing? This is surely reasonable and right. To praise God better and with more profit, it is not other songs you need, but to understand and sing these

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better, in the spirit of faith and love. Not other songs, but “another spirit” is needed by the Church.

But, says one, would you not have the music of the sanctuary sweet, lofty, and attractive, such as would bring an audience to the house of worship? I would not make this an end in adopting either the matter or manner of praise. This would be to turn the Church into an opera for musical entertainment, but I would have the whole congregation praise God, with such a soulfulness of living power, pathos, and harmonious melody, as would give attraction, influence and grandeur to the service. But it is said this cannot be done with those rugged old Hebrew poems. This is a great mistake. Let these be sung as Spurgeon and his congregation, or Beecher and his, sing their songs. It is not the loud-sounding “big organ,” or the artistic accuracy, that charms

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hearers in their worship: it is the great congregations of several thousands uniting simultaneously in soulful tone and power. Some years since, a religious assembly was held in the Crystal Palace, in London, when they sung these old Psalms; a writer in the London Times says, the heartful swell and power of the music was impressively solemn and grand. In the congregations of the Vaudois church, each member is furnished with the Psalms, having tunes attached, and being trained to join in all parts of the music, the testimony of competent judges, who have travelled among them, is that they pour out an impressive and hearty melody. Let us hear a writer on the Psalmody of the Reformation. “The notion has widely prevailed that the music of the Church at the Reformation period, was of the rudest kind. This is an utter mistake. The tunes, for the most part, vividly represent the fervor and spirit of those

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stirring times, combining marvellous simplicity with marvellous pathos. They took up this part of Divine service, not in the dreary perfunctory manner often witnessed now-a-days; their music was like the singing of an army marching with lofty and resolute purpose. The drawling, slip-shod execution of such tunes as Dundee, Martyrs, Martyrdom, etc., which we now sometimes hear, gives us only a hideous skeleton of the song, the soul, the melody, the waves of suffering and joy that ebb and flow in these majestic harmonies. The Reformers adapted the tune to the psalm, and many of them had all the fire and rolling rhythm of the old madrigals. In John Knox’s Psalter of 1635, all the tunes are in four parts, and when John Durie returned from banishment, the people of Edinburgh marched up High Street in triumphal procession, singing with all the parts in full harmony, the grand old version of the 124th Psalm:

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Psalm 124.

Now Israel

May say, and that truly,

If that the Lord

Had not our cause maintain’d;

If that the Lord

Had not our right sustain’d,

When cruel men

Against us furiously

Rose up in wrath

To make of us their prey;

Then certainly

They had devour’d us all,

And swallow’d quick,

For ought that we could deem;

Such was their rage,

As we might well esteem.

And as fierce floods

Before them all things drown,

So had they brought

Our soul to death quite down.

It is not other songs the Church needs to make melody in praising God; it is God’s songs in the hearts of the people, understood and sung in the grace of faith to the Lord.