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Nehemiah
Chapter Seven
Nehemiah 7
Chapter Contents
The city committed to Hananiah. (1-4) Register of those
that first returned. (5-73)
Commentary on Nehemiah 7:1-4
(Read Nehemiah 7:1-4)
Nehemiah
having finished the wall
returned to the
Persian court
and came to Jerusalem again with a new commission. The public
safety depends on every one's care to guard himself and his family against sin.
Commentary on Nehemiah 7:5-73
(Read Nehemiah 7:5-73)
Nehemiah knew that the safety of a city
under God
depends more upon the inhabitants than upon its walls. Every good gift and
every good work are from above. God gives knowledge
he gives grace; all is of
him
and therefore all must be to him. What is done by human prudence
must be
ascribed to the direction of Divine Providence. But woe to those who turn back
from the Lord
loving this present world! and happy those who dedicate
themselves
and their substance
to his service and glory!
── Matthew Henry《Concise Commentary on
Nehemiah》
Nehemiah 7
Verse 3
[3] And
I said unto them
Let not the gates of Jerusalem be opened until the sun be
hot; and while they stand by
let them shut the doors
and bar them: and
appoint watches of the inhabitants of Jerusalem
every one in his watch
and
every one to be over against his house.
Hot —
'Till it be clear and broad day; when the people will be ready in case of an
assault.
They —
The watches appointed to that end.
Watches —
Nehemiah was now about to return to the court
and left the charge of the city
to these in his absence.
Verse 5
[5] And my God put into mine heart to gather together the nobles
and the
rulers
and the people
that they might be reckoned by genealogy. And I found a
register of the genealogy of them which came up at the first
and found written
therein
God put it into mine heart — Whatever good motion is in our minds
we must acknowledge it to come
from God. What is done by human prudence is to be ascribed to the direction of
Divine Providence.
Verse 7
[7] Who
came with Zerubbabel
Jeshua
Nehemiah
Azariah
Raamiah
Nahamani
Mordecai
Bilshan
Mispereth
Bigvai
Nehum
Baanah. The number
I say
of the men of the
people of Israel was this;
Tirshatha —
Nehemiah. So it is no wonder that the number of the monies
and other things
here contributed
differ from that Ezra 2:68
69
because this is another
collection.
── John Wesley《Explanatory Notes on Nehemiah》
07 Chapter 7
Verses 1-7
Now it came to pass
when the wall was built.
The guardian of the holy city
I. His care for
Jerusalem’s protection. It is a beneficent law of our nature that the more true
affection is exercised it increases in strength
and knits the heart to its
object in firmer bonds. This beautiful law
of the growth of affection by its
exercise
is still more exemplified in the labour of love for Christ’s name
sake
and for the promotion of His truth in the earth. Thus it was that the
suffering and sacrifice which Nehemiah had endured for Jerusalem bound him to
it by stronger ties
and drew him to seek its good with deepening affection. He
had wept over its desolation in the night; he had toiled
through many days
for its restoration; and
when its walls were now rebuilt
how could he but
cherish a tender solicitude
lest any danger should befall the home of his
heart? Was it not enough to fill him with sorrowful apprehension that false men
were within the walls of Zion
and that
under the name of Israelites
they
were ready to betray the dearest interests of their nation into the hands of
the heathen? Then
as strong walls are no sufficient protection without
faithful watchmen
he set apart true men
to keep guard in the common danger.
1. We remark the character of the men to whom he committed this high
trust. “I gave my brother Hanani
and Hananiah the ruler of the palace
charge
over Jerusalem.” “My brother Hanani.” The expression of fraternal relation is
simple and dignified
but warm and affectionate. The brother’s heart speaks the
word
and utters in it a brother’s love
glowing with a brother’s pride
over
one so dear
ready to help in a work so Divine. It is deeply interesting to
observe how often
in the procedure of grace
God hallows the social
affections
by grafting on their stock a Divine love; and how large a portion of
the inspired history of the religious life is a record of kindred dear in the
same households
united in the same faith
walking together to the better
country. Abraham and Sarah
Jacob and Joseph
Moses and Aaron
James and John
Martha and her
sister Mary
and Lazarus
with many more revered names in Scripture story
united in the bonds of nature and also of grace
prove how true God is to His
promise--“I will take you one of a city
and two of a family
and I will bring
you to Zion.” Hananiah
the other patriot
here entrusted with charge over the
holy city
receives this high encomium
“He was a faithful man
and feared God
above many.” There was special need for this superior fidelity and piety in the
watchmen of Zion then; and the same necessity demands such graces still in all
who have charge in the Church of God.
2. We notice the nature of the charges given to these faithful men.
Walls and gates are set around the city of God
not to foster indolence
but to
aid active defence
and by this means to secure the guardian care of
Omnipotence. This Divine help is ever sure to those who are willing by God’s
grace to help themselves
and who stand on their watchtower
in the attitude of
vigilance. This is an operation of faith
and an effect of that wisdom that is
from above. Sound principles of truth are believed
not for the purpose of
lying in the mind as a dead letter
or to be in themselves a certain defence
against danger
but they are embraced to be used as a shield in times of
assault
to be applied to the practical conduct; and if they are loosely held
the enemy will break through them to wound the heart
as surely as these foes
of Jerusalem would have entered it by the gates or walls
had these been
unguarded. The word is
“Take unto you the whole armour of God
that ye may be
able to stand.” Faith everywhere sets on this enterprise its indubitable seal.
The city
we are told
“was large and great; but the people were few within
and the houses were not builded.” It was reared in the sure confidence of a
future increase
according to the promise
“Jerusalem shall be inhabited
as
towns without walls
for the multitude of men and cattle therein.” In like
manner
everything devised and done for the kingdom of Christ may be planned on
the largest scale
to accord with the amplitude of the purpose of grace. There
is room in the heart of God for all sinners of mankind
would they but trust
His love.
II. His effort for
Jerusalem’s purity. In a work of God
the completion of one service to His
honour makes way for the commencement of another. A holy heart feels no desire
to rest in complacency after the labour of one enterprise is finished
as if
enough were done for a while to come.
1. We remark in this the means he adopts to secure the purity of
Jerusalem. He owns
with grateful humility
the Divine source of all his plans
of wisdom for the good of Jerusalem. “My God put into mine heart.” All holy
desires
all good counsels
all just works are from God; and it is right to
ascribe to Him the glory of these precious gifts. The great thinkers of the
world--the men whose vocation it is to exercise thought for the instruction of
others--are under paramount obligation to give honour to the Father of lights
for every grand or good idea He discovers to their mind. God is specially the
author of all gracious purposes in the hearts of His children
and of every
good counsel for the advancement of His kingdom. It is in this frame of
exultant gratitude to the Lord for all good counsels that Nehemiah says
“My
God put into mine heart to gather together the nobles
and the rulers
and the
people
that they might be reckoned by genealogy.” Recent events
no doubt
suggested reasons for making sure who belonged to the tribes of Israel; and
God
by opening His servant’s mind to the force of these reasons
rendered the
path of duty plain. False men had lately appeared in the congregation of the
Lord
claiming a place in it
who were not of it
but were proving traitors to
its dearest interests. At this time
then
when much depended on the possession
of a true heart in the children of Zion
the heads and people of Judah were
convened
that all might be reckoned by genealogy.
2. We notice the fidelity Nehemiah evinces to secure the purity of
Jerusalem. Many went up to the holy city who could not show their father’s
house
whether they belonged to Israel or no. Some of them would prove in their
conduct they were the people of God; but they could not as yet produce evidence
of their genealogy as the seed of Jacob. In like manner
want of assurance of
personal salvation bars the way of no sinner in applying to Christ; and if any
follow on to seek Him
He will in no wise cast them out
though they may not be
able for the present to express their sure hope of eternal life. Some at this
time in Jerusalem were friends of Zion
of this description
truly belonging to
Israel in spirit
but unable
meanwhile
to prove their relation. But others
were there of a different class
and
perhaps
also of a different character.
Some of the priests “sought their register among those who were reckoned by
genealogy
but it was not found.” (verse 64). In the fidelity
therefore
of
these patriots to purify from alloy the congregation of the Lord
we have an
example for the imitation of the universal Church of Christ. Purity of
communion in a Church is essential to its healthful condition
and to its
success in spreading religion in the world. A diseased member in the natural
body may gradually destroy the vital functions of the entire frame; and so
in
the mystical body of Christ
one member unsound in heart will impair the
spiritual action of the whole
just as one Achan in the camp occasioned the
defeat of all the army of Israel. This register
used by the servant of God to
ascertain who were the children of Zion
may suggest to us the joyous assurance
that God knows all His true Israel
and will take means
in due time
to make
them known. Oh! what a privilege to find Tour name in the Lamb’s book of life
in that day! On the other hand
what a dismay to discover then it is not there!
(W. Ritchie.)
Verse 2-3
For he was a faithful man
and feared God above many.
Faithfulness
I. Consider the
meaning of faithfulness. It is the reverent and constant acceptance of those
duties springing out of the relations in which I inevitably stand. Man is a
being set in relations. When the ivy climbs up ruins and binds lovingly the
fallen stones together
and wraps them in its green
it clambers and winds
about and helps and beautifies because of the feelers it thrusts out
laying
hold
by them
of the crumbling stones. It is the nature of the ivy to force
these feelers out. So forth from every man there are shooting feelers of
relations. They are part of his life-endowment.
1. Man is bound into relation with God. God is
Creator--Father--Providence and Sustainer--King and Judge.
2. Men and women are bound to each other in the relation of father
and mother
and child and relative
and fellow-citizen
and so on endlessly.
Springing out of these relations there are forced upon us certain duties.
Faithfulness is accepting and steadily discharging them.
II. Faithfulness is
a chance opening right at the feet of every man for a noble life.
III. Faithfulness is
an open door for a right ambition--to develop a noble character. Thus we may
lift humdrum from our daily life. There is nothing so invigorating as the
consciousness of recognising and accepting duty. The peace of a quiet
conscience is in it.
1. Thus I am sure of setting a right example.
2. Thus I shall certainly make my life tell in all directions.
IV. A reward of
faithfulness. Nehemiah gave Hananiah charge over Jerusalem because “he was a
faithful man.”
V. The real source
and incitement of faithfulness. He “feared God.” Think of Milton as holding
himself “as ever in his great Taskmaster’s eye.” Policy
expediency
self-interest may seem to hold a man to duty in fair weather. The only lasting
motive for faithfulness for all times is God. (Wayland Hoyt
D. D.)
Piety and faithfulness
We are here taught:--
I. That the fear
of God--real
Scriptural piety--is the solid foundation of all faithfulness
between man and man.
II. That the
indispensable expression and proof of the fear of God is to be found in a man’s
fidelity as to the affairs and transactions which take place between him and
his fellows.
III. That persons of
eminent piety and great fidelity will be honoured both by God and man. (J.
Taylor.)
Eminent piety
I. That
faithfulness in religion is essentially connected with eminence of attainment
in the Christian character.
II. Characteristics
of eminent piety.
1. It consists in the habitual maintenance of a close walk with God.
2. It comprises a high and enlightened estimate of the character and
work of Christ.
3. It is connected with an exquisite spiritual and moral sensibility.
4. It is always most powerfully swayed by spiritual motives and
considerations.
5. These characteristics show the baselessness of the claims and
pretensions to the possession of exalted religious attainments that are
sometimes advanced.
III. Motives which
may lead Christians to aspire after eminence of personal piety.
1. The honour of religion.
2. It is a great preservative against apostasy.
3. Regard to personal enjoyment.
4. Its relation to usefulness.
5. Its bearing upon our future blessedness.
6. The enduring nature of the distinction it confers.
7. The adequate provision that has been made to aid in its
attainment. (W. Hurd.)
Eminent piety
I. The nature of
eminent piety.
1. It involves a habit of serious reflection.
2. It is consistent and comprehensive. The man who exemplifies it
believes the doctrines of revelation
is awed by its threatenings
animated by
its promises
and controlled by its laws. He is at once sober
righteous
and
godly.
3. It endures severe tests. It resembles a robust constitution
which
can pass through all varieties of climate
while a sickly constitution demands
careful restriction to one.
4. It is active and laborious.
5. It is piety that grows.
II. Considerations
that enforce eminent piety.
1. The effects it produces on those who exemplify it.
2. The effects it produces on those who witness it.
Conclusion:
1. Eminent piety is very rare
2. The means of acquiring and promoting eminent piety are invaluable.
Intercourse with good men--attendance in a Christian sanctuary--reading
meditation
and prayer.
3. Real piety is indispensable. (Joseph Hughes.)
A faithful man
I. The
distinguishing feature of Hananiah’s character. “He was a faithful man.” If we
suppose With some that Hananiah is the same as Shadrach mentioned in the Book
of Daniel
we see how brightly this trait of his character shone forth in him
in Babylon. “A faithful man” is perhaps the most distinguished commendation
that can be passed upon any mortal. It refers to that attitude under which God
Himself has been pleased to allow His people to regard Him. “God is faithful”;
“the Lord is faithful”; and it is in the faithfulness of God that His people
hope and confide. “A faithful man”--
1. Is one that can be depended on
who performs all his promises
executes all trusts confided to him
one who is punctual and unwavering in all
his engagements
and whose uprightness and integrity are transparent to all.
2. He is one who has been made the recipient of a gracious and Divine
principle that is--
3. He is a godlike man (2 Peter 1:4).
II. The conduct
which Hananiah showed--he “feared God.” The fear of God is--
1. A reverential awe of the majesty of God.
2. An implanted principle (Jeremiah 32:40).
3. A governing principle--Obadiah (1 Kings 18:12-13); Nehemiah (Nehemiah 5:15).
III. The
distinguished position assigned to Hananiah. (Francis Wills.)
An example of excellent piety
I. He was a
faithful man. To serve God acceptably we must be faithful.
1. By believing what God has revealed
on His testimony (2 Chronicles 20:20). To the exercise
of this faith we are urged by the best example
as that of Abraham (Galatians 3:9; Romans 4:20)
and that of Barnabas (Acts 11:24). Under the influence of this
faith
we shall be led to seek God in the way He prescribes.
2. By conscientiously performing those duties which arise from our
relations to God; as His servants
stewards
and soldiers. As His covenant-servants
we must devote ourselves to His service (Jeremiah 1:5; 1 Corinthians 4:19-20). As His
stewards
we must employ His gifts for His glory (1 Peter 4:10-11). This faithfulness
is required in stewards (1 Corinthians 4:2). As His soldiers
we must be valiant for His revealed truth (Jeremiah 9:8). We must be faithful--
3. By steadfast adherence to the required worship and service of God.
Like the Church at Pergamos
we must not deny Christ through fear of suffering
for righteousness’ sake (Revelation 2:13; Revelation 17:14).
4. By seriously realising the invisible things of God (Hebrews 11:1). We should realise God’s
presence with us
as our Master
Helper
and Observer (Psalms 16:8; Psalms 46:1; Hebrews 11:27). We should realise the
general judgment
when we must all appear before Christ (2 Corinthians 10:7; 2 Corinthians 10:9-10).
II. And he feared
God above many.
1. By the fear of God
in this place
is meant the whole of personal
religion
including the principles and practice
the dispositions and the
conduct of its subject or possessor (Psalms 34:11; Psalms 111:10; Proverbs 19:28; Ecclesiastes 8:12).
2. He feared God above many. This implies that there are different
degrees of piety among those who truly fear God. This is intimated by our Lord
in His parable of the Sower (Matthew 13:8). It is admitted by St.
Paul
in his doctrine of future rewards (2 Corinthians 9:6). This difference
in pious attainments is also evident from the present state of the religious
world. Of some eminent Christians
who are now the salt of the earth and the
lights of the world
it may be said with great truth that they fear God above
many. They acknowledge God more than many in their secular concerns (Proverbs 3:6; Philippians 4:6); they are more careful
than many to allow themselves m those recreations only which are consistent
with
and favourable to
their advancement in holiness (1 Corinthians 10:31); they converse
more spiritually and profitably than many (Ephesians 4:29); and they are more
zealous than many
in employing all their talents for God’s glory and the
benefit of mankind (Acts 13:36). With respect to reputation;
some have a good report from them that are without the Church
while the good
that is in others is evil spoken of
through their indiscretions. With respect
to usefulness; some are general blessings to their respective connections
while others are not visibly instrumental in bringing scarcely any souls with
them to Christ and heaven.
3. The honourable mention of Hananiah’s distinguished piety should
excite us to imitate him
by endeavouring to excel in piety also. To excel in
piety is--
(a) Our greater happiness (Isaiah 48:18);
(b) our greater safety (2 Peter 1:10);
(c) our greater glory in heaven (2 Peter 1:11; 1 Corinthians 15:51).
(a) God calls us to this (1 Peter 1:15-16);
(b) God will hereby be glorified (John 15:8);
(c) herewith He will be pleased (Psalms 35:27). (Sketches of Four
Hundred Sermons.)
Placed in trust
It was a State appointment made on moral and religious
grounds. Hananiah was put in “charge over Jerusalem: for he was a faithful man
and feared God
above many.” Without discussing in detail the merits of the principle
let us
inquire
What would be its effects as a passport to office ?
1. In the first place
it would shut out atheists from the
Legislature of the country.
2. It would exclude from power all immoral or ungodly persons.
3. Such recognition would show that the profession of religion is not
incompatible with
nor a disqualification for
the duties of public life.
4. The appointment was on Scriptural lines. It was strikingly in
accord with the advice of Jethro to Moses: “Moreover
thou shalt provide out of all
the people able men
such as fear God
men of truth hating covetousness
and
place such over them to be rulers of thousands
and rulers of hundreds
rulers
of fifties
and rulers of tens.” (T. Robson.)
Eminent of character
It is not the first thousand feet
but the last
that gives a
mountain its name and fame. There is not a vast difference
for example
between Monte Rosa and Mont Blanc
but the latter is celebrated owing to those
few extra feet. It is not so much ability
or learning
or diligence which
differentiates Christian men as nearness to heaven and God. Those few extra
hours spent in prayer
the additional steps of approach to Christ--these raise
above the level of average piety and impart sanctity to the character. (Sunday
Companion.)
Religious sentiment the most refining
It is the property of the religious sentiment to be the most
refining of all influences. No external advantages
no good birth or breeding
no culture of the taste
no habit of command
no association with the
elegant--even no depth of affection that does not rise to a religious
sentiment--can bestow that delicacy and grandeur of bearing which belong only
to a mind accustomed to celestial conversation. (R. W. Emerson.)
Men loyal to God
Martin Luther used to say
“God needs strong men as much as
strong men need God
” and it was true. Let men seek to escape from the
responsibilities of labour and law
and the freedom won by patriots and martyrs
would soon fall
superstition would soon reassert its sway
and passions would
leap forth again which would throw civilisation back into barbarism. If the
Apostles had trusted the men of their age there would have been no true
Christianity. If John Knox and others had trusted to such there would have been
no Reformation. Let them bestir themselves in every noble way. They could each
at least
give to God one life that was true and faithful
one loyal to the
core to truth and duty. It was not enough to contribute their criticism
they
must contribute themselves--be willing to perish that others might live. That
was what was meant by Christianity. (John Hunter.)
Coherence in character
What is the cause which makes one life so full to us while another
has no meaning? What is it that constitutes the articulateness or the
inarticulateness
the significance or the insignificance
of human lives? One
very simple thing--coherence
that is all. The reason why these letters spell
something is because they cohere together according to a certain law
and
express something. The reason why these notes are sweet and inspiring to your
ear is because they blend together according to the codes of harmony. And so
are human lives bound together by something which brings coherence and
signifiestion
harmony and force. Look at the lives which strike us; look at
the imperious and imperial personalities amongst us. What made Bismarck such as
he was? Coherence--one purpose! The difference between a life which is insignificant
lies precisely in the word “coherence.” Why was Newton great? Why
because
Newton
like all great men
said
“This one thing I do
” and he forgot his food
in the earnest contemplation and pursuit of science. It is coherence which
makes greatness in life. (Bp. Boyd Carpenter.)
Every one in his watch:--
Every one in his watch
This book may almost be called the Book of the Busy Man
telling
as it does of the multifarious duties and responsibilities of one who acted as
governor of the Jewish people in a very difficult and anxious time
and who had
the rare and excellent faculty of leading every one else to work also. The
picture which this book presents is almost that of a beehive
the murmur of
whose work rises from every page. It is in entire sympathy with the general
strain and tenor of the book that our text speaks when it shows us “every one
in his watch.” Consider--
I. The individual
dealing of God with us--“every one in his watch.” We often resist the thought
of having to do individually with God; it becomes too solemn
too oppressive
too terrible for a soul that is not reconciled to Him. This is partly at the
root of the preference which many have for the Church life rather than the
individual life
for the idea of the multitude in which we may hide rather than
that of solitude in which we must be seen. There is much in which we can have
no companionship. We are born alone ; every great disease or pain finds us in
the deep places of a loneliness which none can share with us ; and it is in
utter solitude that each of us dies. In all such cases it is individual dealing
between the Lord and us. We never come right
we never come to the Pardoner of
sin
or the trust of daily life
or real work for Christ
till we have had the
individual dealing with God which brings us into the position of those whom God
has accepted for Christ's sake
and for whom henceforth He will provide.
II. The text is
also universal in its reach. Every man means all men
which gives us the
thought that there is a post for every man which God has appointed for him.
III. The work of the
Christian may be regarded as military service. In this aspect of life three
things are required.
1. Strict discipline.
2. Instant obedience.
3. Perfect obedience.
IV. The part of
military service which falls to us all is sentinel duty.
V. The object of
the watch which is laid upon every Christian.
1. It is a watch against attack.
2. It is a watch for reinforcement and succour. (T. Elder Cumming.)
And they had two hundred forty and five singing men and singing
women.
Church music
The captives in the text had music left in them
and if they could
find
amid all their trials
two hundred and forty and five singing men and
singing women
then in this day of gospel sunlight and freedom from all
persecution there ought to be a great multitude of men and women willing to
sing the praises of God. All our churches need arousal on this subject. Those
who can sing must throw their souls into the exercise
and those who cannot
sing must learn how
and it shall be heart to heart
voice to voice
and the
music shall swell jubilant with thanksgiving and tremulous with pardon. Have
you ever noticed the construction of the human throat as indicative of what God
means us to do with it ? In only an ordinary throat and lungs there are
fourteen direct muscles that produce 16
888 sounds
and thirty indirect muscles
that produce 173
741
828 sounds
and the human voice can produce seventeen
trillion
five hundred and ninety-two billion
one hundred and eighty-six
million
forty-four thousand
four hundred and fifteen different sounds. What
does that mean? It means that you should sing! Do you suppose that God
who
gives us such a musical instrument as that
intends us to keep it shut? Suppose
some great tyrant should get possession of the musical instruments of the
world
and should lock up the organ of Westminster Abbey
and the organ of
Lucerne
and the organ at Haarlem
and the organ at Freiburg
and all the other
great musical instruments of the world--you would call such a man as that a
monster; and yet you are more wicked if
with the human voice--a musical
instrument of more wonderful adaptation than all the musical instruments that
man ever created--you shut it against the praise of God.
I. Music seems to
have been born in the soul of the world. The omnipotent voice with which God
commanded the world into being seems to linger yet with its majesty and
sweetness
and you hear it in the grain-field
in the swoop of the wind amid
the mountain fastnesses
in canary's warble and in thunder-shock
in brook's
tinkle and in ocean's paean. There are soft cadences in nature
and loud notes
some of which we cannot hear at all
and others are so terrific that we cannot
appreciate them. The animalcules have their music
and the spicula of hay and
the globule of water are as certainly resonant with the voice of God as the
highest heavens in which the armies of the redeemed celebrate their victories.
When the breath of the flower strikes the air and the wing of the firefly
cleaves it
there is sound and there is melody ; and as to those utterances of
nature which seem harsh and overwhelming
it is as when you stand in the midst
of a great orchestra
and the sound almost rends your ear because you are too
near to catch the blending Of the music.
II. Music seems
dependent on the laws of acoustics and mathematics
and yet where these laws
are not understood at all the art is practised There are to-day five hundred
musical journals in China. Two thousand years before Christ the Egyptians
practised this art. Pythagoras learned it. Lasus
of Hermione
wrote essays on
it. Plato and Aristotle introduced it into their schools; but I have not much
interest in that. My chief interest is in the music of the Bible. The Bible
like a great harp with innumerable strings
swept by the fingers of
inspiration
trembles with it. So far back as the fourth chapter of Genesis you
find the first organist and harper--Jubal. So far back as the thirty-first
chapter of Genesis you find the first choir. All up and down the Bible you find
sacred music--at weddings
at inaugurations
at the treading of the wine-press.
The Hebrews understood how to make musical signs above the musical text. When
the Jews came from their distant homes to the great festivals at Jerusalem they
brought harp and timbrel and trumpet
and poured along the great Judaean
highways a river of harmony
until in and around the temple the wealth of a
nation’s song and gladness had accumulated. All through the ages there has been
great attention paid to sacred music. Ambrosius
Augustine
Gregory the Great
Charlemagne
gave it their mighty influence
and in our day the best musical
genius is throwing itself on the altars of God. Handel
and Mozart
and Bach
and Durante
and Wolf
and scores of other men and women have given the best
part of their genius to Church music. A truth in words is not half so mighty as
a truth in song. Luther’s sermons have been forgotten
but the “Judgment Hymn”
he composed is resounding yet all through Christendom.
III. While there may
be great varieties of opinion in regard to music
it seems to me that the
general spirit of the word of God indicates what ought to be the great
characteristics.
1. A prominent characteristic ought to be adaptiveness. Music that
may be appropriate for a concert-hall or the opera-house or the drawing-room
may be shocking in church. Glees
madrigals
ballads may be as innocent as
psalms in their places. There is no reason why music should always be religious
music. So I am in favour of concert-halls as well as churches. But church music
has only one design
and that is devotion
and that which comes with the toss
the song
and the display of an opera-house is a hindrance to the worship. From
such performances we go away saying
“What splendid execution! Did you ever
hear such a soprano? Which of those solos did you like the better?” When
if we
had been rightly wrought upon
we would have gone away saying
“Oh! how my soul
was lifted up in the presence of God while they were staging the first hymn; I
never had such rapturous views of Jesus Christ as my Saviour as when they were
singing that last doxology.” There is an everlasting distinction between music
as an art and music as a help to devotion. Though a Schumann composed it
though a Mozart played it
though a Sontag sang it
away with it if it does not
make the heart better and honour Christ.
2. Correctness ought to be a characteristic of church music. God loves
harmony
and we ought to love it. There is no devotion in a howl or yelp.
3. Another characteristic must be spirit and life. Music ought to
rush from the audience like the water from a rock--clear
bright
sparkling. If
all the other part of the church service is dull
do not have the music dull.
With so many thrilling things to sing about
away with all drawling and
stupidity. Let our song be like an acclamation of victory. You have a right to
sing. Do not surrender your prerogative. If
in the performance of your duty
or the attempt at it
you should lose your place in the musical scale and be on
C below when you ought to be on C above
or you should come in half a bar
behind
we will excuse you. Still
it is better to do as Paul says
and sing
“with the spirit
and the understanding also.”
4. Again
I remark
church music must be congregational. This
opportunity must be brought down within the range of the whole audience. A song
that the worshippers cannot sing is of no more use to them than a sermon in
Choctaw. Let us wake up to this duty. Let us sing alone
sing in our families
sing in our schools
sing in our churches. I never shall forget hearing a
Frenchman singing the “Marseillaise Hymn” on the Champs Elysees
Paris
just
before the battle of Sedan. I never saw such enthusiasm before or since. As he
sang that national air
oh I how the Frenchmen shouted. Have you ever in an
English assemblage heard a band play “God Save the Queen”? If you have
you
know something about the enthusiasm of a national air. Now
I tell you that
these songs we sing Sabbath by Sabbath are the national airs of Jesus Christ
and of the kingdom of heaven
and if you do not learn to sing them here
how do you ever expect to
sing the song of Moses and the Lamb? (T. De Witt Talmage.)
And that which the rest of the people gave.
The rest of the people gave
It is a great misfortune when any Christian effort is supported by
the contributions of the few and not of the many. All should be encouraged to
contribute so far as they are able. Workers
too
should
as their means admit
of
subscribe towards the expenses of work. “What people pay for they will pray
for
and what they pray for they will pay for.” (W. P. Lockhart.)
──《The Biblical Illustrator》