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THE SERYIOE OF ?IU1SE,

A SEEMON

irtai^tb in f agattc^tta Bixtd mm gtesbiitcnan €\}m\i

MONTREAL,

BY THE JUNIOR :=ASTOR.

J. MONEO GJBSOX. B, A

PUBLISHED BY REQUEST,

JOHN C BErKBT. fHINTER •?! GREAT Sr. JAMKS ^TRClil',

lapn

The rcriuest of the Session of Erekine Church for the publication of
this discourse is complied with, not from any supposed merit in the produc-
tion itself, but SOLELY in the hope that it may contribute in some measure to
direct the attention of the Church to a much neglected subject.

J. M. G.

■

wm mmim m iPR&iiiE.

Jlioation of
the produc-
measure to

J. M. G,

Tl.crc ar.r t«o ,'rcat rcuHons why we ou-^ht tu worship Co.L
fir.l,bcc.usc it iB honouring to God 1 [im.df ; ad scconaiy because r
is u cful to n.an. Of tbc«e two ,rcat reason., t],c first . the greater
inasmuch an the honour of God is in itself more uniKutun and ought
also to appear more in.portant In our cyo.than tLoadvantagcof m n
But so great is our natural selfinhnes. that wo arc apt to .nvc t ho
order and to be n.ore eonccrucd about our ow.i advantage than the
Divine honour. Lotus put it to our solve What is our pru.cpa
objeet in eoming to the house of God ? T. it no^ that we niay b
.diaed. that we n.ay be instrueted, that w( may be .la-rod up t
we may receive blessing from the Lord I Now that is a mos w oitlj.>
object indeed. Would to God that all professed worshippers had i in
view. But it is not the nuiin objeet. At all events it is not he hrst
nbiect. We go to the sanctuary to .mr^hip the Lord It is true
that the worship of Gc d will be a service most profitable for ourselves ,
but then it is the honour of God and not our own profit ha should
stand out as the primary objeet in view. And it is impor ant to bea
in mind that it is by eontempluting chiefly the honourot God that

wc shall most certainly and fully secure our ^'^^'^^J^^^^f ""^T.
n,ent. We may rest assured that the less wc think ot our»eUes
and the more we think of God in our religious ^^^^'"^'^"[^
profitable as well as delightful will they be. It is indeed the p to
a good Christian to have due regard lor his true interests, but it is no
the part ofa good Christian to regard even his highest, his eternal
iutere8t8.to the exclusion, or even to the subordination ot the glory
of God.

The self-regardful spirit, of which we speak, may bo seen in the
romparative importance wc attach to those parts of worship which bring
into prominence the one object or the other-thc honour of God or

1 I

the profit of man. Compare for example the relative importance
which IS attached to the psalmody and to the preaching of the
>rord. The sinking of Psalms is of the highest advantage indeed
10 ourselves, but it aims more directly at the honour of God.
The preaching vf the word is honouring to Ood, lut it aims
more directly at the good of man. Now if there is to be any prefer^
onceoftlie one over the other, it should surely be for that which
aims more directly at the honour of God. Yet the reverse is the almost
universal estimate. How many are there, who, if only they hear an
instructive or improving or refreshing sermon, when tKey attend the
house of God, are quite contented, and are comparatively indifferent
whether the singing have been hearty or heartless,~good, bad or in
different. It is well, very well, that such should be anxious for their
own spiritual improvement ; but it ib not well that they should be so
indifferent about the linnour of God. We have much need then to
be reminded of our great duty to " worship the Lord in the beauty
of hoimess " ■ and we need not wonder that, while in this Psalm there
IS reference to the duties of prayer and of the hearing of the word to
both of which we are earnestly summoned, yet the first place should
be given to the duty of singing the praise of God, and that we should
be invited with peculiar earnestness to join with spirit in this deli.^htful
exercise : » come let us sing unto the Lord : let us make a ioyful
noise to the Eock of our Salvation. Let u« co..c before His presence
with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto Him with Psalmg".
In furtherconsidering this subject we would desire, first, to cdl
attention to the Ihct that God has given us the faculty of consciously
praising Ilim, or (as we may be permitted to call it) the faculty of
conscious praise ; that the possession of this faculty is in fact our
highest dignity, and that i^s exercise is our highest joy.

God has given us the faculty of conscious praise. All thincs
were made for the glory of God. All His works shew forth hIs
praise. Many p.aise Him silently; yet with surpassing eloqu-
ence, i The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament
sheweth His handiwork"-Sun, moon, and stars all utter His praise.

"What though in solemn silence all

Move round this dark terrestial ball—

What, though no real voice, nor sound

Amidst their radiant orbs be found -

niportancc
ing of the
age indeed
r of God.
t it aims
my prefer-
bat which
the almost
7 hear an
attend the
indifferent
)ad, or in-
! for their
)uld be 80
d then to
le beauty
ialm there
5 word, to
;e should
ive should
ileh'ghtful
3 a joyful
' presence
Psalms".

t, to call

nsciouslj

iculty of

fact our

'11 things
>rth His
g cloqu-
rmament
is praise,

In reason's ear they all rejoice,
And utter forth a glorious voice,
For ever singing, as they shine :
' The hand thai made us is Divine.'"

But nature's praise is not all silent praise. There is the rush-
ing of the river, and the roaring of the waterfall ; the surging d the
waves, and the beating of the surf; the eighing of the wmd, the
howling of the tempc.t, the rolling of the thunder. All these are
lifeless nature's voices praising God. To these are added he
voices of living things : the hum of the insect, the song ot the
bird, the roaring of the beast of prey. Such is the praise whic.i
arises to God continually from the works of His hands.

But between these lower creatures and man there is " a great
gulf fixed." Man was made in the image of God, with power to .
know God and love Him, to speak to Him, and call Hun Father-
He was made with dominion over the creatures. The beauty ot na-
ture was made for him ; her song of praise was made to fill his car -^
The lower creatures were made to catch and reflect into the sou ot
man the rays of the glory of God, which should there be collected as
in a focus, and thence burst forth in a flood of praise to Him who made
these lower creatures, and gave to man the wondrous power ol in-
terpretiim their language and setting to music their song, iheir
praise isdl unconscious ; that of man is conscious praise. 1 hoy
all do sinir; but man alone can <'.'iing unto the Lord."

And this faculty is the crown of man's dignity : it is his true
glory. Man has a series of wondrous faculties rising one above an-
other like steps from nature up to God. There is the faculty of sensa-
tion, confined within the material frame-work of the body; the
wondrous faculty of perception, which brings outside things wilhm
the circle of our being, and, so to speak, incorporates them with our
life ; the still more wondrous faculty of imagination, which seems to
overleap the boundaries of time and space ; the power of remembering,
of judging, of reasoning, of discerning our fellow-spirits and ming-
ling with them in the interchange of thought and feeling. These are
some of the noble faculties with which our Creator has endowed us;
but nobler than them all, and better than them all, i- the power ot
knowing, and loving, and addressing God.

Communion with God is our noblest prerogative, and of that com-

luunion praise i.s tho crown. There are three step.H here, and pruist

is the highest. There is, fir.-t, meilitation. It is much, very much,

to be able to approhend God, to think about Ilim, to dwell upon tin

attributes of His eharacter and the munilestutions of If is glory. Tht

next step is prayer. It springs from a recognition of II is relation to us

We call Ilim Father, and send up to ITim a cry for help. Then come.-

the answer to the jjrayer, and wc know that Cod is noar to us, that we

are near to (Jod ; wc feci tliat lie has blessed us, and we no longer

stand afar oil' and cry to Him as" from the end of the earth," but,

boine upwards on the wings of faitli and love and holy gratitude

we lift our souls to God in a song of pruine, — we rise above the things

uf time and sense, and hold liigh eonimunion with the Eternal, and

■• worship the Invi!-il)lo alone." And the whole soul is thrilled witli

u heavenly joy. The joy is indescribable. Those only know it whu

have felt it. " Though now we see Ilim not, yet bolioving we

rejoice with joy uns[((.'ak;ibl(> .•iiul full ol'glnry." ■' In His presence

is fulness of joy."

When we think of all tiiis we will not wundcr that the I'salmist
should speak of this noble laeulty of praise as /(('*• (jlonj. That i-
his name for it : " my (jlory.^' " Tliou hast turned for nie my mournini'
into dancing. Thou hast put off my sackcloth, and girded me witii
gladness to the end that nu/ glory may sing praise to Thee and not bi'
silent." " Awake up, myyhri/" (the faculty of praise) " awake psalter)'
and harp," (the instruments of praise.) *' God, my heart is tixed, 1
will sing and give praise cvi^n with ?ny glory." *' ^fy heart is glad,
and my glory rejoiceth."

►Seeing then that God has given us the faculty of conscious
praise, and that the possession of this laeulty is our crowning glory
and its exorcise our highest joy, it is appropriate that we proceed in
the second place, to consider Oic duty of cultlratlng it.

fii proceeding to consider the duty of cultivating the faculty of
prais?, we shall iind it convenient first to give a brief analysis of tht;
exercise. It is }):vscd on knowledge ; it is educed by meditation ,
it consists of feeling and expression. To illustrate : conceive of
praise as a plant. Knowledge is the soil in which it grows ; medita
lion is the root from which it springs ; feeling is the life with whioli
it is animated, and ^ouikI the form in which it is invostod. Ox conccivo

joy-

hero, and pruist
lich, very nmcli,
(Jwoll upon tin
fis^lory. T\u
is relation to us
3. Then coint'.-
r to us, that we
.1 wo uo longer
the earth," but,
lioly grutitudf,
bovc the thingi
ic Eternal, and
is thrilled with
ly know it whu
t bolioving we
His presence

it tiie I'sulmist
'luri/. That i"
\c my uiournin;'
rirdod me witii
'hee and not be
' awake psalterj
heart is tixed, 1
heart is glad,

J of COQSClOUd

irowning glory
we proceed in
t.

the faculty of
analysis of the
ly meditation ,
e : conceive of
;rows ; medita
ife with whicli
d. Or conceive

„,-p„U».,uui.ccn,c offori,,,. Knowledge -m^^^^^'^^;^
Boaitalio,, ignite, then. Mins U the Bro,»na ,o«n.l .. the n,cu„..
It i, „n„.ccs».ry.o .ak« up time in ,.r„vi„« ..l.»t '••"'"*'j;-;
,eo«,.ry a. u b»si». If « had no knowM,. of -; ^^^ J^^^;.
wc couU not aJunro tham ; if wchad no knowl.J. oi ^°^ '' "
Hisclaaracter and attribute,, w. could not ador. Il,m. 1^"»" »" °
God l\,on i. indi.pon.al,lc a, a lo.njatiou on «h,oU to bu.ld th,,
temple of praise.

But knowlod,o i, not cnou;,!.. Thoro must aUo b« "'f ■"«";
:Thcre arc n,„n, ,l>in,, »hicU we know and yet o not tbnk abon , u
„bicbcase our knowledge is of no praet.eal use. ^^ I"-"" " "";
■wouM n,ake our knowledge available, the n.ind must turn to u, nd
accordingly, when by means of our knowle :.e of (>od we w,s^. .0 dr»
near to Him, we must dwell on what we know of llnu, and as wo _
think there will spring- up in the heart, in that loftiest rcg.on of our
irure which ,be Psilmist calls his «lory, those varied en.otrons
which form the life, the soul of praise.

This leads us to the third, the central requisite, viz . f'-cUny
emotion. This is the essence, the kernel, the spirit, the life o
praise. The feelings may be of ^^aried kinds, accordmg to the aspec
of the character or the nature of the works of Ood wb.ch may be
present at the time to the thoughts. The emotions wh.ch w 1 main y
enter into the exercise will be those of reverence, gratitude, love and

joy.

We come now to the last requisite, viz: ^.rp€Ss/o»._ Thi.s is

not the essence, but it is essential. It is not the life, but it is the form.
It is not the spirit, but it is the body. And though the li o ol a
plant is more than its form, yet its form is not to be despised ; and
though the spirit of a man is nobler than his body, yet the body is
very necessary indeed to those who dwell on this terrestial ball.
Man's religion is suited to his nature. It is not a religion tor the
body only, as many would seem to wish. It is not a religion for the
spirit only, as many wrongly imagine. It is for both. And as is the
whole, so is the part. As is our religion, so is our worship. It is
not mere bodily service. That would profit nothing. It is not mere
spiritual service. That would be quite uusuitod to our present state.
It is a service which lays claim to both body and spirit. We arc to

present our bo'lies a living gacriCcc. Our bodies are to bo " temples
of the Holy Ghost," and our niembora yielded "as instruments ol'
rii;hteousnc,'-s unto God." Wc are to <^lorify God with our bodies,
and with our f^pirits which are Ilis.

There are uianj who imagine that there id an antagonism
between lurm and life, between body and spirit. They imagine
I'urther that the Mosaic and Christian dispensations are strictly op-
posed to each other : the former being an economy of form, the latter
an economy of. «pirit. It is u great mistake. Thero was spirit as
well as furm in tho old dispcnaation ; there is form as well as spirit
in the new. Did those who speak of the Mosaic economy as a dis
pen^-ation of forms ever read the Psalms of David ? Is there any
lack of life, any want of s»j)irit there? Did those who say that the
Christiitn economy is an economy of spirit without form ever consider
that it is utterly impossible for us in our present state to unite in a
sinj^le net of worship without Ibrm ? The only difference is that the
Christian forms are uiainly, thougli not exclusively, addressed to the
ear, while the Jewish forms were mainly, though not erclusively,
addressed to the eye.

So long as wo have bodies as well as spirits, our acts of worship
must have body as well as spirit. In the disembodied state, when
these fleshly forms of ours are mouldering into dust, wc may be able
to present to God a purely spiritutd worship, to offer purely spiritual
praise. IJut think you that this would bo tho perfection of praise]
Such praise would be imperfect, simply for want of form. It will
only be after these bodies shall have been raised again in incor-
ruption and glory Mnd power, and these voices shall have been tuned
:o tho anthems of the ,-kios, that wc shall be able fitly and fully to
join the song of Closes and the Lamb. While then it is true that
the more of spirit there is in our praise the better, it is not true that
the less of body there is in it the better. Let us not then be content
to offer unto God di.^endjodied worship — the mere ghost of praise,
Lot our feelings have expression. Let our love burst forth in song.
Let us offer the " the fruit of our lips ', when we give thanks to His
name. Even in our solitary acts of devotion it is far belter that our
feelings sliould find expression. But wJien we unite in worshipping
God, it is abi-olutely nec<!--ary that our worship should have a form,

bo " temples
iitruinents of
I our bodies,

antagonistu
liey imagine
e strictly op
m, the latter
ras spirit as
'c\\ as spirit
)y as a (lis
3 there any
say that the
ever consider
to unite in a
e is that the
•esscd to the

delusively,

s of worship
state, when
may be able
ely spiritual
1 of praise]
rm. It will
in in incor-
been tuned
Jind fully to
3 true that
ot true that
n be content
st of praise,
rth in song.
Kinks to His
.ter that our
worshipping
iijive a form,

a body, a voice: " come lot us sing unlo th« Lord , let us make a
joyful noUe to the Rock of our Salvation. Let us con.o before IIh
presonce will. thaukH^ivin- and uuk.' a jnylul noise to IIkh with
Psalms.''

We arc now perhaps bolter prepared fur .IcGnitt-ly considering
theduty {.fcultivatiii;,' and cxcrcisin- the noble faculty of prai>^e
with which our God and Father has endowed us. Wo have seer.
that its antecedents are haoiduhje and mnUtation. and its constituents
feeling and txprcsalon.

The first thing we have to do then is to " acquaint ourselves with
God." It is utterly imposslule for a man that is not acqu:unted with
God to sing unto God. We are all in our natural state ignorant of
God. True, we hear uf him '■ by the hearing of the ear" ; but that in
not acquaintance. The eye, the eye of the soul, must see Ilim. el^-c
we cannot know Ilim. We must draw near to Him,— so near that wc
can look on Ilim. And this we can do only through (Mni.t. " No
man cometh unto the Father, but by uk;". •' No man knowi th the
Father save the Son, and he to whouisoevor the Son will n veal Him."
If then there bo any here who have not come to the Saviour, who
are not justified by His blood, and (luickonod by His Spiiit, they know
not what it is to sing unto the Lord . T hat noble part of their nature
which is spoken of in the Book of F.^alms as the glory of man is
dead. They have no experience of that heavenly joy which fills the
heart of the devout worshippur as he adores the Kternal God v\: Jiove.
that they knew what tli(7 missed in thua shutting themselves out
from a glory and a joy which is far beyond any thing that eye lias
seen, or ear heard, or natural heart compassed, but which yet is
revealed to those that are in Christ Jesus by the Spirit of Grace. li'
there be any such here, we would earnestly cohort them, if it were for
nothing else than the dignity and delight of praising God, to harden
their hearts no longer, but listen to His voice, and eume to the
Saviour, that they may uc(|uaint thfMn3elvt^^^ with God. " ta.-^te and
see that God is good.''

Further, as without the knowledge of God we cannot praise Him
at all, 80 the more we know of Him, the better and the more delight
ful will be our praise. We fear there may be not a few of those who have
come to the Saviour, who do know their Father in }ieaven,and love

II im ill a measure tuo, who yet have little experience of the joy of
praise. It is bociiuse they arc contcutotl with snmll knowledgo and
raiall cxpcrioTice, If wo would desire to iiave a ricli, full experience
of the joy of praise, we must not be continually '' laying again the
foundation of repentance from dead works and faith toward God"—
we must " leave the first principles of the doctrine of Clu'ist, and
goon unto perfection'': p.-^rfection of knowledge, whence only can
spring perfection of praise.

We pass no.vf from knowledge to feding. What we have to say
of meditation will come most conveniently under this head, for med-
itation is the nurse of feeling. It is when we muse that the fire
burns. We have seen that feeling is the life, the soul, the essence of
praise. Without it the most melodious strains and harmonious sym-
phonies are " as sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal^" while with it
even discordant sounds have some soul music in them. Without it
the sweetest music is " abomination to the Lord"; with it the rudest
song of praise from the most untutored voices is a sacrifice which He
will graciously accept, notwithstanding the imperfection of the form,
even though that imperfection should not be, as it seldom is, quite
inexcusable. We trust there are few, if any of us, who off^er nothing
to the Lord but hollow sounds. We trust that all of us do feel in
some measure as we sing. But I am sure we must confess that vfQ do
not fool as wo ought, [f we did, our singing would not be so cold and
dull and lifeless as it often is. Wo speak not now of its musical
merits or defects, but simply of the spirit with which we sing. There
inay be indeed not a little of the spirit of penitence; but there is not
80 much evidence as there should be of the spirit of gratitude and
love and joy. And yet these latter ought to be the prevailing emotions.
Observe the form of the invitation : " come, let us sing unto the
Lord : lot us make aJoi//ul noise to the Kock of our Salvation. Let
us come before ITis presence with thanksgiving and make a ./V/!//«/
noise to Hiu) with Psalm:- '.

It is obviously then our duty to cultivate earnestly the spirit of
praise, to foster those feelings which arc its life. And how are these
to be developed ami called forth? Primarily certainly by the
influence of the Holy Spirit. Let us look to Ilini for aid. Let us present
the favor - " Lord open Thou my lips ; and my mouth shall shew

the joy of
iwledgo and
1 experienct;
ig again the
ak God"—
Clnist, and
ce only can

! have to say
ad, for med-
hiat the fire
le essence of
lonious sym-
'hlle with it
Without it
it the rudest
cc which He
of the form,
.oni is, quite
ofler nothing
us do feel in
5S that wa do
?e so cold and
F its musical
sing. There
t there is not
;ratitude and
ing emotions,
iing unto the
Ivation. Let
ukf! a joyful

the spirit of
how are these;
:ainly by the
Let us present
nth shall shew

ib,th Thy praise.- Secondarily however by n.ditation. Ourthoughts
nre too Utle occupied with the subjects of our .ongs. ^\ e ought o
ndavur before coming to the house ofGod to call tomemorymour
irwnreaLent thegreartbings the Lord hath done for us, .n order
that when w.. come into Ills courts wo -^^^^ ^- V^^^^f ^"^ ^
hearts to " sing unto the Lord," to - nu.ke a joytul no.e to th Uo k
# of our Salvation." And then Hpeelally alter we Ime entered t
sanctuary, our thought, should beaded on God and is wond.ou
works. We ought to be able to say wuh David : " God, my heart
,s fixed, mv heart is fixed: 1 will sing and give prai.e. Aw.iVe up
■ .ny.lor^"^ Yet Is it not the case that we often bestow no attention on
thisfe of the thoughts on God? is it not the case that we often
eontinue'Ustless until the psalm is glvon out, and then coatmue
listless all through the reading of it (which by the way is generally
looked on as a ve.7 unnecessary part of the service, mstead ofb(nng
hailed as a valuable opportunity of filling the mmd with tne subject
of the son-O, an.l never attempt to fix our heart or to awake our glory
until the first note of the melody h.s been struck, llretnren, tins
omdit not so to be. Let us lay aside our languor , hi us summon up
our mental energies : let us lift up our s.aU m ( W\. - O co.>>e, let us
sin^. unto the I-ord : l.t ms n>.k.- a joyful noise to ih. Km;. .> our
t^alvation."

Wecome uunv lo llu l..t point, viz. : r,in-c.sU>u,^mih de.p r.grel
that so little time is left t\)r the consideration of so imiK.rtant a pari
of the sul^oct : important not so n.ueh in itself (f^^r it h iar lo.s ,m
portantthan that which we last considered), but..ecidentally important
on account of its general and shameful neglect by the Ihnstians ot
„ur a..^ and country. We have seen that it i. our duly to cultivate
feelin.^ by meditation. It Is just as surely our duty to eult.vate e»
pressi^n by practice. We are re^pon^il 1e lor ihc use of .11 the powers
which Goi has given us, and specially lor tl.^e wlueu are given us to
be emploved in his wcu-ship. Now God has given us the f.eul ty o,
praise-not only the power to feel,but the power to express our leeli ng.,
the power to .huf unto the Lord. This faculty we hold to 1.. univer
sal universal, that i., in the sense in which the power of speeni .s urn
vei-al There are a few deaf mutes; and tlu'v are not responsible
for the want of lan-ua-e. There are a f.w who arc; utterly destitute
of musical power ; ^nd the.- are r,ot responsible for their mab.hty to

sing the praise of Cod. But they are very few. True, there are a great
many that cannot sing, just as there would be a great many that could
not speak, if the art of speaking (which is in its nature ten-fold more
difficult) were as much neglected. We may rest assured that inability
to sing in ninety nine cases out of every hundred is the consequence
of sinful neglcct~iir=t on the part of parents, who ought to have
taught their children or had them taught to sing unto the Lord, and
then on the part of auults themselves, inasinuch as they have not
availed themselves of the means within their reach of repairing the
defect iu their eirly training.

There is a great tendency to think too lightly of this matter.
It is not a light matter. Think for a moment how inspiriting and
inspiring, how refreshing and elevating, as well as how honouring to
God would be the song of praise which would rise from this congrega-
tion to-day, if we had all been carefully educated from our early
years for this important part of our religious duty. Or, to put the
matter in a more practical ihape, think what a noble song we should sing
unto the Lord six months hence, if we would all meantime assiduously
cultivate our long neglected faculty of praise. And, be as.sured, the good
effect would not terminate here. If we had better psalmody, we should
have more earnest prayers and belter sermons too. There is too much
of the responsibility of the tone of our worship thrown upon the minis-
ter. There are those in some of our congregations who complain of the
want of fervour in the minister'.^ prayers and of unction in his dis-
courses, who yet never consider how much this may be owing to the
heartlcssness of their praise. This is peculiarly the people's part in
the public fievvice of th:j sanctuary; and it is not to the people's cred-
it, a3 it certainly i^ no^ for 'heir spirituul profit, that it is generally
so poorly pcrrormed.

We must of course not lose sight of the fact that the musical
pun of the exorcise is the less important ; but then it is not unira
J ortant. "A living dog is better than a dead lion "; but then a living
lion IS better still. The music of our service cannot be nclected
with impunity. Its neglect will react most damagingly on the
spiritual port. It will be very hard even for good Christians to make
melody in their hearts when there is discord in their ears. It will be
very hard for the most grateful soul to mako a joyful noise unto the Lord

;re are a greut
ny that could
:en-fold more
that inability
consequeiico
ught to have
he Lord, and
ey have not
repairing (he

this matter.
?piriting and
honouring to
his congrega-
m our early
r, to put the
re should sing
e assiduously
ired, the good
Jy, we should
e is too much
on the minis-
mpluin of the
1 in his dis-
awing to the
)ple'd part in
)Gople's cred-
t is generally

the musical
3 not unira
then a living
be neglected
ngly on the
ians to make
. It will bo
ntothe Lord

when the voices all around are doleful rather than joyful. When we
think of this we sec another ground of obligation for the performance of
the duty wo arc now considering. Wc are responsible for the effect of
our singing on those around usas well as on ourselves. How many are
there who throw a damper over the devotions of tlie whole congre-
gation every Sabbath by their miserable singing, or still more miserable
iilencc. The duty then is one which we owe to our fellow-christiana
as well as to our God and to ourselves. And it is a duty which is
binding on all. " Sing unto Lord, all the earth''. " Let the people
praise Thoe, God ; htall the people praise Thee''.

Let us now close with a word to various classes of professed
worshippers in our Christian congregations.

1st. There arc, it is to be feared, some who do not slug unto
the Lord cither with heart or with voice. Their voices are silent and
their hearts arc s-ilent too. They have neither life nor form, neither
soul nor body of praise. Such verily arc " twice dead, plucked up
by the roots".

2nd. There are tho.^e who sing with the voice, but not with the
heart. Theirs is the form without the life, the body without the
spirit. They may make the sweetest music, but it is only sound—-
noihing more- empty sound. It is the corpse of praise. It may be
a good-looking corpse, a well dressed corpse; but there is no breath
in it. Such service is emphatically bodily service, which proQteth
nothing : nay more, which injureth much; for it is a grievous sin, a
■heartless mockery, an insult to the Majesty on High. May the Lord
keep us innocent of this great tran.sgrossion.

.'Jrd. There arc those who sing with the heart, and not with the
voice. Wo emphasize the word arc, because we think it a very rare
case. If a man have really the spirit of praise, it will be a very
Benous obstacle indeed that will keep him from joining in the song of
praise. It is true that if a man is conscious of very great defect in
tunc, he ought to sing in a subdued tone ; but it i3 only absolute
inability that can justify absolute Rilcncc. There are, however, those
who sing wiih the heart, and not with the voice. These do their
duty ; but only partially. Part oftheir duty they are neglecting~un|es,s
indeed they belong to the very small class of ui'Ksical mutes'; and no
man has a right to assert a claim to be classed with such, until he

has faithfully and pcif«cvcriuu'ly availed hiuisolf of all proper means
to acquire a power so vuluable in itself, and fo delightful ia its
exercise. Let none of us then be content with a partial discharge
of so important a duty ; let there be no silent voices in our con-
gregation when we ofl'cr the sacrifice of praise ; let there be no
listener to our songs of Zion hut the God of Zion Himself.

These words arc not spoken with the idea that as a congregation
we are sinners above all others in this respect. Neither do we think-
that Presbyterians as a Ijody arc so far behind other sections of the
Church in this matter as they are generally supposed to be ; for, though
many others can boast of fliicr music, there are not many where the
praise is more generally diOTuscd among the people. And though fine
music (not certainly in the sense of difficult musio,for the very simplest
is generally the finest) is much to be desired, it is of far less impor-
tance than general singing.

But certain it is that ilic defect and neglect of which we have
'pokcn, arc general, almost universal, in our times. And however wo
may stand in coniparison Midi others, there can be no doubt that
we arc shamefully siicrt of what we ought to be. And let us sec that
wo do not try to shift the blame from ourselves. Let us not ima"-ine
for example that it is the want of organs that makes our psalmody so
poor. An organ may be a help, or it may be a hindrance; but it
certainly canrji ako the place of earnest conscientious effort on the
part of the people. We ^^liould never miss the organ much if we
would only cultivate the organs God has given us for the special
purpose— if we would only educate those voices with which we all are
endowed, and which, we Ir.Iievo, are so distributed according to their
different qualities a.s to bring nut, if all were united in singing th.'
different parts for which C-d has fitted them, full choral harmony.

May the Lord ble:;S us ia all our efforts to qualify ourselves for
His service; and may Ho c\er pour out upon us all, in copious
effusion, those influences of Ilis blessed Spirit without which all onr
efforts would ;:;o for nou-hf, and all our services be vain oblations

ill proper means
lelightful in its
artial disoharge
ces in our con-
let there be no
nsclf.

a congregation
licr do we think
sections of the
be ; for, though
many where the
And though fine
he very simplest
far less impor-

vhich we have
\nd however wo

no doubt that
tl let us sec that

us not imagine
)ur psalmody so
idrance; but it
s effort on the
an much, if wo
Ebr the special
ivhich wo all arc
wording to their
in singing the
oral liarmony.

:'y ourselves for
all, in copious
t which all our
n oblations,