1 Chronicles 25:7 So the number of them, with their brothers that were instructed in the songs of the LORD, even all that were cunning… It was according to the king's order that schools of psalmody were appointed in connection with Levitical ministrations. He was himself fitted by temperament, by genius, by piety, by proficiency in art, to found such schools, and to give them an impulse and inspiration. In the skill and system with which he gave himself to this work, he showed his far-sighted wisdom. For out of his labour and care sprang, directly, all Hebrew minstrelsy of later times, and, indirectly, in no small measure, all Christian psalmody. I. THE SPIRITUAL SUBSTANCE OF PSALMODY. If the singing of hymns, the chanting of psalms, the vocal rendering of carols, canticles, and anthems, be mere musical exercise and enjoyment, it is no psalmody in God's ear. In acceptable praise the heart is the all-essential element. David felt this when he exclaimed, "Sing ye praises with understanding;" and Paul when he admonished Christians to "make melody with their heart unto the Lord." II. THE METRICAL AND MUSICAL FORM OF PSALMODY. The utterance of praise may be spontaneous. But if it is to be social, such as many may join in, it must be prepared. Thanksgiving, when it assumes a permanent shape and finds a social utterance, must come under the control of the rules of art. Metrical language and melody and harmony thus became the body of which adoration and gratitude, confidence and love, are the soul. We see an illustration of these principles in the sacred minstrelsy of David. He composed devout and spiritual odes, and directed that these should be sung by trained choirs to the accompaniment of instrumental music. However different may be the language and the music of our social praise, we cannot dispense with art. The choice in psalmody does not lie between spontaneity and art, but between bad art and good. Hence the perpetual importance of what is called in the text "instruction in the songs of the Lord." There must be teaching and teachers, labour and skill, adaptation to persons and seasons - all alike penetrated by the spirit of true devotion. CONCLUSION 1. The importance of a due attention to "the service of song in the house of the Lord." 2. The danger, on the one hand, of carelessness and slovenliness, which spring from and conduce to irreverence; and, on the other hand, of losing the spirit in exaggerating the importance of the form. 3. The desirableness of cultivating a devout and grateful spirit towards him who "inhabiteth the praises of Israel," and who receives the unceasing adoration of the heavenly hosts. - T. Parallel Verses KJV: So the number of them, with their brethren that were instructed in the songs of the LORD, even all that were cunning, was two hundred fourscore and eight. |
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