(3) Why should not Jesus sing ? He clearly foresaw the ultimate triumph of truth and goodness. " For the joy that was set before him he endured the cross, despising the shame." He
> D. J. BarreU.
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knew that, whatever rebuffs and reverses there might be, truth and righteousness were sure to triumph in the end.
The eternal step of Progress beats To that great anthem, strong and slow, Which God repeats.
There would be martyr-fires and persecutions, and the souls of the faithful would tremble within them, but His trembled not.
Take heart, the waster builds again; A charmed life old Goodness hath. The tares may perish, but the grain Is not for death.
He knew that through all the vicissitudes of history the irresistible God would sit upon His throne, that everything would be overruled to His ultimate glory. Oh, if we could only perceive this ! If only we had somewhat of the Master's faith !
God works in all things; all obey His first propulsion from the night; Wait thou, and watch, the world is gray With morning light.
2. The Hymn. — The " hymn " here spoken of by Matthew and Mark was probably the second portion of the Hallel. The first part, consisting of Psalms cxiii. and cxiv., was commonly sung before the meal ; and the second part, comprising Psalms cxv. to cxviii., after the fourth cup of wine. The Jews chanted these holy songs at the paschal table as their eucharistic hymn ; and to truly devout souls they were laden with Messianic music.
What a peculiar interest gathers round these particular Psalms, when we remember that they were sung on that memorable night by the human heart and the human lips of Jesus ! And how pregnant with meaning must many of the verses have been both to Himself and the disciples ! JjB5, example : " The sorrows of death compassed me, and the pains of "Tell gat hold upon me : I found trouble and sorrow. Then called I upon the name of the Lord ; 0 Lord, I beseech thee, deliver my soul." " What shall I render unto the Lord for all his benefits toward me ? I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the Lord." Again, " Thou hast thrust Bore at me that I might fall : but the Lord helped me. The
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Lord is my strength and song, and is become my salvation." " The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the comer. This is the Lord's doing ; it is marvellous in our eyes." " God is the Lord, which hath shewed us light : bind the sacrifice with cords, even unto the horns of the altar," *
^ The word " hymn " has a different meaning from " psalm." In the margin we"'*"H'ave " psalm." But according to the highest authorities, from Augustine down to our day, there is a distinct difference — though it is not always easy to define it — between the word translated " psalm " and that translated " hymn," We have those two words and one other word used together in Paul's Epistle to the Colossians and his Epistle to the Ephesians (Col. iii. 16 ; Eph. v. 19) — "psalms and hymns and spiritual songs," or "odes." The Apostle attached a special significance to each of these words. It has been noted as a striking fact that in the Old Testament there is no general Hebrew word for the Psalms ; but the translators of the Old Testament into the Greek, in the Septuagint, in referring to the songs of David and others, use the word "psalm." That word denotes primarily a "touching" or " twanging " ; then the harp ; and, finally, the song that was sung to the accompaniment of the harp or lyre. Hence the word first of all means a " touching," then that which is touched, and then the music which comes out as a result of the touching with the finger or the ancient plectron. Therefore, the word " psalm " denotes any spiritual song that is sung to the accompaniment of an instrument. Then there comes the word " hymn," While the psalm, as Archbishop Trench reminds us, may be a " De profundis," the hymn is always a " Magnificat." It is pre-eminently a song of praise. The ancient Greeks sang hymns of praise of their gods and heroes ; hence apparently the long time that was allowed to pass before the word "hymn" became a familiar one in the Christian Church. The Greeks would naturally understand it to be an ascription of praise to some one other than the true God ; but gradually it gained a prominent place in Christian phraseology. Augustine asserted that a hymn first of all must be a song ; in the second place it must be praise ; and in the third place it must be praise to God. Accepting this definition, a hymn, while it may be a psalm, is a psalm of a particular kind — it is an ascription of praise to God.^
0 to have heard that hymn
Float through the chamber dim,
Float through that "upper room,"
Hushed in the twilight gloom!