Vers. 16-24.-Music and song consecrated to God's service. For traces of singin" in connection with religions ceremonies, see Exod. xv. 21; Judg, v. 1; eh. xiii, 8. It seems to have been cultivated in the "schools of the prophets" (1 Sam. x. 5). From the time of David's appointment of these Levites to this special department. "the services of the tabernacle and the temple were regularly choral, and a con~ siderable section of the Levites was trained in musical knowledae, and set apart to conduct this part of the national worship." Reference may be mtde to the prejudices of the Puritans, the Scotch, and some sections of the older Nonconformists to music and song in Divine worship. Even Christian hymns have sometimes been introduced with difficulty, a~d any _elaboration of the musical part of Divine worship is, even now, often regarded with anxiety. Such facts seem to us strange; but they a.re adequately explained by a wise estimate of the struggles and conflicts through which the Christian Church has passed. The conflict has often been over some non-essential, and even indifferent, matter; but this was only the outward seeming. The conflict really con- cerned vital p1·inciple. The trivial matter over which the tight seemed to wage gained an undue importance thus, and the relics of its fictitious value linger long with conser- vative-toned Christian people. Cultured Christian feeling may be safely left to decide the appropriate and the inappropriate in Church music and song; and no precise standards need be fixed for all clw.ses of the Christian community. Historical associa- tions properly affect the ritual of some. And successive generations of witnesses for the claims of spiritual life over ritual observance caCinot fail to influence the practices of others. Still the development of the heart of music has greatly tended to unite all parties in the full dedication of this gift to the service of the house of the Lord. As this subject has been previously treated, a simple outline may here suffice. L Musrc AND SONG SERVING Goo IN FAMILY SPHERES. It is often made 11, gracious power in the home. The home is a temple, and should always be thought of as a sanctuary of the Lord, to which should be brought the best gifts. IL Musrc AKD SONG SERVING Goo IN SPHERES OF PRIVATE CHRISTIAN WORK. During a recent period of distress in Manchester, some cultivated Christian ladies proved how the otherwise closed doors of the sick and suffering poor could be opened by the attractions of beautiful song. III. Music AND SONG SERVING Goo IN PUBLIC CHURCH SERVICES. Show the impor- tance of choirs in relation to the pathos and the pleasure of Christian worship. IV. Music AND SONG SERVING Goo IN SPECIAL EFFORTS TO PREACH THE GOSPEL TO MASSES. As illustrated in the creation of hymns and tunes for evangelistic services, and in recent revival movements. Plead that the faculties and talents of music and song a.re for the Lord, and that they come under this twofold law: (1) they must be laid on his altar of service; and (2) they must be cultured for efficient use.-R. T. Ver. 29.-lntensity in religi()'fl, is often misunderstood. "One only incident tarnished the brightness of this greatest day of David's life. Michal, his wife, in the proud, we may almost say conservative, spirit of the older dynasty-not without a thought of her father's fallen house-poured forth her contemptuous reproach on the king who had descended to the dances and song of the Levitical procession." There a.re marked differences in the dispositions of men in relation to religion. The colder-natured are apt to regard the impulsive as extravagant; and the warm-hearted and excitable too readily conclude that the quieter-toned people are insincere. Explain the Eastern ecotatic modes of expressing joy. In time of excitement, rhythmical movements, such as dancing, afford great relief. And such clanging of trumpet and cymbals was the very thing to set the company upon dancing. Distinguish the natural movements and gestures of excited feeling from the ordered fashionable dancing with which we are familiar. What lessons may be learned from Micha.I's inability to appreciate David's religious intensity? 1. RELIGION FINDS DIFFERENT RESPONSE IN IlIFFERENT INDIVIDUALS, We must ...ot look fur the same experiences and manifestations in all. Each man's religious ctt. 1v1. 1-43.] THE FIRST BOOK OF THE CHRONICLES. 245
conduct will bear the pla.in impress of his cha.ra.cter a.nd <lisposition. This may be applied to experiences of conversion-time, or the beginnings of the Christia.a life. As a.lso to the forms in which men sta.nd related to public worship a.nd Christian work. If we venture to ma.ke moulds for the necessary Christian life, we must take ea.re that they a.re large a.nd genera.I, with no fine lines of must-be peculiarities in them. Christ gives a new life, and sends each man forth to express it accor<ling to bis own genius and character. II. RELIGION 0AN FIND EXPRESSION THROUGH ALL DISPOSITIONS. So we ma.y not, even in thought, exempt any man from its gracious influence; and we may not be anxious to have the natural dispositions of men changed. Men do not need to be ma.de other than they are. 'l'he all-sufficing change is the inward regeneration, the renewal of the vita.I principle. We need not want to make the channel of the river bend and tum in any other and, as we think, more graceful forms. Our anxiety should concern the purity of the waters flowing down from the fountain-bead, which fill the stream. Preservation of the characteristic disposition is, however, quite con- sistent with a.II due Christian culture, and this ma.y sometimes so bring out to the front the best in men, that they ma.y seem other tha.n they were. III. CHRISTIAN CHARITY FINDS A FREE SPHERE FOR EVERY MAN. Just in this Micha.I failed. She bad not charity enough to give David credit for the sincerity which would have clothed his act with dignity. A man's ways ma.y not be our ways, may not even be such as we can approve; but it should suffice for us if we can see in them the signs of genuine religious life and feeling. Then we may wish him " God- speed." Application of a practical character may be carefully made to those more enthusi- astic and excited phases of religious life aud association which are so marked a feature of nineteenth-centur:v Christianity. From the calmer, colder point of view, such as Michal would take, there may seem in all these only a perilous fanaticism. The charity that "hopeth all things" may at least enable us to say, in the spirit of our Lord, "Forbid them not, for they that are not against him are on his part." And his kingdom has its on-coming in wondrous ways; no man knoweth how.-H. T.