Septuagint tro.nelo.tee n::19~ ni~)ll by the of Bertheau, too artificial by far to be words 1<lvl1povs it/J11µ.ep,wv. defensible except as a theory that would Vers. 9-31.-List of the choirs in the indeed work out the result. He suggests order in which their lots came. The formula, that the modus operandi was by two urns, his sons, and his brothren, which follows one for the first seven odd numbers into twenty-two out of the twenty-four leo.ders' which were put the names of Asaph'; four names which now come before us, is o.beent sons and of the second, third, and fourth of from ver. 9, where we should ho.ve looked Heman ; the other for the first seven even for it, viz. after the name loeeph. It has numbers, into which were put the six sons been supposed that this is a mere omission of Jeduthun and the first of Heman. Turn- of carelessness. But this can scarcely be ing from such a concocted theory to these asserted conclusively. It is obijervable, for verses, we find that the first cast brings to instance, that the order of the formula in the surface the se_cond son of Asaph, and the same verse, on occasion of its very first the second cast bnnge up the eldest son of occurrence, is not identical with the other Jeduthun. At the end of the seventh all twenty-two inetauces of it, the word of Asnpli's sons are exhausted, and what "brethren" preceding "sons," and the pro- would have been his next place (the ninth) noun " he" being expressed. The pre- is occupied by the second son of Heman, position (') is sometimes expressed and whose eldest had just taken the sixth place sometimes not expressed before both the so thrown out by the lot. At the end of proper no.mes and the ordinal numerals of the fourteenth throw Jeduthun's six sons the list. Examination of the contents of are all used up, and all the remaining places these verses shows, either that it was due belong to Heman'e sons, but still in the to the Divine direction of the lot (Prov. order in which they are thrown out by the xvi. 33) that an issue resulted which looks lot. so unlike mere chance, and the system of Ver. 21.-llla.ttithiah (see eh. xv. 18, 21). which is so methodical and traceable ; or No other of these twenty-four names is that the lot-taking was not one of families found elsewhere out of this chapter in the and sons, all thrown together from the first. history, a just indication of the trnstworthi- Thie supposition would, of course, leave room nees rather than the contra.ry of this to.lile. for some suoh ingenious hypothesis as that
HOMILIES BY VARIOUS AUTHORS. Ver. 1.-Instruction in songs. 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 foun<l such schools, and to give them an impulse and inspiration. In the skill and system with which he ga.ve himself to this work, he showed bis far-sighted wisdom. For out of his labour and care sprang, directly, all Hebrew minst1·elsy of later times, and, indirectly, in no small measure, ali Christian psalmody. I. '!'HE SPIRITUAL SUBSTANCE OF PSALMODY. If the singing of hymns, the chanting of psalms, the vocal rendering of carols, canticles, and anthems, be mere musical exer- cise 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 excluime<l, "Sing ye praises with understanding ; " and Paul when he admonished Christians to "ma.ke melody with their heart unto the Lord." II. THE METRICAL AND MUSICAL FORM OF PSALMODY. The utterance of praise may be spont.aneous. But if it is to be social, such a.s many may join in, it must be prepared. Thanksgiving, when it assumes a permanent shape and fiuds e. social utterance, must come under the control of the rules of art. Metrical language and melody and har- mony thus became the body of which adoration a.nd gratitude, confidence and love, are the soul. We see an illustration of these principles in the sacred minstrelsy of David. He compoBed devout and spiritual odes, a.nd directed tha.t 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 pra.ise, we cannot dispense with art. The choice in psalmody does not lie between spontaneity a.nd art, but between bad art and good. Hence the perpetual import.a.nee of what is c~lled in the text "in8truct;on in the songs of the Lord." There must be teaching and teachers, Jabour and skill, adap- tation to persons and seasons-all alike penetrated by the spirit of true devotiun. 398 THE FIRST BOOK OF THE CHRONICLES. [c11. xxv. 1-31.
CoNCLUSION. 1. The importance of a due attention to "the servjce 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.