November 1927
716
T h e :
K i n g ' s
B u s i n e s s
The Three Aspects of Sacred Song B y C h a s . F. R eitzel Author and Bible Teacher, Altoona, Pa.
i T was a long time before we discovered in our Bible the three aspects of sacred song. The fault was not with the Book, but with us. It was all there in black and white, clearly and explicitly expressed, only we were too dense to comprehend it. We always thought that singing was for the worship, it is true, but its purpose is not confined exclu sively to the extolling of the name of the Lord. It takes in a wider scope. But we must not trespass upon our reader’s time by telling him what we did not know about this subject, as this would require more space than to enumerate what we know, for our stock of ignorance is generally larger than our supply of knowledge. Let us note, then, these three aspects. FIRST, the Godward aspect. This has already been referred to. And the case of Paul and Silas in the old jail at Philippi furnishes us with a fitting example on this point. “Paul and Silas prayed and sang praises urtto GOD” (Acts 16:25). See, their singing was unto the Lord. This at once opens to us a wide field of thought. It suggests quite a large number of reflections, such as (1) God’s claim to our praise and the ground of that claim; (2) the nature, spirit and manner of praise; and (3) the many things for which to offer praise. And think of the numerous sacred music compositions in which praise is directed to the Lord. For example, “We praise Thee, O God, For the Son of Thy love,” etc. T h e M utual A spect This is found in Colossians 3:16—“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing ONE ANOTHER in Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.” See, here is teaching and admonition in sacred song, and it is mutual —it is performed by “one another.” This, it seems, was the manner of the singing of the seraphim of Isaiah 6 :3. The “one cried unto another.” Now if we are to teach and admonish “one another” in song, several things will be necessary. 1. The singing must not be confined to a limited few. It must be done by “one another.” This, if we are able to sense the meaning of the Spirit, looks very much like congregational singing. To say the least, it certainly does discourage a monopoly of the church music by a selected few. Nor should the selections sung be limited alone to “psalms”—the singing of “hymns and spiritual songs” is also to be included. 2. The singing must be intelligible. If “another” is to teach and admonish us in song, or if we are the “one” to teach and admonish “another,” then one thing is quite cer tain; namely, the singing must be understood.. A teacher does not teach, and an admonisher does not admonish, if that which they say can not be apprehended. Paul, in dealing with the subject of speaking and praying in an unknown tongue, takes occasion, also, to tell us something about singing. He would have us to understand that we are not only to sing with the spirit, but “with the under
standing also.” Yet isn’t it strange that the singing of many of the church choirs of today is about as intelligible as the cawing of that many crows? And yet these same choirs pose as singing for the benefit of the people in the pews. We attended a service recently in which; out of cour tesy due the pastor and the worshipers, we were doomed to remain in the meeting and endure the singing of a solo by a member of the opposite sex. We understood the first word, which word was repeated about a half dozen times.. We could not help but think of what the Lord said about “vain repetitions.” Then there was a considerable pause, and after the pause, like a thunder clap from a clear sky, she gave out a sudden terrific shriek, as though some one was attempting to murder her, and then off she soared in the direction of the rafters. Not understanding what she was saying, it gave our mind an opportunity to wander somewhat, and so we became more or less concerned as to whether she would be able to make a safe landing. Now, our language in this description may seem rather extrava gant, but our reader must remember that we are speaking “figuratively.” Yet if that woman was making an at tempt at “teaching and admonishing” us in song, then she was mighty far afield from accomplishing her purpose, for none of us knew what she was singing about. 3. The songs or hymns must contain doctrine or spir itual instruction. They should be fairly weighted down with Bible truth. Too much of our church music is merely sentimental; and as to its doctrinal teaching, it is not only weak, but very often hazy and questionable. After you have listened to it you know no more about your Bible and the plan of salvation than you did before. Really, you are fortunate if you know quite as much, for, to say the least, it not only fails to edify you, but, on the other hand, it is likely to confuse. This is most unfor tunate. S erving A P rimary and S econdary P urpose There was a day in the history of our public school system when many of the lessons in the readers were made up of fictitious stories and mythical fairy tales; but now, we are informed, a large number of the lessons in reading are narrations of historical events and elucidations of sci entific facts. This is much better, for in this way the scholars gather useful and valuable information at the same time they are acquiring the skill to read. Thus the school reader serves a double purpose. It is something more than pauses, and accents, and voice inflections. This is as it should be. The same thing should be true of church music. Singing that is nothing more than a display of tones, and voice range, and harmony, and breath control, is limited indeed. The man who goes to church with a view of learning more about the Lord Jesus, cares very little about the flexibility of the diaphragm of the singers as exhibited in inhalations and exhalations. Now, do not misunderstand us. We do not mean that there is any special virtue in discords or lack of harmony. Far from it. But the person who goes to church for the real pur pose, wants to be taught and admonished, and this is what he will /receive if the songs contain the full amount of teaching and admonition that they should.
worship and praise of God alone. It is intended for His
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