March, 1934
T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
89
ANfaster Sunrise IN CHURCH B y HERBERT G. XPVEY* Los Angeles, California
SONG
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tions o f the world, provided an ever-darkening view. The . scene finally became so black that the splendor o f the sanc tuary gave way to the glitter o f heathen revelries, the prophet’s voice ceased, and the music o f Jehovah’s people was silenced by the clamor o f the songs o f a sensuous world. Thus the darkest hour before the dawning came, and the waiting world quivered in an expectancy that was evi dently born o f Jehovah o f the Hebrews—-the Eternal One, who through prophetic vision repeatedly dealt with His people to point them to their coming Messiah. Throughout all their history, there, was never a time when the faithful in Israel were not looking for the coming Messiah. The Sunrise ._> A.nation may be judged by its music, not only the text o f song literature, but also the character o f melody and harmony. Looking backward, the student o f music ob serves the world singing in a mournful minor key. Out of this condition— the silence o f the prophet’s message, the warning o f the psalmist’s voic.e, and the disintegration o f the sacred instrumental service, dominated by the somber strain o f failure—came a change o f key that burst upon the world with a joy never before experienced. This change
H e b r e w s never invented a musical instrument. There was not an instrument among them that had not its equivalent among older nations in civilization .’*---Edward Dickinson. The Chaldeans and the Egyptians in fluenced Hebrew musical systems, which were in turn shaped for the service of the temple and general religious observ ances. History records no Hebrew na tional creative enterprise— they had no architecture, no sculpture, no painting, because o f the Sinaitic command that
H erbert G. T ovey
they should not make “ any graven image, or any likeness o f any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath . . . ” Their tabernacle was planned for them to the minutest detail by Jehovah, and they received the com mand to abide by the law o f Moses, written by the finger o f God and interpreted by priest arid prophet. Genius, however, is not always seen in the liberation of creative ability, for, although their national neighbors pro vided most o f the material with which God’s chosen people worked, the Hebrews’ glory—not the glory o f an earthly attainment, but the glory o f an unrestricted national joy— ou tsh on e them all. The creations of
manifested itself in song, and from that day the w o r ld in w h i c h C h r i s t is known has literally sung in the major key. The coming o f Jesus Christ was the beginning o f the sun rise— breaking o v e r the black hills o f the world’s experience— that was to b u r s t forth in all its full ness o f glory "on the r e s u r r e c tio n day, w h e n t h e l o n g - looked-for Hope of God’s chosen people should rise trium
Old Hebreui Chart t
the H e b r ew s were those o f the heart rather than o f the mind. David’s out bursts o f praise, his e x p r e s s io n o f sor row, and his por trayal o f Jehovah’s majesty, seen in the psalms o f the Old Testament, give an inkling o f the cap a b ilitie s o f G o d ’ s chosen people. The eyes o f the Hebrew people look ed beyond their cir cum stan ces. T h e
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God’s Grace.
H. G. T.
Herbert G. Tovey
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Grace, grace, God'sgrace, poVrful enough for me; Coming from Cal - va - ry. ---- * -* - 1 ê - Ï — V - International Copyright, 1926rhy Herbert G. Tovey
phant, never again to be hidden from His own. There was an Easter sunrise in hymnody. The coming, the rising, and the ascension o f our Lord gave to the world a new “way,” and the blood of beasts offered on altars o f stone gave way to the tender sacrifice o f “ a broken and a contrite heart” (Psa. 5 :17 ). Spontaneous praise re placed worship characterized chiefly by awe ; thanksgiving for complete salvation triumphed over ceaseless supplica tion for forgiveness. O f necessity, such a joyful change o f spirit influenced the arts of its day, and the result o f the new life was that the early church became dissatisfied with the forms o f song they had at their disposal. In fact, it would appear that they did not even wait to consider the [Continued on page 95]
condition o f Proverbs 4 :25 : “ Let thine eyes look right on,” provides a picture o f a people whose inspiration came from the thought o f a future event. They even recorded their prophetic utterances in the past tense (Young’s Literal Translation), accepting the Word o f God given through the prophets as absolute and established. Because they were the recipients o f a divine revelation, the Hebrews were a shining light behind the hills o f Time, accentuating the darkness o f an idolatrous world. Before the dawn, the vacillating experience of the Hebrews as they rose and fell in their relationship with Jehovah, to gether with the coming into prominence of the other na-
*Director o f the Music Course, Bible Institute o f Los Angeles.
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