Office When David takes his Harp in hand he summons all the powers of his Nature to joyn in the Consort and to bear their Parts Praise the Lord O my soul and all that is within me praise his holy name 'T is this that fits us not only for the Operations of Reason but is an Inlet also to Divine Visions and Revelations It carries such extasies and Raptures with it as elevate the Soul of man into a higher Region teach him Seraphical Flights and give him a clearer Insight into the things above Thus Isaiah was instituted into his Prophetick Office by a Choir of Angels Singing Holy holy holy Lord God of hosts the whole earth is full of his glory Is 6.3 Thus Saul also was made a Prophet by a Consort of Tabrets and Pipes and Harps and sooner heard the Symphony but the Spirit of God came upon him and he became another Man 1. Sam. 10.10 Thus Elisha also out of an Aversion which he had to the King of Israel had no heart to speak before him of things to come the Prophetick Spirit did not move him till he call'd for Musick and when that play'd then the hand of the Lord did come upon him and he prophecy'd 2. Kings 3.15 So instrumental is Musick to all the uses of Religion that it looks as if there could be no Religion without it 'T is a Pleasure to the greatest Saint and has an Influence upon the gravest Prophet 't is an Employment for a blessed Angel and an Entertainment to God himself 'T is the Life of Heaven and the Joy of all the ends of the Earth In a word 't is so Humane an Excellency that 't is an Offence against Nature to suppress it and so Divine an Accomplishment that 't is almost Blasphemy to disparage it God has given me a Tongue saith the wise man and I will praise him therewith and if an eloquent tongue ows this Tribute to God that gave it how much more should we praise him with the Fruits of a Musical heart which is a nobler Faculty and more proper to praise him with I do not say with the Heathen Poet that God loves not those who love not Musick nor with the Jewish Doctors that the Spirit of God rests not upon a Melancholy Soul but this we may say that a melodious Constitution of Mind is one of the greatest Felicities of our Natures and one of the kindest Gifts of God and therefore we ought to praise him for it and to praise him with it too For these reasons the practice of Musick was retain'd in the Christian Church and all the account which we have of the Primitive Worship is that it consisted chiefly of Hymns and Songs T is true that the use of Instrumental Musick in the Church was something of latter date and so was the use of appropriated Churches too and there was too melancholy a reason for them both But certainly that which was always expedient and sometimes commanded but never forbidden tho intermitted a while by the Necessity of the Times can never be thought unlawful The only Argument against it is that those Instruments are not fit to be apply'd to the Uses of Religion because they are the common Entertainment at our Feasts and in this case our Adversaries are willing to allow that what is Common is prophane But are not our Feasts consistent with our Religion If they are not in Gods name let us not curtail our Religion but forbear our Feasts But if they are why is not the Musick consistent too Or why is it more indecent to use the same Instruments than it is to wear the same Apparel in the Church as in the Dining-room However this is a very improper Objection in the mouths of those that make it who according as their occasions serve use the same place promiscuously sometimes for a Dining-room and sometimes for a Church The wise Son of Sirach compares the Memory of a Godly King to Musick at a Banquet of Wine a most lively elegant Expression and yet the Comparison is both impious and absurd unless we allow that a Banquet of Wine may be a very Godly Institution and if so why should it be thought to profane that Musick which is introduc'd only to make it more solemn and more godly still But 't is no wonder if such Arguments as these do gain credit in such an Age of Discord as this in which we live when the Minds of Men are set in a direct Antipathy to one another and no Reasons can make them close But yet Musick one would think might reconcile them if they had Ears to hear their Hearts would be affected too and they could no longer hold out in this harsh this jarring ungrateful Distance but would fall in with the general Tone and join in a friendly Consort with their Brethren The Power of Musick has done a greater Miracle than this when nothing else could do it When the Lacedemonians the austerest obstinatest Men alive were divided among themselves and those Divisions grew up into Civil Wars the Wise Oracle to compose their Differences sent them to hear a famous Musician play upon his Harp and when they did so they embrac'd one another with Tears in their Eyes and returned perfect Friends If our Oracles now had but as much Credit I doubt not but our Musicians have as much Art and then no doubt but the thing would soon be done could we but perswade Men to the Experiment they would certainly work the Cure But I am sensible that 't is Loss of time for me to speak longer in the Praise of Musick which when I have done will speak much better for it self will convince those whom I can hardly perswade and give you a sensible Demonstration of those Truths whereof I can only offer you some slender Proofs And therefore I shall only add for a Conclusion that we must compose our selves to hear it with heavenly abstracted devoted Minds For there is something in Religious Musick so Divine something so like the Joys of Heaven that the Blessed above do not disdain to hold Communion with us in these Exercises of our Devotion Nay 't is by the Help of our Devotion that we train up our Souls to the Joys of Heaven and qualifie our selves to bear a part in those Halleluiahs which are the eternal Entertainment of the Saints If then we hope to join in Consort with them at the Throne of God here we must begin to practice at his Footstool here we must tune our Souls and make them fit Instruments for the Praises of our Maker Here we must learn the Grounds of that Divine Musick otherwise we should but make Discord in Heaven itself and must be sent away to another place where instead of Joy and Gladness and a Song there is nothing but weeping and howling and gnashing of teeth Therefore that we may escape this dreadful Doom let us come duly and devoutly to the House of God and here at his Footstool let us with chearful Voices and unfeigned Hearts Sing Glory and Honour and Power to Him that sitteth on the Throne to God the Father God the Son and God the Holy Ghost FINIS Sermons Published by the same Author and Printed for Walter Kettilby at the Bishops-Head in St. Paul's Church-yard A Sermon Preached before the Queen at Whitehall on Sunday the 26th of October 1690. on Psalm 4.4 A Sermon Preached before the Honourable House of Commons at St. Margaret Westminster on Sunday the 19th of October 1690. being the Thanksgiving-Day for the Wonderful Preservation of his Majesty's Person Isaiah 60.10 A Sermon Preached before the Queen at Whitehall on Sunday October 2d 1692. on Deut. 30.15 A Sermon Preached before the Queen at Whitehall on Wednesday March the 15. 1692 3 on Phil. 4.11
A SERMON Preached at St. Bride's Church ON St. CAECILIA'S Day Nov. 22. 1695. Being the Anniversary Feast of the Lovers of Musick By CHARLES HICKMAN D. D. Chaplain in Ordinary to His Majesty Published at the Request of the Stewards LONDON Printed for Walther Kettelby at the Bishops Head in St. Paul's Church-yard 1696. TO THE STEWARDS OF St. Caecilia's Feast The Honourable Lord Drummond Sir Tho. Murray Baronet J. Crauford Esq James Harris Esq Phil. Howard Esq Archibald Hutchinson Esq Ant. Robert Gent. John Bowman Gen. My Lord and Gentlemen SINCE you have been so hard upon me as to make me Preach without allowing me time to Think and harder yet to make me Publish my undigested Thoughts I hope the World will pardon this imperfect Discourse and look upon it not as a Composition but a Voluntary But I know not how you can pardon me for exposing your Names before it nor yet how you can condemn me for taking this innocent Revenge All that I can say to pacify you is that I am sorry there are so many Faults in this Discourse for you to answer for and all that I can do to acquit you is to declare that as you importun'd me to Publish it so you were importun'd to it by others and if it does not answer their Expectations now upon second Thoughts they have the liberty to say that the Sermon is not Good but their saying so is an Argument that it is True That the excellent Musick which they heard work'd upon their Affections and raised their Good Nature above their Judgment and made them approve that in the Pulpit which they now dislike from the Press so that in truth it was not the Sermon that commended the Musick but the Musick set off the Sermon for want of which Charm to Guard it it now comes into the World Naked and Exposed like Orpheus without his Harp and like him must expect to be pullâ—d in pieces unless you please to Patronize it for the sake of its Subject and allow it some Favour too upon account of its Author who has run all this Danger only to show how much he is Your obedient humble Servant Charles Hickman A SERMON ON St. CAECILIA's Day PSAL. C. vers 1. O be joyful in the Lord all ye lands serve the Lord with gladness and come before his presence with a song JOY and Gladness and a Song those charming Ingredients that make up the Heavenly Banquet in my Text are such agreeable Entertainments that we are ready to follow them without the Formality of a Command and even without the Ceremony of an Invitation and such is the Entertainment which we all propose this Day But that there should be such joy in the Lord such Gladness in His Service and His Presence should afford us Such an occasion for a Song is a Truth which some perhaps will hardly confess and others as hardly understand That Religion which teaches us to stand always upon our Guard should here give such a loose to our Inclinations and bid us indulge our selves is very strange that Devotion which sends us to our own Closets and our own Breasts and there holds us in a solemn grave Reserve should call us out again and bid us expatiate and recreate our Souls in the Fields of Gladness and the flights of Joy is stranger still Nay that the Presence of God himself which strikes Mankind with an awful Veneration and dreadful Terrour should here be thought a proper Subject for Musick and a Song is the strangest thing of all These are such Paradoxes as a superficial Examiner can never reconcile such Mysteries as a sensual Man will never comprehend But how irreconcileable or mysterious soever they may seem I hope to convince you that there is no Mystery in the thing at all but that the Duty which is enjoyn'd us in my Text and which gave occasion for our Meeting together this day is not only a very pleasing but a very practicable thing and accordingly I shall show in my following Discourse I. What it is to be Joyful in the Lord. II. How necessary it is to serve the Lord with Gladness III. How decent and convenient it is to express this Joy and Gladness with a Song From the First of these I intend to give some Directions how we should behave our selves at a Religious Feast the Second will teach us with what Chearfulness we should come to Religious Worship and the Third will shew us the Religious Use that may be made of Musick in the Solemnities of both our Worship and our Feasts These are the three particular Occasions of our Meeting here and therefore they must all be handled particularly but in short And 1. Of the First O be joyful in the Lord. Some may admire perhaps why Joy should be made the Subject of a Religious Command and would hardly have expected to find such a word as O be joyful in all the Word of God 'T is a Passion which is so deeply rooted in the Flesh and grows so quick upon our Spirit that it should seem a more proper business for Religion to keep it down t is so giddy a Discomposure of Mind and puts our Souls in so loose a Habit so vain a Dress that to avoid this Vanity some think it worth their while to run into Vexation of Spirit and look upon a four austere supercilious Behaviour as the more religious Temper of the two But certainly 't is a great Mistake and that it is so we need only observe that God himself appointed the Jewish Sabbath to be a day of Rest and the Christian Sabbath to be a Festival that so he might train us up not always to the Fightings but sometimes to the Triumphs of Religion and shew us the fairest side of our Nature Indeed the true Religion was design'd on purpose to bring Man to his true Perfection and shew him to the best advantage and 't is a certain sign of the true Religion to do so not to stop up the ears nor put out the eyes of the People but to allow us the Use and to encourage the Improvement of all our Faculties and the Law-giver must always comply with the Methods of the Creator And accordingly our Religion which is the truest and the best does not go about to extirpate those Passions which were planted in us by Nature but only to graft upon them by Grace and make all our Passions and Affections spiritual It teaches us that God is the Author of all our Good and that nothing can be good for us but what we enjoy by his Direction That Heaven is the only Seat of Pleasure and no Pleasure is either genuine or lasting but what we derive from thence And therefore if we would be joyful indeed we must be joyful in the Lord we must make a prudent choice of such Pleasures as are equally Beneficial both to our Soul and Body and make our Religion and Enjoyment go hand in hand 'T is this
that makes our Feasts to be Holy days indeed And how easy a thing is this to a virtuous well disposed Mind to a Man who has no unruly Lusts to be pamper'd no greedy Appetites to be supply'd but his desire is only to satisfie his Nature and recruit his Spirits and in all the Blessings which he receives he values not so much the Gift itself as the Favour of him that gave it 'T is this that puts gladness into his Heart more than the abounding of his corn and wine and from this sense of God's Goodness in the Enjoyment of his Creatures his Body is kindly nourish'd and his Soul is doubly satisfied And thus He rejoyces in the Lord. Not that he is always calling Lord Lord at every Morsel and saying Grace to every Cup. This is profaning of both Religion and the Feast 'T is taking the Lords name in vain and his Creatures too Surely a man that is well dispos'd at first may carry that Religious Temper that regular Tenor of Mind through one meal at least without screwing up himself with continual Raptures and fresh Ejaculations Surely that Instrument is very bad that must be new tun'd at every strain This may suffice in short to shew how we are to celebrate a Religious Feast And this may teach us the Difference between the Joy of a godly and a worldly Man The one chooses such a Joy as is agreeable to his Nature and at the same time consistent with his Religion Such as his Reason recommends and his God approves a Joy that is not only pleasing but lasting too Whereas the other looks no higher for his Satisfaction than to his Senses and no farther than to the present time but takes up with such Pleasure as comes next to hand and if the Morsel is but sweet as Hony in the mouth he cares not though it turns to Gall in his stomach and Poyson in his blood If his Senses are but gratified he cares not though it disgusts his Reason and offends his God This is such a folly as the Scripture very elegantly expresses by eating of sour grapes A wise man always waits till his Joys are ripe and knows they are never good but in their proper Season but a foolish Sinner no sooner spies a Beauty on their outside but the Colour is inviting and he must needs be tasting of the undigested Fruit and all that he gets by it is the turning of his Stomach and setting of his Teeth an edge In a word a Sensual Joy is always rude and clamourous and discomposed like sounding Brass fit only to make a boistrous hideous Noise till Religion comes in to rectifie the Movement and sweeten the Tone and make Musick of that which before was nothing but Confusion 2. And now when the Mind of Man is thus in Tune and a delightful Air sits upon his Thoughts then is he fit for the lofty and heavenly Exercises of Devotion when he has learn'd how to be joyful in the Lord then and only then is he fit to go to the holy Temple and there to serve the Lord with Gladness Which is the second thing to be explain'd And this Expression also if it was not Canonical I doubt not but it would be called Profane by many zealous Pretenders of our Age who think that our God is to be served just as some Idolaters worship theirs with painful Convulsions of Body and unnatural Distortions of Face and all the dismal Solemnities of a gloomy Soul and a dejected Countenance But God be thanked we are otherwise instructed in my Text which teaches us that these violent Strains of Devotion are as contrary to Religion as to Nature and therefore commands us to serve the Lord with gladness Indeed Gladness is the only Qualification which makes our Services acceptable unto God 'T is only a chearful a free-will Offering in which he delights and our Worship is never so grateful unto Him as when it is pleasing to Our selves But to make a Drudgery of our Worship and come as it were to do Penance in the House of God is dishonouring of Him and discrediting of his Service to be dragg'd hither like the Beasts of Sacrifice with such Unwillingness of Mind and such Aukwardness of Body as betrays our Aversion to the work in hand is very ominous indeed 't is losing of our Time and abusing of our Maker When we come to this House of God we come as Jacob calls it to the gate of heaven to the very borders of Paradise to take a Prospect of those Glories and Beauties which adorn the seat of the Almighty Creator of the World and what is there to be seen or heard in Heaven but Love and Joy and eternal Harmony And what can this inspire us with but loving and joyful and harmonious Thoughts Did we but come hither well prepar'd and well dispos'd so we should be entertain'd and so we should be affected And what can all the Tentâ—s of Ungodliness what can all the Diversions of the World afford us like to this In the World as the Prophet says we follow after lovers which we cannot overtake we seek for Enjoyments which we cannot find nothing but airy trivial Joys meer Shadows of Pleasure and Bubbles of Delight which as we move towards them still fly before us and if we could overtake them yet they would turn to nothing But here we find substantial Pleasures here we are filled with abundant Satisfaction all that we can ask and even more than we could think and that only with asking for In the World we have but turbulent Joys at best a mixture of Hopes Fears and imperfect Entertainments nothing but Vanity and Vexation blended together but here we have genuine cordial Pleasures spiritual sincere Delights lights such immoveable unalterable Joys as all the Vanity of the World cannot give and all the Vexation of it cannot take away If our Passions are unruly and our Affections rebellious and apt to raise disturbances in our Breasts here we learn to subdue every mutinous Thought and silence every calmorous Insurrection and reduce our Souls to a perfect Calm If our Minds are devoted to sensual Pleasures and our Flesh has unfortunately got the Ascendant of our Spirit here we shall find Pleasures of a higher Strain so powerful and exalted that like David's Harp they can charm away our former Passions and dispossess the evil Spirit With what Gladness then should we come to the House of God and When we are there how vigorous and lively should our Behaviour be what have we to do with earthly Damps upon our Face or cloudy Thoughts upon our Hearts when we are contemplating of the Glories of God the Beauty of Heaven and the Pleasures which he has there reserved for us Why art thou so full of heaviness O my Soul and why art thou so disquieted within me The Reason indeed is plain our Affections are engag'd another way either they are sordid and worldly and draw us downwards to