4. When I remember those things, I pour out my soul in me. When he harped upon his woes his heart melted into water and was poured
out upon itself. God hidden, and foes raging, a pair of evils enough to bring
down the stoutest heart! Yet why let reflections so gloomy engross us, since
the result is of no value: merely to turn the soul on itself, to empty it from
itself into itself is useless; how much better to pour out the heart before the
Lord! The prisoner’s treadwheel might sooner land him in the skies than mere
inward questioning raise us nearer to consolation. For I had gone with the multitude, I went with them to the house of God. Painful reflections were
awakened by the memory of past joys; he had mingled in the pious throng, their
numbers had hoped to give him exhilaration and to awaken holy delight, their
company had been a charm to him as with them he ascended the hill of Zion. With
frequent strains of song, he and the people of Jehovah had marched in reverent
ranks up to the shrine of sacrifice, the dear abode of peace and holiness. Far
away from such goodly company the holy man pictures the sacred scene and dwells
upon the details of the pious march. With the voice of joy and praise, with a multitude that kept holy day. Perhaps he alludes to the removal of the ark
and to the glorious gatherings of the tribes on that grand national holy day
and holiday. How changed his present place! For Zion, a wilderness; for the
priests in white linen, soldiers in garments of war; for the song, the sneer of
blasphemy; for the festivity, lamentation; for joy in the Lord, a mournful
dirge over his absence. David appears to have had a peculiarly tender
remembrance of the singing of the pilgrims, and assuredly it is the most
delightful part of worship and that which comes nearest to the adoration of
heaven. What a degradation to supplant the intelligent song of the whole
congregation by the theatrical prettinesses of a quartet, the refined niceties
of a choir, or inanimate bellows and pipes! We might as well pray by machinery
as praise by it.
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