The higher degree of excellence that may be obtained in music the better, as ability to produce melody and the ear to recognize it are gifts of God, to be cultivated and used in His service. Therefore the heart must be in it; or it becomes but a travesty of sacred things.
The song of praise to God that does not come from the heart is as much a mockery as the prayer that is spoken merely with the lips to be heard of men. The melody that Heaven hears is made in the heart. Ephesians 5:19.
This in nowise belittles the importance of being able to express melody by the lips, but it is an encouragement to those of us who have no special gift of musical ability, or have to repent of the lack of it through failure to cultivate it. The “new song” is learned by heart experiences, and God hears the melody of heart praise even when the lips make no sound.
The following old monkish legend has a lesson for these days when church music so frequently strains after theatrical effect:
There was once a band of poor men who had good voices but no idea of music, and so they were filled with regret because their service was so imperfect. One day there came to them one who had spent his whole life with music and musicians, one who understood all possible variations of tones and the relations between them. He pointed out to these humble monks the imperfections in their musical service, and he made them ashamed. They asked him to sing for them, and he sang, and it seemed to them that they had never heard anything so grand. But that night a voice asked the Abbott why they had forgotten their evening song. The old man replied that they had not forgotten it; on the contrary, they had had a most magnificent service. “Magnificent it may have been,” said the voice, “but not one sound of worship has entered heaven this night.”
