Breach Repaired in Gods Worship, Treatise 1 · Conclusion
The Concluſion.
AND now, Brother, ſuffer me to make a little Improvement likewiſe, as well as you; and notwithſtanding your Concluſion ſavours of much Bitterneſs, I would fain have mine end with all Sweetneſs: if there is any Tartneſs, I cannot well help it.
Firſt. Whereas you infer ſinging together of David's Pſalms, or any humane precompoſed Forms, is a corrupting the pure Worſhip of God, in mingling Law and Goſpel, or humane and divine things together.
Firſt, I infer, That to ſing David's Pſalms and Scripture-Hymns, and ſacred Songs taken out of the Word of Chriſt, together in the publick Worſhip of God, is an holy Ordinance of Chriſt, and not in the leaſt to mingle Law and Goſpel together any otherwiſe than the Holy Ghoſt hath done it; for Moral Duties are the ſame in the Law and Goſpel.
Secondly; Whereas you ſay, This will lead us to return from whence we came, at a Dog to his Vomit, and as a Sow that was waſhed, to her wallowing in the Mire. I ſay, 1. You do not write like an humble and trembling-hearted Chriſtian, but ſhew too much Gall and Worm-wood in your Spirit. And, 2. I ſay, to ſing the Pſalms of David, and other ſacred Scripture-Hymns and ſpiritual Songs, is to build up the old waſte places, and reſtore the ancient Paths to dwell in, and a going forward and not backward.
Thirdly; You would, you ſay, have the Leaders among us ſeriouſly conſider, that are for ſuch formal Singing (as you call it) whether they will be able to plead at the Bar of Chriſt for this Practice, tho they may urge it on their fellow-Brethren here, &c. and you put up a kind of Prayer, that God would give us a true ſight and ſenſe of the evil Conſequences of this Error (as you are pleaſed to call it) that we may not cauſe his People to ſin, but that with ſound Doctrine we may ſtrengthen the weak Hands and feeble Knees, &c.
Anſw. I muſt intreat you to conſider, whether you will be able to give a good account at the Bar of Jeſus Chriſt, for endeavouring to diminiſh from God's Word; nay, from Chriſt's New Teſtament,; for ſure we are, ſinging of Psalms, Hymns and ſpiritual Songs is one Ordinance found therein, which you ſtrive to take way, and fooliſhly plead only for a thing called the Eſſence of it, without the Act or diſcharge … the Duty according to the nature of the Ordinance, and ſo contrive a new kind of ſinging out of the dark Imagination of your Heart, and add that in the ſtead of it, which is not underſtood by the generality of Mankind, and ſo make us to believe (if you could) that Chriſt hath left an Ordinance that there is no way to come to any Certainty how it ſhould be performed; and hereby alſo lay a juſt occaſion of Offence, or a Stumbling-block in the way of weak Chriſtians, to think they may practiſe Ordinances acceptably to God (which requires the bodily Organs) without the Body, and ſo deny the Body to glorify God, tho redeemed to that end; and expoſe our Glory (viz. our Tongue) to Reproach and Shame, and conſequently rob God of ſome part, nay, one great part of his glorious Praiſe, and his poor Church of much ſweet Comfort and Soul-Refreſhment in his bleſſed Ordinance, as I have ſhewed in the firſt Chapter.
Moreover, conſider what an account you will have to give to the Judg of the Quick and Dead, for ſaying, when the Scripture ſaith they ſung, (viz. Chriſt and his Diſciples) they did but give Thanks, or ſay Grace, from the remote and indirect Signification of the Greek Word; or elſe ſung alone, and not his Diſciples with him. See what Reverend Mr. Cotton hath ſaid in Pag. 14. of his Book, in Anſwer to ſuch a kind of Objection as you make, mentioning that place of David, Pſal. 3. 4. & Pſal. 77. 1. I cried to the Lord with my Voice: Shall a Man detract from his meaning, and ſay (ſaith Mr. Cotton) he cried to God only with his Heart? So when David exhorteth the Gentile Churches to make a joyful Noiſe unto the Lord, you do detract from his meaning, when you make his meaning to be, not that we ſhould ſing unto him with our Voice, but that we ſhould only make Melody to him in our Hearts? ſuch … (…aith he) from the Word is alike disallowed and accurſed of God, as adding to his Word, (or otherwiſe, ſay I, a diminiſhing from it.)
Object. But, ſaith he, you object ſinging of Pſalms with the Voice, is but a Type of that Melody in the Heart, or to that purpoſe I find he ſpeaks.
Anſw. 1. No Scripture (ſaith he) ſpeaketh of it as a Type, nor doth any Evidence of Reaſon declare it.
2. You might as well ſay, that praying with the Voice was a Type of praying with the Heart, and ſo it is aboliſhed.
3. If ſinging of Pſalms with a loud Voice had been a typical Worſhip, David would not have exhorted us to the Practice of it on the Lord's-Day under the New Teſtament, Pſal. 95. 1, 2, 7.
4. Chriſt and his Apoſtles would not have uſed it in the Lord's-Supper, which is a Feaſt of the New Teſtament; nor would Paul and Silas have uſed it in Priſon among the Gentiles; nor would the Apoſtle have injoyned it on the Churches.
5. The Light of Nature is never wont to teach us Types and Shadows; doth it not as well teach us to praiſe God in ſinging with our Tongues in times of our rejoycing, as to cry to God with our Voices in times of diſtreſs?
Fourthly; Whereas you would have us to conſider, that if we err from the Rule in offering Praiſes to God contrary to his Appointment, whether we do not worſhip God in vain? I ſay to you, whilſt we thus offer Praiſes to God, it appears we worſhip him according to his Appointment, and so acceptable to him, and to his Glory, and our Comfort.
Strange, ours is not right and ſpiritual Singing! and yet you can find no other way according to the Rule to perform that ſacred Duty and Ordinance.
Thus I have anſwered your Book (as well as the Lord hath been pleaſed to help me) according to your Requeſt; for I was … by you to do it you well know before ſeveral Witneſſes: But did not I think the Name and Honour of God lay at ſtake, and the Information of man… of his dear Saints and People, in order to the… further Comfort and Eſtabliſhment in his whol… Mind and Will, I ſhould not have anſwered yo… in the matter; and if you, or any body elſe ſhall ſee cauſe to reply, I ſhall be ready to return an Anſwer, if I find it do deſerve or nee… one, if God is pleaſed to ſpare my Life, and t… enable me in the Work.
And now one word to you, my dear Brethren and Siſters, whoſe Souls are eſtabliſhed in thi… ſweet and heavenly Ordinance.
Firſt, Conſider how univerſally this Ordinance hath been practiſed, of ſinging the Praiſe… of God.
1. By variety of Perſons; as Kings and godly Princes, as Moſes, who was a King in Jeſurun, Deut. 33. 5. David, Joſhaphat, Solomon, &c. By worthy Governours, as Nehemiah, &c. by Prophets, by the whole Congregation of God's People; by Chriſt and his Apoſtles; by the holy Martyrs of Jeſus in the Primitive Times.
2. In all places; by Moſes in the Wilderneſs, Exod. 15. by David in the Tabernacle, by Solomon in the Temple, by Jehoſhaphat in the Camp, by Chriſt and his Diſciples at the holy Supper, by Paul and Sila… in Priſon.
3. In almoſt all Conditions; in times of Impriſonment, in Perſecution and Martyrdom.
4. By all Sexes, both Men, Women and Maidens, old Men and Children.
5. Nay, and how all Creatures in Heaven and in Earth are called upon by the Holy Ghoſt to ſing forth the Praiſes of God.
6. Conſider how God hath honoured it with his Preſence and gracious Acceptance, 2 Chron. 5. 13. with Victory over Enemies, 2 Chron. 20. 21, 22.
7. Confirmed by Miracles, Act. 16. 25, 26.
Secondly, Conſider that Singing is,
1. The Muſick of Nature, as Mr. Wells obſerves, the Trees and Woods by a Metonymy are ſaid to ſing: And what ſweet Muſick do the pretty Birds make in the Air and Woods?
2. 'Tis the Muſick of Ordinances, as appears by our Saviour's ſinging with his Diſciples at the Celebration of one of the higheſt and moſt ſublime Ordinances of the Goſpel.
3. Singing is the Muſick and Melody of Saints.
4. 'Tis the Muſick and Melody of Angels.
5. 'Tis and ſhall be the Muſick and Melody of Heaven, the glorious and glorified Saints and Angels ſend up their Praiſes this way.
But, my Brethren, be intreated to cry to God, that you may pray and ſing with the Spirit, and with Vnderſtanding alſo, 1 Cor. 14. 15. and with Grace in your Hearts, labour after Holy and Heavenly Frames. We muſt ſing with Affections; let your joyful Noiſe be from the ſenſe of God's Love in a dear Redeemer to your own Souls. Let it be by exciting your Graces, let Faith be in exerciſe in this Duty, as well as in Prayer, and under the Word. Let it be with inward Joy; remember it is your Duty to rejoice evermore, and what then can hinder your Singing God's Praiſes at any time? Let it be for Spiritual Mercies and Bleſſings; chiefly, more for deliverance from your Sin, than from your Suffering.
You have found that Singing is not only ſweet and raiſing to the Spirit, but alſo full o… Inſtruction; nay, I have heard how God has bleſſed it to the Converſion of ſome Souls, as well as to the Conſolation of others. Austis is very excellent to this purpoſe; Quantu… flevi in hymnis & canticis ſuavè … Eccleſiae tuae, voces ill… influebant … & eliquabatur veritas tua in cor meum, ex ea effluebat, inde effectus pietatis; & currebant lachrymae, & benè mihi erat cum eis. How ſweetly (ſaith he) have I wept in Hymns and Songs at the ſounding of thy Church, the Voices flew into mine Ears, and thy Truth melted into mine Heart, and from thence flew forth the Effects of Godlineſs; the Tears ran down mine Eyes, and it was well with me when I was with them. Aug. in his Preface to the Pſalms, Cap. 6.
FINIS.
AN ANSWER TO Mr. Marlow's Appendix.
Wherein his Arguments to prove that Singing of Pſalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Songs, was performed in the Primitive Church by a Special or an Extraordinary Gift, and therefore not to be practiſed in theſe Days,
Are Examined, and clearly Detected.
Alſo ſome Reflections on what he ſpeaks on the word foreign, Hymnos: And on his undue Quotations of divers Learned Men. By a Learned Hand.
Pſal. 119. 141.
I am ſmall and deſpiſed: yet do not I forget thy Precepts.
1 Cor. 14. 22.
Wherefore Tongues are for a Sign, not to them that believe, but to them that believe not: but Propheſying ſerveth not for them that believe not, but for them that believe.
By B. KEACH.
London, Printed for the Author, and ſóld by John Hancock in Caſtle-Alley on the Weſt ſide of the Royal-Exchange, and by the Author at his Houſe near Horſelydown in Southwark. 1691.