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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 

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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 



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UNITED STATES OP AMERICA. 



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American Treict Societu 



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Gopqnqht 1888 bq American Tract Societq 




American. Trcict Societi^l50 Nassau Street New York 



Beauty for ashes, 
the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for 
the spirit of heaviness. i sa . i X i, 3 




V 



1 he subject of Praise is a 
popular one. 

Religion seems less un- 
comfortable to some, 
when expressed in 
fc — song than in 

prayer. 



Hence, a common demand of the day is for " praise 

meetings," and joyful tunes. It is not to encourage this demand for what may 

be only an empty garment of praise, that the following pages are presented. 

Thomas Carlyle has, in his "Sartor Resartus " set this word "clothes" 
before the world in clear light, and in every department of life we recognize 
the force of our Saviour's own expression, " The life is more than meat " — more 
than that which goes to make up the outward form, — "the body is more than 
raiment." The "garment" of praise must be the outgrowth of the inner life. 



/according to Isaiah's prophecy, the good tidings which the anointed One 
came to proclaim would bring the captive out of the prison-house into such 
safety and joy and freedom that the sackcloth would be exchanged for the 
festive purple. "To proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the 
prison to them that are bound ; to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy 
for mourning, and the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness." 

To show the depth of the transformation, the prophet changes the figure 
at once to one illustrating life and growth, "that they might be called trees of 
righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified." 

Such "good tidings" all may receive who hear the voice of Him who 
read this prophecy in the synagogue at Capernaum, and added, "This day is 
this Scripture fulfilled in your ears." 



— ,/v 




ORDECAI went out from the presence of the king 
in royal apparel of blue and white, and with a great 
crown of gold, and with a garment of fine linen and 

purple. Esther viii. 15. 

The father said unto his servants, Bring forth the best 
robe and put it on him. Luke xv, 22. 

The oriental custom of expressing changed circumstances 
by change of raiment must interpret for us the full meaning 
of the "garment" of praise. 
The metaphor runs through the Bible, and becomes especially prominent in the 
Apocalypse. Raiment meant something in those days. " Because I have caused 
thine iniquity to pass from thee, I will clothe thee with change of raiment." 
The scribes desired " long robes," only because such robes were the outward sym- 
bol of the character they sought to assume before the people. 



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/\nd behold, the angel of the Lord came 
upon him, and a light shined in the prison ; 
and he smote Peter on the side, and raised 
him up, saying, Rise up quickly. And his 
chains fell off from his hands. 
And the angel said unto him, Gird thyself 
and bind on thy sandals, and so he did. 
And he saith unto him, Cast thy gar- 
ment about thee, and follow me. 

Acts xii, 7, 8. 



ohow 
forth 
the praises of him 

who hath called you out of darkness 

into his marvellous light. 



l Peter ii, 9. 



*jp will praise thee with my whole heart. 




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Psa. cxxxviii, i. 

The praise most acceptable to Gods ear may not always 
be that borne upward in familiar doxologies from 
Sabbath to Sabbath. 

It is not enough that the lips of the 
people should respond " The Lord's 
name be praised," to the " Praise ye 
the Lord " of the priest. 
" The heart must ring thy Christmas 

bells, 
Thy inward altars raise; 
Its faith and hope thy 

canticles, 
x - , - And its obedience, praise." 




V 



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.nd I heard a voice from heaven 
as the voice of many waters, 
and as the voice of a oreat 
thunder; 
And thev sung- as it were 

a new song, 
and no man could learn 
that song but they which 
were redeemed 

from 
the earth. '"'I 







Rev. 



xiv, 2, 3 




Ilefe eveFytl^infj t^at l^atl) treaty fipaise tr^e trepd. 



A praise of early freshness 

Of carol and of trill, 
Re-echoing all the music 
Of valley 
and 
of rill. 




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With anthems 

of the flowers, 
Too delicate and sweet 
For all their 
fairy minstrelsy 

Our mortal ears 

P'no, Tb' nC ) s 



Qryd bird s ] ^"V} 



to greet. F . R . havkrgal. 



se ye Hup, soq andii]ooi|; 

aise Hinj , all ye stars 
| light. 







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Xvoll, in your solemn majesty, 

Ye deathless splendors of the skies. 

High altars from which angels see 
The incense of creation rise." 



Kless the Lord, ye his angels, 

that excel in strength, that 
do his commandments, 




Wind 

■fulfill «n<l 



his word. 



ell me, was ever a legend heard, 
X Where the wind commanded to blow 

deferred, 

Or the rain that was bidden to fall, demurred?" 



My lips shall utter praise when thou hast taught me thy statutes. 

Psa. cxix, 171. 




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In what a garment of praise 
has God arrayed the snow ! 
Prof. Tyndall says of the wonderful formation 
of ice (flowers), "The ice bears the same relation to 
glass that an oratorio of Handel does to the cries of the 
market-place. The ice is music, the glass is noise ; the ice is order, 
the glass is confusion ; Nature lays her beams in music, and it is the 
function of science to purify our organs, so as to enable us to hear the strain." 




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tljat/^xmejYi lj would \l- 
praise wth e ^o^d 




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The 

harmony of 

creation's anthem 

of praise is marred just where it should 

swell into its richest tones, among the many 

stringed instruments of God's providence, "his 

goodness, his wonderful works to the children 

of men." It is man's reluctant will that changes the ex- 







wonderful / 

u/orf\S •_ 

* 'o ynhe 

Children 



ultant " Bless the Lord, all His works, in all places of his 
dominion " into the regretful iament of the Psalmist, " O, that men 

would praise the Lord. 







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spirit, O! my spirit! Is it thou art out of tune? 
Art thou clinging to December while the earth is in its June ? 
Hast thou dropped thy part in Nature? Hast thou touched 

another key? 
Art thou angry that the anthem will not, cannot wait for 

thee ? J. G. Holland. 



Oless the Lord, 

O my soul, 
and all that is within 
me, bless his 
holy name. 




Who forgiveth 
all thine iniquities ; 

who healeth all 
thy diseases ; 
who redeemeth thy life 
from destruction ; 
who crowneth thee 

with loving kindness 
and 
tender mercies. 

Psa. ciii. 



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I Have no words 
to bring 
Worthy of thee, 
my King; 

O let my whole life be 

One anthem unto thee 
And let the praise of lips and life 
Outring all sin and strife." 




1 he lilies' robe of praise is wrought 
Not by the web of anxious thought, 

Nor yet by idle prayer. 
No miracle their need supplies; 
No dainty raiment from the 
skies 

Descends, for them 
to wear. 




4 






Consider 

how they grow ! 

Their outward dress 

Does but express 

The hidden life below. 







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If, then, 

God SO clothe 
the grass, 
how much more 

will he clothe you? 



■■ 







Luke xii, 28. 




how earnest thou 

in hither not having 



a wedding garment?" 



Matt, xxii, 12. 



These words would seem to stand alone in 
all Christ's teaching, if we must think that 
he meant by the "wedding garment" only 
an external thing. 

Surely the King himself has not "respect 
unto the man with goodly apparel." 
Fitness for the feast must go deeper than dress. 




1 he King's daughter is all glorious within ; her 
clothing is of wrought gold. p sa . xiv, 13. 

"And to her was granted that she should be 
arrayed in fine linen, clean and white ; for the fine 
linen is the righteousness of the 
saints." R ev . xix. 8. 




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This letter to the Ephesians. — 
Is it not at once a new book of 
Genesis, and a continuous Psalm of 
praise? God's new creation! The crown 
of all his works! His eternal purpose "before 
the foundation of the world," that we should be holy and without 
blame before Him, — then the revelation of that purpose to us, and its accom- 
plishment in us, "according to the working of his mighty power," that, "in the 
ages to come, he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness 
toward us ! " 

What more beautiful garment of praise could we "put on" than this 
"new man created in righteousness and true holiness!" 



JT inish then thy new creation, 
Pure, unspotted may we be, 
Let us see our whole salvation 
Perfectly secured by thee. 
Changed from glory unto glory, 
Till in Heaven we take our place, 
Till we cast our crowns before Him, 
Lost in wonder, love and praise." 

| S ^EAirWK G^mh Jesus, unto 

qood uuorks. 



j *f 1 erein is my Father glorified, 
">^i* that ye bear much fruit. 



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My Father 

is the husbandman 




John xv, 8. 



■V*^ 




J\ very great multitude spread their 
garments in the way, others cut down 
branches from the trees, and strewed 
v them in the way. And the multitude 
that went before and that followed 



Then do we go to meet Christ with 
boughs of olive, when we exercise the 
works of mercy and of charity ; and with 
branches of palm when we bear away 
the victory against temptation, and we 
strew our garments under the feet of 
Christ, when we lay down our lives for Christ. 

BONAVENTURA. 





/\nd Job arose, and rent his mantle, and 
shaved his head, and fell upon the ground, and 
said. "The Lord gave and the Lord hath taken 
away; blessed be the name of the Lord." job i. 20, 21 






Not with the voice 
Of song, high-sounding cymbals, and the harp 
Did Job bless God, but with rent robe and face"** 
Low in the dust. The music of the world 
May jar the wounded, stricken heart ; but in 
The soul the melody of praise has touched 
A richer, minor chord. 




I " 



*Tt 



What child his filial heart in words can loose, 
If he behold his tender father raise 

The hand that chastens sorely? Can he choose 
But sob in silence with an upward 
gaze ? 

And my great Father thinking fit 
to bruise, 
Discerns in speechless tears 
both prayer and praise. 

Mrs. Browning. 







V_Jur puny walls to thee we raise, 
Our poor reed-music sounds thy 
praise ; 
Forgive, O Lord, our 

childish ways ! 



X 




Y f* \ 

Suffice it now. 

In time to be 
Shall holier altars rise to thee — 

Thy Church, our broad humanity ! 



White flowers of love its walls shall climb, 
Soft bells of peace shall ring its chime, 

Its days shall all be holy time. 



A 



sweeter sone 



shall then be heard, — 
The music of the world's accord " 
Confessing Christ, 

the Inward Word ! 



That song shall swell from shore 
to shore, 
One hope, one faith, one love, restore 
The seamless robe that Jesus wore. 




T\ 



Whittibr. 



r\nd every creature which is in heaven, 

and on the earth, and under the earth, 

and such as are in the sea, 
and all that are in them, heard I saying 
" Blessing, and honor, and glory, and power, 
be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, 
and unto the Lamb, 
forever and 
ever." 

Rev. v, 13. 














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" As the sound of many waters 
Let the full Amen arise! 
Hallelujah i ceasing never, 
Sounding through the great forever, 
Linking all its harmonies ; 

Through eternities of bliss, 
Lord, our rapture shall be this 
And our endless life shall be 
One Amen of praise to thee.'' 




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