“I love the Lord, because He hath heard my voice and my supplications. Because He hath inclined His ear unto me, Therefore will I call upon Him as long as I live. “The sorrows of death compassed me, And the pains of hell gat hold upon me; I found trouble and sorrow. Then called I upon the name of the Lord: O Lord, I beseech Thee, deliver my soul. Gracious is the Lord, and righteous; Yea, our God is merciful. “The Lord preserveth the simple; I was brought low, and He helped me. Return unto thy rest, O my soul; For the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee. For Thou hast delivered my soul from death, mine eyes from tears, and my feet from falling.”[269] * * * * * [Sidenote: _In the Last Crisis_] Amidst the deepening shadows of earth’s last great crisis, God’s light will shine brightest, and the song of hope and trust will be heard in clearest and loftiest strains. “In that day shall this song be sung in the land of Judah: We have a strong city; Salvation will God appoint for walls and bulwarks. Open ye the gates, That the righteous nation which keepeth the truth may enter in. Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace Whose mind is stayed on Thee; because he trusteth in Thee. Trust ye in the Lord forever; For in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength.”[270] * * * * * [Sidenote: “_With Singing unto Zion_”] “The ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come with singing unto Zion; and everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.”[271] “They shall come and sing in the height of Zion, and shall flow together to the goodness of the Lord; ... and their soul shall be as a watered garden; and they shall not sorrow any more at all.”[272] * * * * * The history of the songs of the Bible is full of suggestion as to the uses and benefits of music and song. Music is often perverted to serve purposes of evil, and it thus becomes one of the most alluring agencies of temptation. But, rightly employed, it is a precious gift of God, designed to uplift the thoughts to high and noble themes, to inspire and elevate the soul. [Sidenote: _Power of Song_] As the children of Israel, journeying through the wilderness, cheered their way by the music of sacred song, so God bids His children to-day gladden their pilgrim life. There are few means more effective for fixing His words in the memory than repeating them in song. And such song has wonderful power. It has power to subdue rude and uncultivated natures; power to quicken thought and to awaken sympathy, to promote harmony of action, and to banish the gloom and foreboding that destroy courage and weaken effort. [Sidenote: _A Means of Education_]