GOD ANGRY EVERY DAY.

"God is angry with the wicked every day."-PSALMS VII. 11.

A misapprehension of the original meaning of these words, in connection with a false religious education, has led many to give to them an interpretation directly the reverse from what was intended by the writer.

Dr. Adam Clarke, the learned Methodist divine and commentator, has taken great pains to give us the different translations of this passage, some of which we here present, to show the different renderings:

The Vulgate.-"God is a judge, righteous, strong and patient. Will He be angry every day?" The Septuagint."God is a righteous judge, strong and long suffering; not bringing forth his anger every day."

The Arabic is the same as the Septuagint.

The Genevan version, printed by Barker, the king's printer, 1615, translates thus: "God judg eth the righteous, and him that contemneth God every day." On which there is this marginal note: "He doth continually call the wicked to repentance by some signs of his judgments."

Dr. Clarke then presents his own views in the following language:

"I have judged it of consequence to trace this verse through all the ancient versions, in order to be able to ascertain what is the true reading where the evidence on one side amounts to a positive affirmation, God is angry every day,' and on the other side, to as positive a negation, 'He is not angry every day.' The mass of evidence supports the latter reading. The Chaldee first corrupted the text by making the addition, with the wicked, which our translators have followed, though they have put the words into italics, as not being in the Hebrew text. Several of the versions have read it in this way: 'God judgeth the righteous, and is not angry every day.'

The meaning of the passage is, that God judgeth the righteous justly and continually, though He is not angry with them. Righteousness and judgment are the habitation of his throne; still his punishments are disciplinary, and his administration benevolent. His government is equitable, but He is not angry day by day with his children. According to the Septuagint version; "God is a righteous judge, not bringing forth his anger every day." If He were an angry, passionate being, then He would not judge in righteousness. The meaning is, that, day by day, He is a righteous judge, and, therefore, not an angry God. The text originally taught an entirely different sentiment from what the translators make it teach. It taught that God was not angry every day, as were heathen deities, but was a just, good and righteous God.

HIDDEN TO THE LOST.

"But if our Gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost.”— 2 CORINTHIANS iv. 3.

A brief allusion to the context will exhibit the apostle's meaning. In the preceding chapter, he had been speaking of the two dispensations, contrasting the old and new covenants, and exhibiting: the superiority of the Gospel over the Law. There was, indeed, some glory in the Law, but so great was the glory of the Gospel, that the Law appeared to have no glory, by reason of the glory that excelleth! Moses was obliged to veil his face, because of the splendor of his countenance, which the Israelites could not look upon steadfastly. there was a veil upon the hearts of the people; or, in other words, their minds were blinded, darkness rested upon their souls, which could only be re moved by the light of the glorious gospel; hence it was said, that this veil was done away in Christ..

So

Now that the gospel was preached, nothing was concealed. Nothing was now hidden; all types. and shadows were done away, and the gospel was proclaimed in all its fullness. And if its divine truths were not now perceived, it was because the

people were willfully blind. If the gospel be hid, or veiled, so that the people did not discover its divine excellency, they were lost; not endlessly lost, but lost in sin; their hearts were veiled by the errors to which they clung; their minds blinded by darkness and unbelief, and they were in a state of sin and degradation. Their state of sin was their lost state. Dr. Adam Clarke, the Methodist commentator, says, that "the word does not necessarily imply those that will perish eternally, but it is a common epithet to point out a man without God in the world.”

"If our gospel be hid," or if its divine excellencies are not perceived, its heavenly truths seen and appreciated, it is because people willfully close up the avenues to their souls, and shut out its light from their hearts, and obstinately remain blind and lost. They were in darkness and unbelief. The gospel was plainly preached; and if it were obscure to any, it was because they closed their hearts against the light of truth, and preferring darkness to light, remained in a lost condition. And this was the moral state of the Jews. They were lost in sin, chose darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. Their minds were blinded, and they would not come unto Christ, that they might have life. The passage under consideration has no reference to the future world, but to the lost condition into which sin and error bring man in this life.

AGREE WITH THINE ADVERSARY.

" Agree with thine adversary quickly, while thou art in the way with him; lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison. Verily, I say unto thee, Thou shalt by no means come out thence till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing."-MATTHEW v. 25, 26.

The meaning of this passage has been so entirely misapprehended, that some have erroneously supposed that Almighty God, who has created us for his pleasure, is our adversary. He is represented as our enemy, and unless we do something quickly to appease his wrath, and secure his favor, He will cut us off and throw us into the prison of hell, where we must remain eternally.

The language, however, clearly implies deliverance from prison, under certain circumstances, which shows conclusively that the punishment cannot be endless in duration. "Thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou has paid the uttermost farthing;" teaching clearly a release when the uttermost farthing was paid.

This proves nothing, therefore, in regard to endless punishment. Besides, God is not the adversary of man, but the Father of the world's great family, and a God of infinite love. He was prompted by