quoting a phrase or text of Scripture, are apt to confine their ideas to an accommodated sense of it, without ever attending to the direct or primary meaning in the passage where it occurs. The first and chief business of an expositor is, to endeavour to find out the primary meaning; and then, by way of edification or instruction, he may apply it in an accommodated sense. I shall beg leave, through the medium of your Miscellany, to mention a few texts or phrases, which, though very plain when the context and scope of the writer are duly attended to, are generally misunderstood, and therefore misapplied.

"The shadow of death," is a kind of proverbial phrase, which often occurs in the Old Testament, and sometimes in the New. It generally denotes some dark or gloomy scene, accompanied with imminent danger, fear, or terror, but has no immediate reference to death: the shadow of death is not death. In Job xxiv. 17, the wicked, who had been committing their crimes during the night, are represented in the morning to be in the shadow of death: that is, they are in fear lest they should be discovered; light to them is what darkness is to others. The phrase occurs in the 23d Psalm, which David probably composed when he was persecuted by Saul, and hunted from place to place. Though he was obliged to lie concealed in caverns and dreary forests, and suffered much affliction, yet he expresses his full confidence in God, as his Shepherd, who would guide, protect, and provide for him. This phrase should not be restricted to death; though it has often been improperly so applied.

In Isaiah Ixiii. 3, these words occur: "I have trodden the wine-press alone," &c. which have been strangely perverted, and applied to the sufferings and death of our Lord on the cross; whereas it is the very reverse: for the prophecy refers to a time of victory, when Christ shall gain a complete conquest over all bis enemies; and, like a mighty general, will trample and crush them, as grapes in the wine-press. Treading and trampling, are terms applicable to conquerors, not to the vanquished. So Joshua, after the victory, called his officers, and desired them to set their feet upon the necks of the kings whom they had conquered. Treading the wine-press of the wrath of Almighty God, is an image or figure, generally used by the prophets to describe the effects of the Divine vengeance: when the wicked, like grapes in the vintage, are fully ripe for destruction, the sickle is thrust in to cut them down; and they are cast into the "great wine-press of the wrath of God." And He that treadeth them is represented as having his "vesture dipt in blood;" not his own blood, but the blood of his enemies. Compare Rev. xiv. 19; xix. 13, 15.

That text in Amos iv. 12, "Prepare to meet thy God, O Israel," has been often quoted, and generally misapplied, or re

stricted as if referring to the time of death, or the general judgment in the great day. It is, indeed, the business of every person to think often of, and prepare for these great events; but if we look closely at the context here, we shall perceive that the words have a very different meaning. In the preceding verses, God enumerates various kinds of judgments and calamities which he had successively inflicted upon the Israelites, to bring them to repentance. Yet they continued stiff-necked, and persisted in their rebellion against him. He then intimates his intention to bring something upon them more dreadful than all that had gone before: therefore, he calls upon them to meet him in the way of his judgments, and to fight with him in battles, if they were able but reminds them, who and what he is, with whom they had to contend; even JEHOVAH, the Lord of Hosts, the Omnipotent, who doeth what he pleaseth, who trampleth on the high and mighty potentates of the earth, (here figuratively implied by mountains,) and can crush them in a moment. Now prepare to meet him; muster all your courage and all your forces, to contend with this Almighty Conqueror.

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Some persons, in quoting those words in Mark ix. 23, “ All things are possible to him that believeth," have mistaken the meaning of the passage; applying to the believer what belongs to Christ, when speaking of his own power, in reply to what the man had said in the preceding verse. There is a kind of antithesis here the man had said, "If thou canst do any thing:" Jesus replied, "If thou canst believe:" The question is not about my power; but thy faith. I can do all things: canst thou believe? Indeed the sentence is not accurately rendered here in our common version. The article rò is not translated: but it is very emphatic and important to the elucidation of the passage; and some substantive should be supplied, thus:-" The point is, If thou canst believe; all things can be done for him that believeth."

That sentence in 1 Cor. xiii. 12, "Then shall I know even as also I am known," as it stands in our translation, does not appear to be intelligible. The preposition in composition renders the verb, in the latter part of the clause, more intensive or emphatic ; and may be rendered thus:-" Hitherto I know in part; but then I shall fully know, even as I shall have been made to know ;", (that is, instructed or informed.) But, perhaps, the apostle here, though he wrote in Greek, adopts the idiom of his native language, in which verbs in the conjugation Hiphil, were often taken in a causative or permissive sense, as the subject matter required therefore, in imitation of this mode, he has put the Greek verb in the passive form.

"Ye are fallen from grace," Gal. v. 4, is a text that has frequently been quoted and misapplied, because misunderstood.

Grace here does not mean a state of grace; but the free favour, or gracious plan of acceptance offered in the Gospel. The sense of the clause is,-Ye have renounced or disclaimed the benefit of the gracious Gospel-dispensation, which is a free justification through Jesus Christ. The general design of this epistle is to shew that, under the Gospel-covenant, a sinner is justified freely, not by observing the ceremonies of the Mosaic law, or indeed by any works of law whatever, but by faith in Jesus Christ.. And the apostle reproves those of the Galatians, who, after having embraced the Gospel, had returned to what he calls the beggarly elements; and were attempting to incorporate the laws of Moses with Christianity. He tells them here, if they sought to be justified by the law, by the observance of circumcision or any other rite of that law, they had departed from, or renounced the Gospel-plan, and therefore could expect no benefit through Christ.

These few observations are here thrown out, not by way of controversy, but merely for discussion. Let every thing be fairly and candidly investigated, that may tend to establish TRUTH, or in any wise illustrate the written word of God. I am, Sir, your's,

Hackney, Nov. 14, 1818.

JAMES CREIGHTON.

THE WORKS OF GOD DISPLAYED.

To the Editor of the Methodist Magazine.
DEAR SIR,

Kettering. THE department of your excellent Miscellany denominated "The Works of God Displayed," has been read by thousands. with admiration and delight. The things created have a tendency to lead the mind to the great Creator; the briny drop carries out our thoughts to the magnificent and stupendous ocean, and the smallest ray of light inclines us to reflect upon the resplendent source of day. And in proportion as the faculties are exercised, in contemplating the vast and boundless system of nature, there is an approach to the great first Cause and Source of being and blessedness. W. B. BioWNE.

The Proofs of the being of a God, from the manifestation of design through the whole of external Nature.

"I read his awful name emblazon'd high,
With golden letters on the illumin'd sky;

Nor less the mystic characters I see

Wrought in each flower, inscribed on every tree!

In every creature own his forming power,

In each event his providence adore."

VOL. XLII. JANUARY, 1819.

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Survey this beautiful and magnificent system, this various and immense world, contemplate the azure vault of heaven, and its resplendent, and, to appearance numberless orbs, roiling with the most regular yet diversified motions; behold the sun appointed to rule the day, and the moon and the stars to rule the night. The different parts of the planetary system are placed at such convenient distances from the great fountain of vital warmth, and of exhilarating light, as to be destroyed neither by heat nor by cold; neither to be overwhelmed by effulgence, nor to be involved in darkness. Our earth is encompassed with an atmosphere so wonderfully contrived, as at once to support clouds for fertilizing rains, to afford winds for refreshment, the expulsion of noxious vapours, and navigation; to furnish vital breath to animals, to convey sound, and to transmit the rays of light. Seas and oceans, supplying vapours for the humid stores of the clouds, and for the sources of rivers, expand their liquid surface to facilitate the intercourse of men, and teem with inhabitants, subservient to their nourishment or their pleasure. The climates of the earth, though agreeably diversified, are nevertheless respectively provided with just proportions of day and of night, of summer and winter, and the other changes of season. The face of the globe is exquisitely adorned with the various and inimitable beauties of flowers, and plants, and trees, and with that verdant attire, which is, in spring, so peculiarly cheering and animating. "Lo! here thy wondrous skill arrays The earth in cheerful green; A thousand herbs thy art displays, A thousand flowers between,'

These beauties acquire fresh lustre from the diversity of the situations in which they are exhibited, from the contrast of hill and valley, lawn and forest, and all that rich variety of prospect which so often arrests the eye and exalts the soul. These elements of earth, air, and water, abound with animals, as different in species as they are infinite in multiplication, all employed in the pursuit and enjoyment of pleasures adapted to their respective natures and circumstances; and though the individuals are constantly perishing, succession is continually maintained, and the species remain, on the whole, entire and undiminished. Who then can behold this vast system of the universe without a high degree of admiration, mixed with awe and reverence, to the Supreme Being.

"Thy glories blaze all nature round,

And strike the wondering sight,

Through skies, and seas, and solid ground,
With terror and delight."

From the greatest to the least object that we behold, from the orient star that glitters in the heavens, to the insect that creeps

upon the ground, from the awful thunder that rolls in the skies, to the flower that flourishes in the field, all things testify a profound and mysterious wisdom, a mighty and all-powerful hand, before which we must tremble and adore.

"Infinite strength and equal skill

Shine through thy works abroad;
Our souls with vast amazement till,
And speak the builder God."

We are surrounded with astonishing magnificence on every hand. We walk through the earth as through the apartments of a splendid palace, which ought to fill every spectator with wonder and delight. All the works which our power can erect, all the ornaments which human art can contrive, are feeble and trifling in comparison with those glories which nature every where presents to our view. The immense arch of the heavens, the splendour of the sun in his meridian brightness, or the beauty of his rising and setting hours, the rich landscape of the fields, and the boundless expanse of the ocean, are scenes which mock every rival attempt of human skill and labour.

"Thy hand how wide it spreads the sky,

How glorious to behold!

Ting'd with a blue of heavenly dye,

And star'd with spangling gold."

Nor is it only in the splendid appearances of nature, but amidst its rudest forms, that we trace the hand of the Divinity. In the solitary desert and the lofty mountain, the roaring torrent, and the aged forest; though there be nothing to cheer, there is much to strike the mind with awe and reverence, to give rise to those solemn and sublime sensations which elevate the heart to an Almighty, All-creating Power.

"There the rough mountains of the deep

Obey thy strong command;

Thy breath can raise the billows steep,
Ör sink them to the sand."

In short, we can no where cast our eyes around us, without what is sufficient to awaken us to a reverence of the Deity. This reverence becomes the more profound, that the Great Being who is the object of it, is to us invisible, and, in certain senses, unknown. We may seek to discover him, but he hides himself from us, (Job xxiii. 8, 9.) We know that he is not far from every one of us, yet he shrouds himself in the darkness of his pavilion; he answereth from the secret place of thunder, (Psalm lxxxi. 7.) Before this incomprehensible Being, this God terrible and strong, we become in a manner annihilated; we feel the contrast, and "rejoice with trembling." For we know that the mighty arm which upholds the universe, and which surrounds us with wonders on every side, can in a moment crush us to dust,