an evil, that he must not bury it out of sight, nor sweep it away, till he
slay me, yet will I trust in him.' I paused, and repeated the words over and over. Each repetition seemed to kindle a ray of hope, mixed with a determination, if' I might, to cast my perishing soul upon the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation, to be both pardoned and purified; for I felt that I needed the one as much as the other.
In this way I continued above an hour, weeping and supplicating mercy for the Saviour's sake (my soul hath it still in remembrance, and is humbled in me) ; and as the eye of the mind was more and more fixed upon him, my guilt and fears were gradually and insensibly removed, I now found rest for my troubled soul."
God's " wrath" (Job xxi. 20), his "fierce wrath" (Ex. xxxii, 12), his " great wrath "(Zech. vii.
12), his "anger and wrath" (Deut. xxix. 28), the "fury of his wrath "(Job xx. 23), the "fire of his wrath".
How God Overruled Man's Interruption
There were many reasons for not executing speedy sentence upon man, and upon the world which he had ruined. No careful reader of the Scriptures should be at much loss to discover these. They are written all over the Word of Truth.
God had his own reasons for allowing sin to enter. These same reasons inclined him not immediately to arrest its course. These reasons will open out as we pass along.
Meanwhile, at the very outset, let us suggest a few.
1. He wished to shew us what sin is: an evil, an infinite evil ; so great an evil, that he must not bury it out of sight, nor sweep it away, till he