'Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift.'--2
COR. ix. 15.
It seems strange that there should ever have been any doubt as to what
gift it is which evokes this burst of thanksgiving. There is but one of
God's many mercies which is worthy of being thus singled out. There is
one blazing central sun which shines out amidst all the galaxy of lights
which fill the heavens. There is one gift of God which, beyond all
others, merits the designation of 'unspeakable.' The gift of Christ
draws all other divine gifts after it. 'How should He not with Him also
freely give us all things.'
The connection in which this abrupt jet of praise stands is very
remarkable. The Apostle has been dwelling on the Christian obligation of
giving bountifully and cheerfully, and on the great law that a glad
giver is 'enriched' and not impoverished thereby, whilst the recipients,
for their part, are blessed by having thankfulness evoked towards the
givers. And that contemplation of the happy interchange of benefit and
thanks between men leads the fervid Apostle to the thoughts which were
always ready to spring to his lips--of God as the great pattern of
giving and of the gratitude to Him which should fill all our souls. The
expression here 'unspeakable' is what I wish chiefly to fix upon now. It
means literally that which cannot be fully declared. Language fails
because thought fails.