7 Let every man do after the purpose of his heart; not giving with grief, or by force: for God takes pleasure in a ready giver.
Say to the children of Israel that they are to make me an offering; from every man who has the impulse in his heart take an offering for me.
For if there is a ready mind, a man will have God's approval in the measure of what he has, and not of what he has not.
And I am conscious, my God, that you are the searcher of hearts, taking pleasure in righteousness. As for me, with an upright heart I have freely given all these things; and I have seen with joy your people who are here to make their offerings freely to you.
He who has the power of comforting, let him do so; he who gives, let him give freely; he who has the power of ruling, let him do it with a serious mind; he who has mercy on others, let it be with joy.
In all things I was an example to you of how, in your lives, you are to give help to the feeble, and keep in memory the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, There is a greater blessing in giving than in getting.
If in any of your towns in the land which the Lord your God is giving you, there is a poor man, one of your countrymen, do not let your heart be hard or your hand shut to him; But let your hand be open to give him the use of whatever he is in need of. And see that there is no evil thought in your heart, moving you to say to yourself, The seventh year, the year of forgiveness is near; and so looking coldly on your poor countryman you give him nothing; and he will make an outcry to the Lord against you, and it will be judged as sin in you. But it is right for you to give to him, without grief of heart: for because of this, the blessing of the Lord your God will be on all your work and on everything to which you put your hand. For there will never be a time when there are no poor in the land; and so I give orders to you, Let your hand be open to your countrymen, to those who are poor and in need in your land.
Take from among you an offering to the Lord; everyone who has the impulse in his heart, let him give his offering to the Lord; gold and silver and brass;
But give him freely from your flock and from your grain and your wine: in the measure of the wealth which the Lord your God has given you, you are to give to him.
He who is kind will have a blessing, for he gives of his bread to the poor.
Do not take the food of him who has an evil eye, or have any desire for his delicate meat: For as the thoughts of his heart are, so is he: Take food and drink, he says to you; but his heart is not with you. The food which you have taken will come up again, and your pleasing words will be wasted.
But the noble-hearted man has noble purposes, and by these he will be guided.
Say no hard things against one another, brothers, so that you will not be judged; see, the judge is waiting at the doors.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on 2 Corinthians 9
Commentary on 2 Corinthians 9 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 9
In this chapter the apostle seems to excuse his earnestness in pressing the Corinthians to the duty of charity (v. 1-5), and proceeds to give directions about the acceptable way and manner of performing it, namely, bountifully, deliberately, and freely; and gives good encouragement for so doing (v. 6-15).
2Cr 9:1-5
In these verses the apostle speaks very respectfully to the Corinthians, and with great skill; and, while he seems to excuse his urging them so earnestly to charity, still presses them thereto, and shows how much his heart was set upon this matter.
2Cr 9:6-15
Here we have,
Lastly, The apostle concludes this whole matter with this doxology, Thanks be to God for his unspeakable gift, v. 15. Some think that by this unspeakable gift he means the gift of grace bestowed on the churches, in making them able and willing to supply the necessities of the saints, which would be attended with unspeakable benefit both to the givers and receivers. It should seem rather that he means Jesus Christ, who is indeed the unspeakable gift of God unto this world, a gift we have all reason to be very thankful for.