The Pulpit Commentary — 1 Timothy — Section 38

in this connection it is put forward as embodying the glory of the blessed God. "The gospel of the glory of the blessed God." Such are the words of Paul, the great gospel preacher, t<1 his pupil Timothy. Consider, in the first place, how it belongs to the ~leased God !-° c_ommunicate his blessedness; and, in the seamd place, how 1he gospel 18 a commumcat10n of the glory of the blessedness of God. First, then, how it bel01,g., to the blessed God to communicate his blesse,lness. The "blessed God " is an uncommon conception in Scripture. We indeed find-" Art thou the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?" "The Creator, who i11 blessed for ever;" "God blessed for ever." But "blessed" there ia adorable, worthy to be praised; literally, "worthy to be well spoken of." It is the word which conveys an acknowledgment of God's claim to undivided worship. Whereas "blessed" here is equivalent to "happy" as applied to us. God is said to be blessed, as we are said to be happy. And seeing "blessed" is used in a. totally different sense in Scripture, the" happy God" would best convey the sense here. And we see no reason why we should not say that God is happy, when in the original the word which is applied to God is the same which is applied to man. 'l'here is only one other place in Scripture where God is said to be thus blessed; and, noticeably, it is in this same Epistle: "The blessed and only Potentate;" literally, "the happy and only Potentate." It is as if the inspired writer consciously supplied a want. It had never been said that God was happy. So twi.ce he introduces this conception into this late Epistle. And it is to be regretted that in the Revised Version "happy" has not been substituted for" blessed" in the two places. The blessedness of God is not different in kind from ours. If there is any deep calm in our minds, that is the same with the calm of God. If any true thrill of joy passes through our hearts, that is the same which passes through the heart of God. But blessedness is God's in a. way that it is not ours. We are only blessed in him who gave us being, and for whom we have being. And ours is a blessedness that can he added to. We are finite, and there will always be, in the fact of our finitude, a desire to be more blessed. But C':rod is self-blessed. We think of this by means of the con- ception of God existing far a.way in a past eternity, when there was yet no other intelligence, not even the faintest reflection of his glory in any created object, and as happy then as now when he has peopled a universe. Such a thought is not bearable by us, and God has not asked us to dwell upon it; and we would say that, while we may be forced thus to think of Godhead as self-poised, or resting in self, we may at the same time be allowed to dwell upon the far more pleasing thought of the Three Persons of the Godhead as resting in one another. Father, Son, and Holy Gho,t are happy in one another's society and fellowship. It will be felt that that thought, which is denied to the Unitarian, greatly relieves the thought of a God isolated, in his blessed- ness, a.way before and out of time. Still the fact remains, that as the one God ,s infinitely blessed., so also he is blessed in himself. As there is in his boundless being no void of blessedness to fill up, no jarring note to correct, so there can be no desire to make himself more blessed. But it perfectly consists with that that he should desire to make other8 blessed. 'l'his is in keeping with what we find among men. It is true of the miserable man that he is selfish. It is there that he is wrong, at the very commencement. In the very act of enclosing himself, or in the habit of keepin~ himself enclosed within his own shell, he shuts himself out from blessedness. He dues not go out to God. At every approach and overture of God, he draws back further within himself. His sin is that he will keep within himself, and will not go out in confession and desire and faith toward God. And so God does not bless him. Re does not go out in love to God's creatures, and so these do not bless him. And thus, shutting bim8elf out from blessedness, his tendency is to grudge blessedn~ss to others. He has a secret joy in misfortune. He could see a funeral pall drawn over all that is fair in nature. He would have the smile to vanish from our countenance. lie would have sweet voices hushed. He would h11ve all things brought down to his own dull level. And, worst outcome of all-yet we would say a necessary outcome-he grudges even God his blessedness. His feeling is that, being miserable himself, he could see God less happy than he is. 'l'he happy man, on the other hand, is unscltish. lt is by being open that he comes to be happy. He goes out to God in meek nline~a- tion of self, and so God blesses him. Ile goes out to Gud's creatures in delight and vatitude and meroy, and BO he receives contributions to hi,; happiness on every side.  26 THE FIRST EPISTLE TO TIMOTHY. [OB. L 1-20,