What does Romans 15:9 mean?
Paul is describing the reasons Christ came to earth. First, He was sent to become a servant to the Jewish people. He was, in fact, the means by which God kept all the promises He had made to Abraham and the patriarchs of Israel.Now Paul says that Christ also became a servant to the Jews for another reason: so that the Gentiles would glorify God for His mercy. When the Israelites, for the most part, refused to come to God through faith in Christ, God offered the gift of His grace through faith in Christ to the rest of the world (Romans 11:11–12). That's how Jesus' mission to serve the Jews resulted in so many Gentiles giving glory to God for His mercy in forgiving their sins and sharing His glory with them.
Paul offers several quotations from the Old Testament Scriptures to show that this was always God's plan. He begins with the quote in this verse, most likely from Psalm 18:49. It's also possible Paul is citing 2 Samuel 22:50. The picture Paul uses this verse to construct is of David or the Jewish people praising God alongside the Gentiles.
Romans 15:8–13 shows that Christ came to serve the Jewish people as the fulfillment of all of God's promises to them. In doing so, He also became the hope of the Gentile peoples around the world. The Old Testament prophesies reveal that God's plan was always to receive praise from the Gentiles and to make it possible for them to be included in His grace. Paul prays a blessing of hope, joy, peace, and power for his Roman readers.
Romans 15 begins with Paul's encouragement to those strong in faith: to please other Christians before themselves so the church can be unified. Christ came to fulfill God's promises to Israel and about the Gentiles. Paul is satisfied with the faith and practice of the Roman Christians. His work of taking the gospel to unreached regions of Gentiles in his part of the world is completed, and he longs to come see them. First, he must deliver financial aid to Jerusalem, a trip about which he asks them to pray along with him.