There is such a praise-filled set of verses at the end of Romans 11.  Verse 33 – “Oh the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!” – is an echo of Psalm 139.6.  Then portions of Isaiah 40 and Job 35 and 41 are quoted:

                “For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?

                Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?”

And the last verse is an often-used doxology: “For from him and through him and to him are all things.  To him be glory forever. Amen.”

Why this outpouring of acclaim right here?  Paul, the apostle to the gentiles, has been discussing a difficult matter – the ultimate destination of Jews who do not believe in Jesus.   In all his missionary stops he used the rejection of Jesus by the Jews as an appropriate transition point for concentrating his efforts on the Gentiles (see Acts 17.3). He uses the Jewish rejection as a warning to the Gentiles in verse 20: “so do not become proud, but fear.”

Paul sees the benefits to the Gentiles BECAUSE the Jews were unseeing and unhearing. But he loves his Jewish brothers and hopes the best for them.  He is not sure of their fate, calling it a mystery in verse 28.  But he IS sure of the goodness of his God, who is full of mercy and grace.  He ends a hard teaching with glorious wonder at the greatness of the Creator, providing encouragement to trust and obey, even if all is not understood.