For if there be first a willing mind, it is accepted according to that a man hath, and not according to that he hath not.
Ver. 12. It is accepted] Sic minimo capitur thuris honore Deus. Noah's sacrifice could not be great, yet was greatly accepted. Jacob had his sons take a little of every good thing, and carry for a present to the lord of Egypt. Saul and his servant present Samuel with the fourth part of a shekel, to the value of about our five pence. Thankfulness (they had learned) was not measured by God and by good men by the weight, but by the will of the retributor. God calls for that which a man's heart inclines him to do, be it more, be it less; so low doth his highness stoop to our meanness, preferring the willingness of the mind before the worthiness of the work. That poor widow's mite was beyond the rich man's magnificence, because it came out of a richer mind.