The great sorrow that Paul felt was due to the spiritual condition of the Jews, who continued being separated from God and far from Salvation due to the hardness of their hearts.

They did not acknowledge that the Scriptures had been fulfilled in the Lord Jesus and that He was the Messiah announced by the prophets; that is why they rejected Him.

The continual grief that Paul felt in his soul because of this situation was so deep that he even said he wished he were accursed, or separated from the Savior, if that could free his people from their destruction.

Of course, he knew that this was not the case, for Salvation is individual; however, he wanted to demonstrate his great desire to see his countrymen saved.

A true man of God agonizes when he sees people rejecting Salvation, for he knows of the terrible suffering that awaits them.

His desire to save souls is so great that he gives up everything to devote himself to the Work of the Lord