And I said: "O my God, I am too ashamed and humiliated to lift up my face to You, my God; for our iniquities have risen higher than our heads, and our guilt has grown up to the heavens.—Ezra 9:6
O LORD God of Israel, You are righteous, for we are left as a remnant, as it is this day. Here we are before You, in our guilt, though no one can stand before You because of this!"—Ezra 9:15
So much ingratitude...so much trampling and despising on the mercy of God. So much evil returned for the goodness shown to them by their God. Nehemiah and Malachi later encountered the same sin. Neither God’s wrath in the exile, nor His grace in the return was enough to keep them from going there own way once again. Truly, Ezra says it all when he says “here we are before you in our guilt”. They were without excuse, as are we. There was nothing and there is nothing else to say.
They reward me evil for good,
To the sorrow of my soul.—Psalm 35:12
I love that Ezra did not stand “above” the people when he prayed. He did not point fingers nor did he speak to them in anger. Ezra’s prayer came from a heart broken not just by the people’s sin but his own sin as well. (Even though he did not sin in the way the people had) It was the “humble sound” of a contrite heart that caused the people to acknowledge their sin and rend their hearts and not their garments.
Now while Ezra was praying, and while he was confessing, weeping, and bowing down before the house of God, a very large assembly of men, women, and children gathered to him from Israel; for the people wept very bitterly. 2 And Shechaniah the son of Jehiel, one of the sons of Elam, spoke up and said to Ezra, “We have trespassed against our God, and have taken pagan wives from the peoples of the land; yet now there is hope in Israel in spite of this. 3 Now therefore, let us make a covenant with our God to put away all these wives and those who have been born to them, according to the advice of my master and of those who tremble at the commandment of our God; and let it be done according to the law. 4 Arise, for this matter is your responsibility. We also are with you. Be of good courage, and do it.”—Ezra 10:1-4
Beloved…Ending this one is hard…my heart is rightly sad. The sin of the people caused so much heartbreak and loss. Our own sin does the same. Sin does not just hurt the sinner. The sin of even one person hurts and defiles all who come into contact with them.
Oh Father! All of us stand before you guilty at times of going our own way and doing what is right in our own eyes. Help us to look ahead…to see the consequences of our sin not just for us but for our families as well. Give us a heart like Ezra that break over our sin. May it never be enough for us to just say we are sorry. Help us when we sin to not only confess it but to change our direction as well.
No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.—1 Corinthians 10:13
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