Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
Ezra 9:8

Clarke's Commentary

Verse Ezra 9:8. And now for a little space — This interval in which they were returning from servitude to their own land.

Grace hath been showed] God has disposed the hearts of the Persian kings to publish edicts in our favour.

To leave us a remnant to escape — The ten tribes are gone irrecoverably into captivity; a great part even of Judah and Benjamin had continued beyond the Euphrates: so that Ezra might well say, there was but a remnant which had escaped.

A nail in his holy place — Even so much ground as to fix our tent-poles in.

May lighten our eyes — To give us a thorough knowledge of ourselves and of our highest interest, and to enable us to re-establish his worship, is the reason why God has brought us back to this place.

A little reviving — We were perishing, and our hopes were almost dead; and, because of our sins, we were sentenced to death: but God in his great mercy has given us a new trial; and he begins with little, to see if we will make a wise and faithful use of it.

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

9:1-10:44 THE PROBLEM OF MIXED MARRIAGES

Ezra’s grief (9:1-15)

One of the first problems that Ezra dealt with was that of mixed marriages. Israelite men had married non-Israelite wives and had families by them. The practice was widespread and involved even the leaders of the community. If allowed to continue, it could destroy Israel’s religion and even Israel’s identity as a distinct race (9:1-2).
When told of the matter, Ezra was overcome with grief and shame. He turned to God to confess the sin on behalf of the nation (3-5). He acknowledged that God had frequently and justly punished his people for their rebellion by allowing them to fall captive to their enemies; but in his grace God always left some to carry on the nation. The present liberty and protection that Persia gave them were further evidences of God’s grace (6-9). Ezra’s fear was that because of this latest rebellion against his law, God would act in judgment again, but this time leave no remnant at all (10-15).

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

EZRA'S PRAYER REGARDING ISRAEL'S SIN IN THE MIXED MARRIAGES

"And at the evening oblation I arose up from my humiliation, even with my garment and my robe rent; and I fell upon my knees, and spread out my hands unto Jehovah my God; and I said, O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift up my face to thee, my God; for our iniquities are increased over our head, and our guiltiness is grown up unto the heavens. Since the days of our fathers we have been exceeding guilty unto this day; and for our iniquities have we, our kings, and our priests, been delivered into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, to plunder, and to confusion of face, as it is this day. And now for a little moment grace hath been showed from Jehovah our God, to leave us a remnant to escape, and to give us a nail in his holy place, that our God may lighten our eyes, and give us a little reviving in our bondage. For we are bondmen; yet our God hath not forsaken us in our bondage, but hath extended lovingkindness unto us in the sight of the kings of Persia, to give us a reviving, to set up the house of our God, and to repair the ruins thereof, and to give us a wall in Judah and in Jerusalem. And now, O our God, what shall we say after this? for we have forsaken thy commandments, which thou hast commanded by thy servants the prophets, The land, unto which ye go to possess it, is an unclean land through the uncleanness of the peoples of the lands, through their abominations, which have filled it from one end to another with their filthiness: now therefore give not your daughters unto their sons, neither take their daughters unto your sons, nor seek their peace or their prosperity forever; that ye may be strong, and eat the good of the land, and leave it for an inheritance to your children for ever. And after all that has come upon us for our evil deeds, and for our great guilt, seeing that our God hast punished us less than our iniquities deserve, and hast given us such a remnant, shall we again break thy commandments, and join in affinity with the peoples that do these abominations? wouldest thou not be angry with us till thou hadst consumed us, so that there should be no remnant, nor any to escape? O Jehovah, the God of Israel, thou art righteous; for we are left a remnant that is escaped, as it is this day: behold, we are before thee in our guiltiness;for none can stand before thee because of this."

"At the evening oblation I arose up from my humiliation" "This is probably to be identified with the ninth hour (3:00 P.M.) (Acts 3:1)."Wycliffe Bible Commentary, Vol. 16, p. 133.

"Our guiltiness is grown up unto the heavens" This was also the conviction of Nehemiah (Nehemiah 9:29-35), and likewise that of Daniel (Daniel 9:5-8). "The captivity had effectively done its work in convincing a previously proud and self-righteous nation of their gross wickedness and unfaithfulness to God."F. C. Cook, Barnes' Commentary Series, Ezra, p. 453.

"Since the days of our fathers we have been exceeding guilty" "The guilt which Ezra confessed was not merely that of his contemporary generation but that of their whole history. The guilt of the corporate community transcended that of a given generation."Broadman Bible Commentary, op. cit., p. 466.

"To give us a nail in his holy place" "This metaphor is probably derived from a tent-pin, driven into the earth to secure the tent."F. C. Cook, Barnes' Commentary Series, op. cit., p. 452.

"We are bondmen… God hath not forsaken us… to give us a wall in Judah and Jerusalem" Although the Persian kings had granted favors to the Jews regarding their return to Jerusalem and the building of their temple, they nevertheless still remained subjects of the Persian king, bound to obey him in everything. The mention of "a wall" here does not mean that the walls of Jerusalem had been rebuilt. "The word wall means a fence, and is used of a fence around a vineyard; and it is used here metaphorically for protection."Arthur S. Peake's Commentary, p. 329.

"Which thou hast commanded by thy servants the prophets" Ezra here, by the words, "The land unto which ye go to possess it," clearly had the Mosaic age in mind; and we have already cited three references in the Books of Moses that forbade foreign covenants including marriages; but the mention here of "prophets" has led some scholars to point out that there are no specific commandments in the prophets regarding this. However, as Moses was the Great Prophet unto whom even the Christ was compared; and since all of the prophets endorsed the Mosaic Law and commanded the people to observe it, "It was proper for Ezra to designate the Mosaic Law as the sayings of the prophets also."C. F. Keil, Keil and Delitzsch's Old Testament Commentaries, op. cit., p. 122.

"God hast punished us less than our iniquities deserve" It is significant that Ezra includes himself along with the guilty people, identifying himself in every way with the sinful nation. Note also that he acknowledges the righteous judgment of God in the acceptance of his punishments as being "less than they deserved."

We appreciate Bowman's rejection of the criticism of some radical scholars who deny the authenticity of this prayer, on the basis of several, erroneous assumptions and `guesses.' He wrote: "This prayer does not have an artificial or secondary nature, but is psychologically as well as historically appropriate. It is relevant to the occasion and necessary for the development of the situation."The Interpreter's Bible, Vol. 3, p. 647.

This magnificent prayer was used by the Lord to rally Israel around Ezra and to provide sufficient support for the drastic rejection of the mixed marriages.

Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

The “little space” was above 60 years, counting from the second year of Darius Ezra 4:24, or about 80 years, counting from the first year of Cyrus Ezra 1:1. This does not seem to Ezra much in the “lifetime” of a nation.

A remnant to escape - Rather, “a remnant that has escaped.” The “remnant” is the new community that has returned from the captivity.

A nail - Compare the marginal note and reference. The metaphor is probably drawn from a tent-pin, which is driven into the earth to make the tent firm and secure.

Smith's Bible Commentary

Chapter 9

Now when these things were done, the princes came to me, saying, The people of Israel, and the priests, and the Levites, have not separated themselves from the people of the lands, doing according to their abominations, even of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites. For they have taken of their daughters for themselves, and for their sons: so that the holy seed have mingled themselves with the people of those lands: yea, the hand of the princes and rulers hath been chief in this trespass ( Ezra 9:1-2 ).

Now they came to Ezra and they gave to him this awesome report. For God said to them when they had come in to the land that they weren't to take any of the daughters for their own sons or give their daughters to their sons to be married. That they were to be a separate people, a holy people unto God. And they weren't to have any intermarriages with the other tribe. The reason being that God was preserving the holy seed for the coming of His Son. Also, they were, there was the danger that they would begin to worship the gods of the Canaanites and the Perizzites and all. So God forbid inter-racial marriages only for the Jews. And I think that it's important we point this out.

God did not make a general prohibition of inter-racial marriages. There are those who try to make out that inter-racial marriages are against the Scriptures. That is not so. It was only for the Jews that God commanded them not to marry inter-racially with those inhabitants of the land. But even Boaz, the great grandfather of David, married a Moabitess. And from that, of course, Christ was in that line. But the prohibition was not to marry the people of the land, lest you turn to their gods and turn away from the living God.

So they bring the report to Ezra now, "Since they've returned, these guys haven't been keeping the law of God. They've been marrying these gals and actually the priests and the chief leaders are some of the worst offenders." Now the effect that this had on Ezra was just overwhelming. You see, Ezra had come back to teach them the law of God. He was a teacher and a ready scribe, and his whole purpose in returning was to teach the people the law of God. And here they had been for seventy years in captivity in Babylon because of their idolatry, because of their disobedience to God, and now they've been in the land again for just about eighty years, but they're right back in their old idolatry. And it's just more than Ezra can believe. He's just astonished.

When I heard this thing, I tore my clothes and my mantle, I pulled my hair out of my head and off my beard, and I sat down astonished ( Ezra 9:3 ).

"I can't believe this!" And so he pulls out his hair, beard, tears his clothes and just sits down there astonished.

And then were assembled unto me every one that trembled at the words of the God of Israel, because of the transgression of those that had been carried away; and I sat astonished until the evening sacrifice. And at the evening sacrifice I arose up from my heaviness; and having torn my garment and my mantle, I fell on my knees, and spread out my hands unto the LORD my God, and I said, O my God, I am ashamed and I blush to lift up my face to thee, my God: for our iniquities are increased over our head, and our trespass is grown up unto the heavens. For since the days of our fathers have we been in a great trespass unto this day; and for our iniquities have we, our kings, and our priests, been delivered into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, and to a spoil, and to confusion of face, as it is this day. And now for a little space grace hath been showed from the LORD our God, to leave us a remnant to escape, and to give us a nail in his holy place, that our God might lighten our eyes, and give us a little reviving in our bondage. For we were bondmen; yet our God hath not forsaken us in our bondage, but hath extended mercy unto us in the sight of the kings of Persia, to give us a reviving, to set up the house of our God, and to repair the desolations thereof, and to give us a wall in Judah and in Jerusalem. And now, O our God, what shall we say after this? for we have forsaken thy commandments, which thou hast commanded by thy servants the prophets, saying, The land, unto which ye go to possess it, is an unclean land with the filthiness of the people of the lands, with their abominations, which have filled it from one end to another with their uncleanness. Now therefore give not your daughters unto their sons, neither take their daughters unto your sons, nor seek their peace or their wealth for ever: that ye may be strong, and eat the good of the land, and leave it for an inheritance to your children for ever. And after all that is come upon us for our evil deeds, and for our great trespass, seeing that thou our God hast punished us less than our iniquities deserve, and hast given us such deliverance as this; should we again break thy commandments, and join in affinity with the people of these abominations? wouldest not thou be angry with us till thou hadst consumed us, so that there should be no remnant nor escaping? O LORD God of Israel, thou art righteous: for we remain yet escaped, as it is this day: behold, we are before thee in our trespasses: for we cannot stand before thee because of this ( Ezra 9:4-15 ).

So Ezra's tremendous prayer unto God. Shows that he does have a good knowledge of the law of God which he came to teach the people. Shows that he does have a good concept of the will of God and of the purpose of God for the people, and offers his prayer before God, acknowledging that the judgments of God really were merciful. He did not judge them as much as they deserved. And here they're going right back and doing the same thing. "God, what can I say? We are lucky that you haven't wiped out us completely. We're fortunate that we still exist." And so he calls out unto God for the people. And so they come to him, the leaders and the people and they said, "We've done a terrible thing." And so this was the remedy.

Those who had married wives from the land were to put them away and the children. It seems like a very harsh measure indeed. But they were to divorce all of those wives that were not Israelites. And all of the children that were born of them were to be put out. They said, "Hey, give us a little time to do it because there's quite a few of us that have trespassed in this thing." And so they took this very stringent measure in putting them out.

Now I did mention that inter-racial marriages were only forbidden to the Jews, but there is for we, Christians, the injunction: "Be not unequally yoked together with an unbeliever." So you should never go into a marriage with an unbeliever. You're just violating the law of God. "What fellowship hath light with darkness? What communion, concord hath Christ with Belial?" ( 2 Corinthians 6:14 , 2 Corinthians 6:15 ) "

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

Ezra’s prayer 9:5-15

The priests presented the evening offering (Ezra 9:5) between 2:30 and 3:30 p.m. in Jesus’ day. [Note: Alfred Edersheim, The Temple: Its Ministry and Service, p. 144.] This was the traditional time for this offering. Ezra’s prayer contains four primary characteristics: solidarity, confession, readiness to change, and faith in God’s mercy. [Note: McConville, pp. 63-65.] In his sermonic prayer, Ezra identified with the body of believers, even though he had not personally participated in their sin (cf. Daniel 9:4-19).

"In a time like today in which individuality is emphasized, people cannot always understand this attitude. For the Israelites, and later for the Jews, the Lord contracted a covenant with all the people and not only with individuals. All the people were responsible for the acts of every individual or group (cf. also Judges 19-21)." [Note: Fensham, The Books . . ., pp. 123-24.]

We enter into the blessing and discipline of others simply because we are part of the group to which we belong.

Ezra’s posture (Ezra 9:5) reflected his attitude of humility and submission to God. Israel had departed from God’s revealed will. Ezra confessed this as sin (Ezra 9:6-7; Ezra 9:10). He also thanked God for His grace to the immigrants (Ezra 9:8-9). The "peg" (Ezra 9:8) in view could refer to both the temple [Note: Whitcomb, p. 431.] and the returned exiles. [Note: The New Scofield Reference Bible, p. 543.] These were the first small beginnings of a larger establishment in the land that would follow, as the pounding in of a tent peg is the first step in erecting a tent. It was "a foothold."

"This is language from nomadic life, and it refers to a place reached after a long journey where a tent may be pitched." [Note: Fensham, The Books . . ., p. 129.]

"A little grace had been granted by God to his people; a small remnant had found its weary way back to its home and driven a single peg into its soil; a solitary ray of light was shining; a faint breath of freedom lightened their slavery." [Note: Slotki, p. 166.]

Ezra summarized the teaching of former prophets in Ezra 9:11-12. Then he reflected on the destiny of the Israelites (Ezra 9:13-15). He contrasted Israel’s sin and guilt with God’s holiness and righteousness. He made no request or promise. He just confessed the sin of the people and reflected on its significance. This is one of the great prayers God recorded in the Old Testament (cf. 2 Chronicles 6; Nehemiah 9; Daniel 9). It illustrates how a faithful individual should respond to the sins of the people among whom he or she lives.

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

And now, for a little space, grace hath been showed from the Lord our God,.... It was but a small time since the Lord first began to show favour to them, so that they soon after began to revolt from him; which argued the strange propensity of their minds to that which is evil, and from which they could not be restrained by the recent goodness of God unto them:

to leave us a remnant to escape; out of captivity, from whence a small number were graciously and safely returned to their own land:

and to give us a nail in his holy place; a fixed settlement in the land of Judea, the holy land the Lord had chosen, and in the temple, the holy place sacred to his worship; or a prince of their own, Zerubbabel, to be the governor of them, under whom they might enjoy settled happiness and prosperity, see Isaiah 22:23,

that our God may lighten our eyes; refresh our spirits, cheer our souls, and give us light and gladness, see 1 Samuel 14:27

and give us a little reviving in our bondage; for they were still in some degree of bondage, being in subjection, and tributaries to the kings of Persia; but yet being returned to their own land, it was as life from the dead unto them, at least it was giving them a little life, liberty, and joy.

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

      5 And at the evening sacrifice I arose up from my heaviness; and having rent my garment and my mantle, I fell upon my knees, and spread out my hands unto the LORD my God,   6 And said, O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift up my face to thee, my God: for our iniquities are increased over our head, and our trespass is grown up unto the heavens.   7 Since the days of our fathers have we been in a great trespass unto this day; and for our iniquities have we, our kings, and our priests, been delivered into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, and to a spoil, and to confusion of face, as it is this day.   8 And now for a little space grace hath been showed from the LORD our God, to leave us a remnant to escape, and to give us a nail in his holy place, that our God may lighten our eyes, and give us a little reviving in our bondage.   9 For we were bondmen; yet our God hath not forsaken us in our bondage, but hath extended mercy unto us in the sight of the kings of Persia, to give us a reviving, to set up the house of our God, and to repair the desolations thereof, and to give us a wall in Judah and in Jerusalem.   10 And now, O our God, what shall we say after this? for we have forsaken thy commandments,   11 Which thou hast commanded by thy servants the prophets, saying, The land, unto which ye go to possess it, is an unclean land with the filthiness of the people of the lands, with their abominations, which have filled it from one end to another with their uncleanness.   12 Now therefore give not your daughters unto their sons, neither take their daughters unto your sons, nor seek their peace or their wealth for ever: that ye may be strong, and eat the good of the land, and leave it for an inheritance to your children for ever.   13 And after all that is come upon us for our evil deeds, and for our great trespass, seeing that thou our God hast punished us less than our iniquities deserve, and hast given us such deliverance as this;   14 Should we again break thy commandments, and join in affinity with the people of these abominations? wouldest not thou be angry with us till thou hadst consumed us, so that there should be no remnant nor escaping?   15 O LORD God of Israel, thou art righteous: for we remain yet escaped, as it is this day: behold, we are before thee in our trespasses: for we cannot stand before thee because of this.

      What the meditations of Ezra's heart were, while for some hours he sat down astonished, we may guess by the words of his mouth when at length he spoke with his tongue; and a most pathetic address he here makes to Heaven upon this occasion. Observe,

      I. The time when he made this address--at the evening sacrifice,Ezra 9:5; Ezra 9:5. Then (it is likely) devout people used to come into the courts of the temple, to grace the solemnity of the sacrifice and to offer up their own prayers to God in concurrence with it. In their hearing Ezra chose to make this confession, that they might be made duly sensible of the sins of their people, which hitherto they had either not taken notice of or had made light of. Prayer may preach. The sacrifice, and especially the evening sacrifice, was a type of the great propitiation, that blessed Lamb of God which in the evening of the world was to take away sin by the sacrifice of himself, to which we may suppose Ezra had an eye of faith in this penitential address to God; he makes confession with his hand, as it were, upon the head of that great sacrifice, through which we receive the atonement. Certainly Ezra was no stranger to the message which the angel Gabriel had some years ago delivered to Daniel, at the time of the evening sacrifice, and as it were in explication of it, concerning Messiah the Prince (Daniel 9:21; Daniel 9:24); and perhaps he had regard to that in choosing this time.

      II. His preparation for this address. 1. He rose up from his heaviness, and so far shook off the burden of his grief as was necessary to the lifting up of his heart to God. He recovered from his astonishment, got the tumult of his troubled spirits somewhat stilled and his spirit composed for communion with God. 2. He fell upon his knees, put himself into the posture of a penitent humbling himself and a petitioner suing for mercy, in both representing the people for whom he was now an intercessor. 3. He spread out his hands, as one affected with what he was going to say, offering it up unto God, waiting, and reaching out, as it were, with an earnest expectation, to receive a gracious answer. In this he had an eye to God as the Lord, and as his God, a God of power, but a God of grace.

      III. The address itself. It is not properly to be called a prayer, for there is not a word of petition in it; but, if we give prayer its full latitude, it is the offering up of pious and devout affections to God, and very devout, very pious, are the affections which Ezra here expresses. His address is a penitent confession of sin, not his own (from a conscience burdened with its own guilt and apprehensive of his own danger), but the sin of his people, from a gracious concern for the honour of God and the welfare of Israel. Here is a lively picture of ingenuous repentance. Observe in this address,

      1. The confession he makes of the sin and the aggravations of it, which he insists upon, to affect his own heart and theirs that joined with him with holy sorrow and shame and fear, in the consideration of it, that they might be deeply humbled for it. And it is observable that, though he himself was wholly clear from this guilt, yet he puts himself into the number of the sinners, because he was a member of the same community--our sins and our trespass. Perhaps he now remembered it against himself, as his fault, that he had staid so long after his brethren in Babylon, and had not separated himself so soon as he might have done from the people of those lands. When we are lamenting the wickedness of the wicked, it may be, if we duly reflect upon ourselves and give our own hearts leave to deal faithfully with us, we may find something of the same nature, though in a lower degree, that we also have been guilty of. However, he speaks that which was, or should have been, the general complaint.

      (1.) He owns their sins to have been very great: "Our iniquities are increased over our heads (Ezra 9:6; Ezra 9:6); we are ready to perish in them as in keep waters;" so general was the prevalency of them, so violent the power of them, and so threatening were they of the most pernicious consequences. "Iniquity has grown up to such a height among us that it reaches to the heavens, so very impudent that it dares heaven, so very provoking that, like the sin of Sodom, it cries to heaven for vengeance." But let this be the comfort of true penitents that though their sins reach to the heavens God's mercy is in the heavens,Psalms 36:5. Where sin abounds grace will much more abound.

      (2.) Their sin had been long persisted in (Ezra 9:7; Ezra 9:7): Since the days of our fathers have we been in a great trespass. The example of those that had gone before them he thought so far from excusing their fault that it aggravated it. "We should have taken warning not to stumble at the same stone. The corruption is so much the worse that it has taken deep root and begins to plead prescription, but by this means we have reason to fear that the measure of the iniquity is nearly full."

      (3.) The great and sore judgments which God had brought upon them for their sins did very much aggravate them: "For our iniquities we have been delivered to the sword and to captivity (Ezra 9:7; Ezra 9:7), and yet not reformed, yet not reclaimed--brayed in the mortar, and yet the folly not gone (Proverbs 27:22)-- corrected, but not reclaimed."

      (4.) The late mercies God had bestowed upon them did likewise very much aggravate their sins. This he insists largely upon, Ezra 9:8; Ezra 9:9. Observe, [1.] The time of mercy: Now for a little space, that is, "It is but a little while since we had our liberty, and it is not likely to continue long." This greatly aggravated their sin, that they were so lately in the furnace and that they knew not how soon they might return to it again; and could they yet be secure? [2.] The fountain of mercy: Grace has been shown us from the Lord. The kings of Persia were the instruments of their enlargement; but he ascribes it to God and to his grace, his free grace, without any merit of theirs. [3.] The streams of mercy,--that they were not forsaken in their bondage, but even in Babylon had the tokens of God's presence,--that they were a remnant of Israelites left, a few out of many, and those narrowly escaped out of the hands of their enemies, by the favour of the kings of Persia,--and especially that they had a nail in his holy place, that is (as it is explained, Ezra 9:9; Ezra 9:9), that they had set up the house of God. They had their religion settled and the service of the temple in a constant method. We are to reckon it a great comfort and advantage to have stated opportunities of worshipping God. Blessed are those that dwell in God's house, like Anna that departed not from the temple. This is my rest for ever, says the gracious soul. [4.] The effects of all this. It enlightened their eyes, and it revived their hearts; that is, it was very comfortable to them, and the more sensibly so because it was in their bondage: it was life from the dead to them. Though but a little reviving, it was a great favour, considering that they deserved none and the day of small things was an earnest of greater. "Now," says Ezra, "how ungrateful are we to offend a God that has been so kind to us! how disingenuous to mingle in sin with those nations from whom we have been, in wonderful mercy, delivered! how unwise to expose ourselves to God's displeasure when we are tried with the returns of his favour and are upon our good behaviour for the continuance of it!"

      (5.) It was a great aggravation of the sin that it was against an express command: We have forsaken thy commandments,Ezra 9:10; Ezra 9:10. It seems to have been an ancient law of the house of Jacob not to match with the families of the uncircumcised, Genesis 34:14. But, besides that, God had strictly forbidden it. He recites the command, Ezra 9:11; Ezra 9:12. For sin appears sin, appears exceedingly sinful, when we compare it with the law which is broken by it. Nothing could be more express: Give not your daughters to their sons, nor take their daughters to your sons. The reason given is because, if they mingled with those nations, they would pollute themselves. It was an unclean land, and they were a holy people; but if they kept themselves distinct from them it would be their honour and safety, and the perpetuating of their prosperity. Now to violate a command so express, backed with such reasons, and a fundamental law of their constitution, was very provoking to the God of heaven.

      (6.) That in the judgments by which they had already smarted for their sins God had punished them less than their iniquities deserved, so that he looked upon them to be still in debt upon the old account. "What! and yet shall we run up a new score? Has God dealt so gently with us in correcting us, and shall we thus abuse his favour and turn his grace into wantonness?" God, in his grace and mercy, had said concerning Sion's captivity, She hath received of the Lord's hand double for all her sins (Isaiah 40:2); but Ezra, in a penitential sense of the great malignity that was in their sin, acknowledged that, though the punishment was very great, it was less than they deserved.

      2. The devout affections that were working in him, in making this confession. Speaking of sin,

      (1.) He speaks as one much ashamed. With this he begins (Ezra 9:6; Ezra 9:6), O my God! I am ashamed and blush, O my God! (so the words are placed) to lift up my face unto thee. Note, [1.] Sin is a shameful thing; as soon as ever our first parents had eaten forbidden fruit they were ashamed of themselves. [2.] Holy shame is as necessary an ingredient in true and ingenuous repentance as holy sorrow. [3.] The sins of others should be our shame, and we should blush for those who do not blush for themselves. We may well be ashamed that we are any thing akin to those who are so ungrateful to God and unwise for themselves. This is clearing ourselves,2 Corinthians 7:11. [4.] Penitent sinners never see so much reason to blush and be ashamed as when they come to lift up their faces before God. A natural sense of our own honour which we have injured will make us ashamed, when we have done a wrong thing, to look men in the face; but a gracious concern for God's honour will make us much more ashamed to look him in the face. The publican, when he went to the temple to pray, hung down his head more than ever, as one ashamed, Luke 18:13. [5.] An eye to God as our God will be of great use to us in the exercise of repentance. Ezra begins, O my God! and again in the same breath, My God. The consideration of our covenant-relation to God as ours will help to humble us, and break our hearts for sin, that we should violate both his precepts to us and our promises to him; it will also encourage us to hope for pardon upon repentance. "He is my God, notwithstanding this;" and every transgression in the covenant does not throw us out of covenant.

      (2.) He speaks as one much amazed (Ezra 9:10; Ezra 9:10) "What shall we say after this? For my part I know not what to say: if God do not help us, we are undone." The discoveries of guilt excite amazement: the more we think of sin the worse it looks. The difficulty of the case excites amazement. How shall we recover ourselves? Which way shall we make our peace with God? [1.] True penitents are at a loss what to say. Shall we say, We have not sinned, or, God will not require it? If we do, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. Shall we say, Have patience with us and we will pay thee all, with thousands of rams, or our first-born for our transgression? God will not thus be mocked: he knows we are insolvent. Shall we say, There is no hope, and let come on us what will? That is but to make bad worse. [2.] True penitents will consider what to say, and should, as Ezra, beg of God to teach them. What shall we say? Say, "I have sinned; I have done foolishly; God be merciful to me a sinner;" and the like. See Hosea 14:2.

      (3.) He speaks as one much afraid, Ezra 9:13; Ezra 9:14. "After all the judgments that have come upon us to reclaim us from sin, and all the deliverances that have been wrought for us to engage us to God and duty, if we should again break God's commandments, by joining in affinity with the children of disobedience and learning their ways, what else could we expect but that God should be angry with us till he had consumed us, and there should not be so much as a remnant left, nor any to escape the destruction?" There is not a surer nor sadder presage of ruin to any people than revolting to sin, to the same sins again, after great judgments and great deliverances. Those that will be wrought upon neither by the one nor by the other are fit to be rejected, as reprobate silver, for the founder melteth in vain.

      (4.) He speaks as one much assured of the righteousness of God, and resolved to acquiesce in that and to leave the matter with him whose judgment is according to truth (Ezra 9:15; Ezra 9:15): "Thou art righteous, wise, just, and good; thou wilt neither do us wrong nor be hard upon us; and therefore behold we are before thee, we lie at thy feet, waiting our doom; we cannot stand before thee, insisting upon any righteousness of our own, having no plea to support us or bring us off, and therefore we fall down before thee, in our trespass, and cast ourselves on thy mercy. Do unto us whatsoever seemeth good unto thee,Judges 10:15. We have nothing to say, nothing to do, but to make supplication to our Judge," Job 9:15. Thus does this good man lay his grief before God and then leave it with him.