O LORD, the God of Israel, you are just, for we are left a remnant that has escaped, as it is today. Behold, we are before you in our guilt, for none can stand before you because of this.”
Ezra's long prayer over the exiles who had married into the nations around them ends with a verdict, not a request: God is righteous, and the guilty have no ground to stand on. So the closing words raise a hard question — if my guilt leaves me unable to stand before God, what happens next?
A Prayer That Asks for Nothing
The prayer has an unusual shape. The time of day matters, and so does what is missing from it.
F. B. HoleAt the time of the evening sacrifice, when there was a small picture pointing to the sacrifice of Christ, Ezra arose with his torn garments. He fell on his knees to approach God in the remarkable prayer recorded in verses 6-15. In it he makes no request at all. From first to last it is humble and heartbroken confession of sins he had not shared in himself.
What Ezra leaves out matters as much as what he says. He hands the whole case over to God and suggests no outcome.
Leslie M. GrantNotice that Ezra does not ask forgiveness for the people, but simply confesses Israel's guilt before the Lord, leaving God to do as He sees fit with them. He declares that God is righteous in leaving only the few Jews as a remnant. Yet because God is righteous, no one in that remnant could stand before Him, because of their guilt.
Why He Calls God Righteous
Ezra calls God righteous. He is taking sides, and he has just recalled the mercy that spared them. One writer explains why he brings that mercy up.
Edward DennettBut why does he recall this proof of the Lord's grace and mercy? It was to show what His people's sin really was. He hides nothing and excuses nothing, but spreads it all out before God. He then ends by justifying God once more, and by taking His part against himself and the people.
What "Cannot Stand" Means
To stand is a word about judgment. Scripture ties it to God's throne, and to whether a sinner can hold his ground there.
C E StuartThese passages connect the thought of standing with the throne of God. Its action must go out in judgment against the sinner, unless God can forgive the guilty one. "But with you there is forgiveness," we read, "that you may be feared." Before that throne, then, the sinner in his sins cannot stand. Scripture does not teach that his standing is a bad one that he must change. It states plainly that as a sinner he has no standing before a God of judgment. He does not need a better standing, because by nature he has none at all. Apart from redemption and atonement the sinner has no standing before God's throne. What he needs is to gain one.
Why Ezra Says "We"
Ezra had not married a foreign wife. Yet from start to finish he says "we." Commentators treat this as the mark of true confession.
The Bible TreasuryConfession, thorough and unreserved, was in it. In a day of ruin, when you look at the state of God's people, there cannot be true prayer without true confession. And true confession is not saying, "They have sinned," but, "We have sinned."
The Way Back Opens Here
Standing before God "in our guilt" sounds like a dead end. Writers on this chapter read it as the place where recovery starts and spreads.
H. L. RossierIs restoration possible at this moment for these poor escaped souls? Yes. It is found in the attitude of those who had no part in this defilement. They still take responsibility for it so fully that they identify themselves with those who remain under God's judgment. We shall see what this does. Held with a sincere heart before God, this attitude and this thorough confession of evil work on those who had sinned and bring them back.
One writer adds what it means when people stay away from that ground.
Edward DennettThe place of confession is always the place of both restoration and spiritual power. So it is always a sign of a bad condition when people seldom take that place.
Summary
- Righteous — Ezra's verdict on God comes first. He takes God's part against himself and his people instead of defending them.
- Remnant — the survivors are alive by mercy, not by merit. Ezra points to that mercy to show how serious the sin is.
- Cannot stand — before God's throne a sinner has no ground at all. Only forgiveness can give him one.
- We, not they — Ezra confesses sins he never committed. Writers call this the test of real prayer in a day of ruin.
- Restoration — the ground where no one can stand is where recovery starts. One person who takes it draws the guilty back with him.