“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.”
Ezra prays: "I am too ashamed and confused to lift my face to you, my God, for our iniquities have risen higher than our heads." The confession begins with personal identification with the community\'s sin, suggesting that Ezra understands himself as implicated in the transgression despite his own personal purity. The poetic language of iniquities rising higher than heads conveys the overwhelming magnitude of the violation. This verse demonstrates the spiritual maturity of intercessory prayer, in which the intercessor identifies with the community\'s sin and confesses on its behalf.
COMMUNITY REFLECTIONS
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