"But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear."
When Ezra - a godly man - prayed on behalf of the people, he used the pronouns "our" and "we." (Ezra 9:5-15) Although he had not married a foreign woman as the rest of the people had done, he recognized that he was part of the whole that had turned their backs on God. Or maybe he recognized the fact that he had his own sin that wasn't widely known.
When King David prayed, he, too, included himself culpable of the sins committed by the nation of Israel.
As Christians, we need to remember that the sins of the nation include our own culpability. Even if we have spoken up, there are still sins that we are guilty of that haven't been made public. I remember my pastor telling me, as I sat before him, unmarried and pregnant, "I have sin in my life, too. Mine just isn't going to be as obvious as yours will be in a couple of months."
If we're tempted to "grumble and complain," may our hearts be quickened to the truth of our own guilt before a holy and just God. May our hearts cry out to Him in spirit and in truth for grace and the wisdom to speak, not only courageously, but with compassion, so that the hearts of the people would turn to Him, trusting Him for salvation. That's where true hope - and change - lies.
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