Now therefore, O our God
This being our miserable case, and the seventy years' captivity being at an end, and thou still our covenant God, whom we profess and worship: hear the prayer of thy servant, and his supplications;
which he had put up in an humble manner, consisting of various petitions for grace and mercy before expressed: and cause thy face to shine upon thy sanctuary that is desolate;
the temple; its walls demolished, its altars thrown down, and the whole in ruins; a melancholy scene! the Lord, suffering these things, seemed to frown upon it, and upon his people, that used to serve him there; wherefore it is entreated that he would smile upon it again, and upon them, and cause it to be rebuilt, and his worship restored in it: and this is asked for the Lord's sake:
that is, for Christ's sake, who is Lord of all, especially of his chosen people, by creation, redemption, and marriage, as well as by their own consent and profession; and for whose sake, and in whose name, all requests are to be made to God, he being the only Mediator between God and man; and for the sake of whose blood, righteousness, and mediation, all the blessings of goodness are given unto men; and who also was Lord and proprietor of the temple, and was to come into it, as well as was the antitype of it.