Now therefore, our God, the great, the mighty, and
the
terrible God, who keepest covenant and mercy
The same titles Nehemiah gives to the Lord, ( Nehemiah 1:5
) and it may be reasonably thought the whole prayer is his
composure, which was delivered by him to the Levites:
let not all the trouble seem little before
thee;
as if it was not enough; let it be judged sufficient, and no more
be added, but mercy shown; Aben Ezra thinks the word "little" is
not to be connected with "trouble", but with the nearest
antecedent "mercy", and so Gussetius {z}; as if the sense was,
let not thy mercy be small with thee, but let it be largely
extended along with all the trouble, or at the time when trouble
of every kind
comes upon us, on our kings, on our princes, and on our
priests, and on
our prophets, and on our fathers, and on all thy people,
since the
times of the kings of Assyria unto this day;
but this sense is not clear, and makes it have respect to times
to come; whereas it relates to time past, and to all the trouble
and affliction they had met with from the Assyrian kings, from
the time they invaded their land, and carried them captive, until
this very time.