עזרא, פרק ט׳, פסוק י׳

A moment of deep embarrassment unfolds before God, driven by the stark contrast between Divine kindness and human failure. After experiencing all the good that God has bestowed upon the Israelites, a profound sense of worthlessness arises. There is no room to complain or claim that God's goodness was somehow insufficient. Because the people abandoned the commandments, even the smallest act of grace is a completely unearned gift that they do not deserve [מצודת דוד, ביאור שטיינזלץ].

An even deeper layer of shame stems from the fragile state of their current redemption. This redemption is still incomplete, and the sins of the past have not yet been fully forgiven. The entire purpose of this partial salvation was to provide the people with an opportunity to improve their ways and cleanse themselves of their old failures. The tragedy intensifies when considering what can possibly be said in their defense now. Instead of using this chance to fix their past mistakes, the reality is the exact opposite: they have piled entirely new sins on top of the old ones [מלבי״ם].