36. We are servants. Since the children of Israel had refused to be servants of God, they were handed over to foreigners as slaves (see Jer. 5:19). For that matter, they still found themselves servants of a foreign power, the Persians, though God in His mercy had restored them a certain measure of independence and liberty. Compare 2 Chron. 12:8, where the service of God and “the service of the kingdoms of the countries” are contrasted.