Nevertheless we made our prayer unto our God, and set a watch against them day and night, because of them.
Ver. 9. Nevertheless we made our prayer unto our God] Who is the saints' sanctuary of safety, their present help in time of trouble. Prayer to him is an anchor in all storms and a salve for all sores; yea, it healeth not only body and soul, but even hard stony walls, Nehemiah 4:7, provided that we judge ourselves in prayer, and commit our cause to God to be judged by him, as the Hebrew word נחפלל here importeth. Thus did the children of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh, when to fight against the Hagarenes. Thus did Jabiz, and Jehoshaphat, and Constantine, and Theodosius, and that late victorious king of Sweden, of whom it is storied in his Life (Mr Clark), that he would pray ashipboard, ashore, in the field, in the midst of a battle; as if prayer alone were the surest piece of his whole armour.
And set a watch] According to that of our Saviour, "Watch and pray," Luke 21:36, and that of the heathen, Admota manu invocanda est Minerva. Ora et labora, pray, and then use best policy; first conquer heaven, and then presume of earth's conquest.
Against them] Or, beside them, at the workmen's elbows, and in the face of the enemies.