From the very beginning the party that has been offended [is mentioned], it is a sin against God. As David will say in Psalm 51:1–19,
against Thee, Thee only, have I sinned.Granted that is a bit of hyperbole, because of course we sin against our neighbours. But fundamentally who is the sin against? It is against the Lawgiver. Sin is a transgression of the law of God. It is against God that we sin. Fundamentally he is the offended party. Our sins, he says, have risen above our heads. They have just piled up one on top of the other, growing higher and higher, even up to the heavens. In other words, they have grown to such heights that they sit there right in the face of God, daring him to respond, provoking him. That is how great the sins of the people are…Sin is always primarily against God—against God's love, against God's law, against God's rule, against God's authority, against God's Word. You are not primarily sinning against your parents, the church, or society. When we sin, the sin is against God. He is the offended party… So Ezra deliberately begins with God. It is he whom we have angered. It is the Holy Spirit that we have grieved. We are the ones who become then the targets of his wrath and his judgment.1
Terry L. Johnson
6 saying:“O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift my face to you, my God, for our iniquities have risen higher than our heads, and our guilt has mounted up to the heavens.