This verse is not a self-righteous complaint against God. The people who are praying here are aware of their own sin and guilt (see verse 16). However, it is also true that the fall of Jerusalem was not the result only of their own generation’s sin. God had stored up his wrath for many generations, and it was now poured out over this one. Therefore, in this verse, the people pray that God will see and remember that they are the ones bearing all the punishment. In this way, they want to stir up God’s mercy toward them.
7 Our fathers sinned, and are no more; and we bear their iniquities.