This passage, presented as a prayer of deliverance and an exhortation to wisdom, begins with an address to the Lord, acknowledging past divine interventions and confessing the people's sin and disobedience that led to their exile. The prayer expresses a plea for mercy and restoration, not based on the merit of ancestors, but on God's covenant promises and the hope that their deliverance will demonstrate His glory to the nations. The text then shifts to a reflection on wisdom, lamenting its absence among both the exiled Israelites and powerful past rulers, before emphasizing that true understanding and the "way to wisdom" have been revealed by God specifically to Israel through His law, urging them to embrace it for life and peace.