Nehemiah 9:27
Therefore thou deliveredst them into the hand of their enemies, who vexed them: and in the time of their trouble, when they cried unto thee, thou heardest them from heaven; and according to thy manifold mercies thou gavest them saviours, who saved them out of the hand of their enemies.
The verse stands in the great prayer of confession in Nehemiah 9, where Nehemiah and Ezra humbled themselves before God, confessed their own sins and the sins of their people, and sought pardon as though they themselves were offenders. That prayerful work went forward amid severe opposition, even from supposed friends who sided with evil and laid burdens on God's servants. The surrounding chapter is a review of the Lord's works on behalf of His people.
Before the judgment the verse describes, God had subdued the Canaanites before Israel and given them strong cities, a rich land, houses full of goods, wells, vineyards, oliveyards and abundant fruit, in which they ate and were filled and delighted themselves in His great goodness. The calamities and oppression that followed were caused by their own evildoing, for they were disobedient and rebelled and turned from God. They rejected His law and cast it behind their backs, slew His prophets who testified to turn them back to Him, and wrought great provocations. They lived to please themselves instead of pleasing God and doing His will, failed to value His favors and to give Him the glory due His name, and their sins in turning from Him separated them from Him.
Therefore God delivered them into the hand of their enemies and allowed heathen nations to control them, who vexed and oppressed them and held dominion over them. That suffering under their enemies was just punishment for sin, and God's dealings with them were just. Yet in the time of their trouble, when they cried unto Him in distress, He heard them from heaven. According to His manifold mercies He gave them saviours who saved them out of the hand of their enemies, raising up deliverers who rescued them. He did not forsake His people altogether but was gracious despite their ingratitude, delivering them again and again.
After they had rest they did evil again, and so were left again in the power of their enemies under their dominion. Living to please themselves instead of pleasing God and doing His will brought those sorrows and disasters upon them, and heeding the word of the Lord and respecting His warnings would have saved them from them. God's repeated compassion in hearing and delivering them in distress is a lesson to show compassion and practical help to distressed fellow believers.