d up their wounds, Ps. cxlvii. 3.--In the words: "He
wakeneth, &c." we are told in what manner the Lord gives to His Servant
the disciple's tongue. _To waken_ [Pg 252] _the ear_ is equivalent to:
to make attentive, to make ready for the reception of the divine
communications. The expression "morning by morning" indicates that the
divine wakening is going on uninterruptedly, and that the Servant of
God unreservedly surrenders himself to the influences which come from
above, in which He has become an example to us.

Ver. 5. "_The Lord Jehovah hath opened mine ear, and I was not
rebellious, and have not turned back._"

The phrases "to open or uncover the ear" have always the signification,
"to make known something to some one," "to reveal to him something."
"to inform him," both in ordinary circumstances (comp. 1 Sam. xx. 12;
Ruth iv. 4), and on the religious territory, comp. 2 Sam. vii. 27: "For
thou, Lord of Hosts, God of Israel, hast opened the ear of thy servant,
saying: I will build thee an house;" Isa. xlviii. 8: "Thou heardest
not, thou knewest not, nor was formerly thine ear opened;" chap. xlii.
20: "The ear was opened to him." According to this well established
_usus loquendi_, "The Lord hath opened mine ear," can only mean: The
Lord hath revealed to me, hath informed me inwardly; _Abenezra_:
[Hebrew: glh svdv li] "He has made known to me His secret." What the
Lord has made known to His Servant, we are not here expressly told; but
it may be inferred from ver. 6, where the Servant declares that which,
in consequence of the divine manifestation, He did, viz., that He
should give His back to the smiters, &c. The words: "The Lord hath
opened mine ear" here are connected with: "The Lord wakeneth mine ear,
that I may hear," in the preceding verse: The Lord has specially made
known to me that, in carrying out my vocation, I shall have to endure
severe sufferings. _To this subject the Servant of God quickly passes
over, after having, in the introduction, described, by a few features,
the vocation, in the carrying out of which these sufferings should
befal Him._ As the authors of these sufferings, we must conceive of the
party opposed to the weary, viz., the proud, secure, unbroken sinners.
On "I was not rebellious," compare what, in Deut. xxi. 20, is written
of the stubborn and rebellious son who will not obey the voice of his
father; and farther, the words: [Greek: plen ouch hos ego thelo all'hos
su], Matt. xxvi. 39.