Then he openeth the ears of men, and sealeth their instruction,
Ver. 16. Then he openeth the ears of men] He maketh the bore bigger, as it were, that good counsel may enter; he calleth up the ears of the soul to the ears of the body, that one sound may pierce both; he saith, as to him in the Gospel Ephphatha; and together with his word there goeth forth a power, as Luke 4:32. See Job 36:10; Job 36:15 .
And sealeth their instruction] Or, their correction, for they go together, Psa 94:12 Proverbs 3:12,13; Proverbs 6:14, and God sealeth, or setteth on, the one by the other; as when a schoolmaster would have a lesson learned indeed, he set it on with a whipping. Luther saith, that many of St Paul's Epistles could not be understood but by the cross, Vexatio dat intellectum. Another grave divine giveth this good advice to find out the sin that God afflicteth for, consider what truths have been pressed upon your hearts before the affliction; for afflictions used to come as seals to instruction; before they did not come with power to your hearts, now God seals them: thus he. Bernard saith concerning his brother, when he gave him many good instructions, and he, being a soldier, minded them not; he put his finger to his sides, and said, One day a spear shall make way to this heart of thine for instructions and admonitions to enter. The Tigurine translation is full and elegant, Tunc aurem hominibus vellit, et disciplinam eorum velut impresso sigillo consignat: Then he pulleth men by the ear, and consigneth their instruction, as with a seal set unto it.