AELW 11:20
Psalm 77:4 You hold my eyelids open;
I am so troubled that I cannot speak.
"4. My eyes awaited the night watches, that is, so that they might not be watchful in conformity with the devil, by having them wickedly open. The Hebrew puts it better, “I prohibited the upward look of my eyes,” that is, “I did not dare lift them up to heaven because of the knowledge of my vileness and unworthiness,” because he is thoroughly humbled, he also casts down the eyes of the flesh and makes his way as a humble and quiet man. This is the sign of the most genuine remorse and recollection. [But much more does he incline his eyes in the spirit (that is, he does not lift up his thought); see the gloss.BELOW] Just so, on the contrary, the unprincipled and vagrant man scatters his most shifty eyes in every direction. But the sense of our translation is that he who is remorseful also wakes up early and is ready for the works of the Lord. He always tries to be the first and is thoroughly prepared and in this way always anticipates the watches and what must be done."
GLOSS - A marginal addition. The gloss adds: “I forbade my eyes to look up to keep them from being on the lookout according to the flesh, lest I think thoughts of arrogance.” Cf. WA 527, 9–11.
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