Charles Ellicott Commentary Ezekiel 3:14

"So the Spirit lifted me up, and took me away; and I went in bitterness, in the heat of my spirit; and the hand of Jehovah was strong upon me." — Ezekiel 3:14 (ASV)

I went in bitterness, in the heat of my The prophet now begins to realize the sorrow and the trial of the task laid upon him. The command of the Lord was sweet (Ezekiel 3:3), but its performance is bitter. “But the hand of the Lord was strong” upon him, and he could not forbear.

Compare this to the similar experience of Jeremiah (Jeremiah 20:8–9). When, in his discouragement, he had almost resolved to refuse to declare God's message, the word of the Lord was as a burning fire within him, and he could not refrain. This is an experience which every faithful teacher in God’s name is obliged, more or less fully, to pass through.