19 and say unto the people of the land, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah concerning the inhabitants of Jerusalem, in the land of Israel: They shall eat their bread with anxiety, and drink their water with astonishment, because her land shall be left desolate of all that is in it, for the violence of all them that dwell therein.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Ezekiel 12:19
Commentary on Ezekiel 12:17-20
(Read Ezekiel 12:17-20)
The prophet must eat and drink in care and fear, with trembling, that he might express the condition of those in Jerusalem during the siege. When ministers speak of the ruin coming upon sinners, they must speak as those that know the terrors of the Lord. Afflictions are happy ones, however grievous to flesh and blood, that improve us in the knowledge of God.