My soul is consumed with longing for your ordinances at all times.
Parallel Translations
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My soul is consumed with longing for your ordinances at all times.
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My soul breaketh for the longing that it hath unto thy judgments at all times.
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My soul breaketh for the longing that it hath unto Thine ordinances at all times.
Cross-references (13)
Passages linked to Psalms 119:20 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Psalms 42:1-2 As the deer pants for the water brooks, so my soul pants after you, God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God?
- Psalms 84:2 My soul longs, and even faints for the courts of Yahweh. My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.
- Job 23:11-12 My foot has held fast to his steps. I have kept his way, and not turned away. I haven’t gone back from the commandment of his lips. I have treasured up the words of his mouth more than my necessary food.
- Psalms 63:1 God, you are my God. I will earnestly seek you. My soul thirsts for you. My flesh longs for you, in a dry and weary land, where there is no water.
- Psalms 119:131 I opened my mouth wide and panted, for I longed for your commandments.
- Psalms 119:40 Behold, I long for your precepts! Revive me in your righteousness.
- Psalms 119:174 I have longed for your salvation, Yahweh. Your law is my delight.
- Job 27:10 Will he delight himself in the Almighty, and call on God at all times?
- Proverbs 17:17 A friend loves at all times; and a brother is born for adversity.
- Revelation 3:15-16 “I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were cold or hot. So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will vomit you out of my mouth.
- Psalms 106:3 Blessed are those who keep justice. Blessed is one who does what is right at all times.
- Proverbs 13:12 Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but when longing is fulfilled, it is a tree of life.
- Song of Solomon 5:8 I adjure you, daughters of Jerusalem, If you find my beloved, that you tell him that I am faint with love.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (13 sources)
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Psa 119:20 My soul breaketh for the longing [that…
Psa 119:20 My soul breaketh for the longing [that it hath] unto thy judgments at all times.
Ver. 20. My soul breaketh] The Seventy render it, My soul hath desired to desire thy judgments. How many broken spirits do even spend and exhale themselves in continual sallies, as it were, and egressions of affection to God and his judgments! Comminuitur, debilior fit. The stone will fall down to come to its own place, though it break itself in many pieces; so the good souls.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Breaketh; fainteth, as it frequently doth, when a thing…
Breaketh; fainteth, as it frequently doth, when a thing vehemently desired is denied or delayed. Compare Pro 13:12.
Unto thy judgments; to a more sound knowledge and serious practice of them.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain David had prayed that God would open his eyes…
David had prayed that God would open his eyes (Psa 119:18) and open the law (Psa 119:19); now here he pleads the earnestness of his desire for knowledge and grace, for it is the fervent prayer that avails much. 1. His desire was importunate: My soul breaketh for the longing it hath to thy judgments, or (as some read it) "It is taken up, and wholly employed, in longing for thy judgments; the whole stream of its desires runs in this channel. I shall think myself quite broken and undone if I want the word of God, the direction, converse, and comfort of it." 2. It was constant - at all times. It was not now and then, in a good humour, that he was so fond of the word of God; but it is the habitual temper of every sanctified soul to hunger after the word of God as its necessary food, which there is no living without.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Remove from me reproach and contempt,.... Or, "roll it…
Remove from me reproach and contempt,.... Or, "roll it from me" (u). It lay as a load, as a heavy burden upon him, which pressed him sore; and he therefore desired ease from it, being probably in a low frame of soul; otherwise saints do and should rejoice when reproached for Christ's sake; and esteem it, with Moses, more than all the treasures in Egypt, being what is common to them with their Lord;
for I have kept that testimonies; which was the reason why he was reproached and despised; for having a regard to the word of God, and embracing and professing the doctrines of it. Thus the word of the Lord was made a reproach to Jeremiah, or he was reproached for delivering it; as many good men have been vilified, and have suffered for the testimony of Jesus, Jer 20:8; and for walking according to the directions, of it; wicked men thinking it strange they do not run into the same excess of not with them, and therefore speak evil of them, Pe1 4:3.
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(u) "devolve a me", Pagninus, Montanus, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Breaketh - Faints, as it frequently does, when a…
Breaketh - Faints, as it frequently does, when a thing vehemently desired is delayed. Judgments - To a more sound knowledge and serious practice of them.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 20. My soul breaketh] We have a similar…
Verse 20. My soul breaketh] We have a similar expression: It broke my heart, That is heart-breaking, She died of a broken heart. It expresses excessive longing, grievous disappointment, hopeless love, accumulated sorrow. By this we may see the hungering and thirsting which the psalmist had after righteousness, often mingled with much despondency.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain My soul breaketh - This word means to break;…
My soul breaketh - This word means to break; to crush; to break in pieces by scraping, rubbing, or grating. The idea would seem to be, not that he was crushed as by a single blow, but that his soul - his strength - was worn away by little and little. The desire to know more of the commands of God acted continually on him, exhausting his strength, and overcoming him. He so longed for God that, in our language, “it wore upon him” - as any ungratified desire does. It was not the possession of the knowledge of God that exhausted him; it was the intenseness of his desire that he might know more of God.
For the longing - For the earnest desire.
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That it hath unto thy judgments at all times - Thy law; thy commands. This was a constant feeling. It was not fitful or spasmodic. It was the steady, habitual state of the soul on the subject. He had never seen enough of the beauty and glory of the law of God to feel that all the needs of his nature were satisfied, or that he could see and know no more; he had seen and felt enough to excite in him an ardent desire to be made fully acquainted with all that there is in the law of God. Compare the notes at Psa 17:15.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 20. A plea for an answer to the prayer…
20. A plea for an answer to the prayer of Psa_119:19. His soul breaks, lit. is crushed, overwhelmed and consumed with longing for the fuller knowledge of God’s judgements, i.e. the authoritative declaration of His Will. See above, p. 704.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (20) Breaketh.—The Hebrew is peculiar to this place and…
(20) Breaketh.—The Hebrew is peculiar to this place and Lam_3:16. The LXX., Vulg., and Aquila have “greatly desired;” Symmachus, “was perfect;” Theodotion, “had confidence;” Jerome, “longed,” all which point either to a different reading or to a different sense from that which is given in the lexicons to the word.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain My soul breaketh for the longing that it hath…
My soul breaketh for the longing that it hath unto thy judgments at all times. This is given as a reason for the prayer of ver. 19.
The soul breaking through its forced watchings.
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"My soul breaketh out for the very fervent desire that it hath always unto thy judgments." This expression reminds us of our Lord"s beatitude, "Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness." "True godliness lies very much in desires. As we are not what we shall be, so also we are not what we could be. The desires of gracious men after holiness are intense they cause a wear of heart, a straining of the mind, till it feels ready to snap with the heavenly pull. A high value of the Lord"s commandment leads to a pressing desire to know and to do it, and this so weighs upon the soul that it is ready to break in pieces under the crush of its own longings." The idea seems to be that the psalmist is really trying to know God"s will, and strictly and carefully watching himself, and seeking to get what he knows to be God"s will adjusted to his conduct. But he is dissatisfied; he wants to reach a freer and nobler kind of obedience. It is all too formal for him. He wants to serve with a bound: to fly at the Lord"s bidding. His loving soul frets against all limitations and restraints. He would break out of his cage. He would get into the large liberty of unhindered service of God. The apostle gives the answering Christian mood when, fretting against body-bonds, he says, "O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
I IT IS WELL TO HAVE THE SOUL BIGGER THAN THE CIRCUMSTANCES. Consider this especially in relation to the obedience of God"s Law which circumstances permit. Bodily conditions and earthly circumstances put limits on our obedience. It is a bad sign if a man keeps contentedly within his limits. We must want a higher, fuller, worthier obedience than we have ever attained.
II IT IS WELL TO HAVE THE SOUL ACTUALLY PRESSING OUT OF THE LIMITS OF ITS CIRCUMSTANCES. What a humdrum life it would be if we had always to keep within what we call facts! We press beyond facts into the glorious world of imaginations and possibilities. And so there is an imagined obedience to God, and joy in his Word and will, toward which we should ever be pressing, breaking bounds to get into that higher world of service. And a measure of triumph over circumstances limiting obedience is attainable now, and it prepares us for the full liberty unto righteousness which is the glory of our by-and-by. R.T.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Charles H. Spurgeon 1885 · Public Domain Ver. 20. My soul breaketh for the longing that…
Ver. 20. My soul breaketh for the longing that it hath unto thy judgments at all times. True godliness lies very much in desires. As we are not what we shall be, so also we are not what we would be. The desires of gracious men after holiness are intense, they cause a wear of heart, a straining of the mind, till it feels ready to snap with the heavenly pull. A high value of the Lord's commandment leads to a pressing desire to know and to do it, and this so weighs upon the soul that it is ready to break in pieces under the crush of its own longings. What a blessing it is when all our desires are after the things of God. We may well long for such longings.
God's judgments are his decisions upon points which else had been in dispute. Every precept is a judgment of the highest court upon a point of action, an infallible and immutable decision upon a moral or spiritual question. The word of God is a code of justice from which there is no appeal.
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"This is the Judge which ends the strife
Where wit and reason fail;
Our guide through devious paths of life,
Our shield when doubts assail." Watts.
David had such reverence for the word, and such a desire to know it, and to be conformed to it, that his longings caused him a sort of heart break, which he here pleads before God. Longing is the soul of praying, and when the soul longs till it breaks, it cannot be long before the blessing will be granted. The most intimate communion between the soul and its God is carried on by the process described in the text. God reveals his will, and our heart longs to be conformed thereto. God judges, and our heart rejoices in the verdict. This is fellowship of heart most real and thorough.
Note well that our desire after the mind of God should be constant; we should feel holy longings "at all times." Desires which can be put off and on like our garments are at best but mere wishes, and possibly they are hardly true enough to be called by that name, they are temporary emotions born of excitement, and doomed to die when the heat which created them has cooled down. He who always longs to know and do the right is the truly right man. His judgment is sound, for he loves all God's judgments, and follows them with constancy. His times shall be good, since he longs to be good and to do good at all times.
Remark how this fourth of the third eight chimes with the fourth of the fourth eight. "My soul breaketh"; "my soul melteth." There is surely some recondite poetic art about all this, and it is well for us to be careful in studying what the psalmist was so careful in composing.
Ver. 20. My soul breaketh, etc. Here is a protestation of that earnest desire he had to the obedience of the word of God; he amplifies it two ways: first, it was no light motion, but such as being deeply rooted made his heart to break when he saw that he could not do in the obedience thereof what he would. Next, it was no vanishing motion, like the morning dew; but it was permanent, omni tempore, he had it at all times. William Cowper.
Ver. 20. My soul breaketh for the longing, as one that with straining breaks a vein. William Gurnall.
Ver. 20. My soul breaketh, etc. This breaking is by rubbing, chafing, or crushing. The spirit was so fretted with its yearning desire after the things which Jehovah had spoken, that it was broken as by heavy friction. The "longing" to find out and follow the hidden wonders was almost unbearable. This longing continued with the Psalmist "at all times, "or "in every season." Prosperity could not make him forget it; adversity could not quench it. In sickness or health, in happiness or sadness, in company or alone, nothing overcame that longing. "The wondrous things" were so wonderful, and still so hidden. To see a little of "the beauty of the Lord" is to get to know how much there is which we fail to see, and thus to long more than ever. He who pursues ardently the wonders of the word of the Lord, will never set that longing at rest as long as he remains "in the earth." It is only when we shall "be like him, " and "shall see him as he is, "that we shall cry, "Enough, Lord!" "I shall be satisfied when I awake in thy likeness." F. G. Marchant.
Ver. 20. My soul breaketh for the longing. For the earnest desire. "That it hath unto thy judgments at all times." Thy law; thy commands. This was a constant feeling. It was not fitful, or spasmodic. It was the steady, habitual state of the soul on the subject. He had never seen enough of the beauty and glory of the law of God to feel that all the wants of his nature were satisfied, or that he could see and know no more; he had seen and felt enough to excite in him an ardent desire to be made fully acquainted with all that there is in the law of God. Albert Barnes.
Ver. 20. My soul breaketh for the longing, etc. The desire after God's appointments becomes painfully intense. A longing an intense longing for the judgments of the Lord at all times. These are the particulars of his breaking soul. His whole mind is toward the things of God. He prays that he may behold the wondrous things of Jehovah's law, and that he may not hide his commandments from him; and here his soul breaks for longing towards his judgments at all times. The state of the Psalmist's mind would not lead us here to suppose that he was awaiting the manifestation of the Lord's judgments in vindicating his cause against ungodly men, or that he was longing for opportunity of fulfilling all the deeds of righteousness towards his fellow men; for this he was doing to the utmost. Evidently he is intent upon the ordinances of religion, which were called "judgments" in reference to the solemn sanctions with which they were enjoined. The man of God so longed to join with the Lord's people in these, that his heart was ready to break with desire, as he was forced from place to place in the wilderness. The renewed heart is here. Another might long to be delivered from persecution, to be at rest, to be restored to home, relations, and comfort. The man of God could not but desire those natural enjoyments; but, over all, his holy mind longed with ardour for the celebration of Jehovah's worship. John Stephen.
Ver. 20. Thy judgments. God's judgments are of two sorts: first, his commands; so called because by them right is judged and discerned from wrong. Next, his plagues executed upon transgressors according to his word. David here refers to the first. Let men who have not the like of David's desire, remember, that they whose heart cannot break for transgressing God's word because they love it, shall find the plagues of God to bruise their body and break their heart also. Let us delight in the first sort of these judgments, and the second shall never come upon us. William Cowper.
Ver. 20. Mark that word, at all times. Bad men have their good moods, as good men have their bad moods. A bad man may, under gripes of conscience, a smarting rod, the approaches of death, or the fears of hell, or when he is sermon sick, cry out to the Lord for grace, for righteousness, for holiness; but he is the only blessed man that hungers and thirsts after righteousness at all times. Thomas Brooks, 1608-1680.
Ver. 20. At all times. Some prize the word in adversity, when they have no other comfort to live upon; then they can be content to study the word to comfort them in their distresses; but when they are well at ease, they despise it. But David made use of it "at all times; " in prosperity, to humble him; in adversity, to comfort him; in the one, to keep him from pride; in the other, to keep him from despair; in affliction, the word was his cordial; in worldly increase, it was his antidote; and so at all times his heart was carried out to the word either for one necessity or another. Thomas Manton.
Ver. 20. At all times. How few are there even among the servants of God who know anything of the intense feeling of devotion here expressed! O that our cold and stubborn hearts were warmed and subdued by divine grace, that we might be ready to faint by reason of the longing which we had "at all times" for the judgments of our God. How fitful are our best feelings! If today we ascend the mount of communion with God, tomorrow we are in danger of being again entangled with the things of earth. How happy are they whose hearts are "at all times" filled with longings after fellowship with the great and glorious object of their love! John Morison, 1829.
Ver. 20. If you read the lives of good men, who have been, also, intellectually great, you will be struck, I think, even to surprise, a surprise, however, which will not be unpleasant, to find them, at the close of life, in their own estimation so ignorant, so utterly imperfect, so little the better of the long life lesson. Dr. Chalmers, after kindling churches and arousing nations to their duties, summed up his own attainments in the word "desirousness, "and took as the text that best described his inner state, that passionate, almost painful cry of David, My soul breaketh for the longing that it hath unto thy judgments. But how grand was the attainment! To be in old age as simple as a little child before God! To be still learning at threescore years and ten! How beautiful seem the great men in their simplicity! Alexander Raleigh, in "The Little Sanctuary, "1872.
Ver. 20.
1. The word sought, and sought at all times.
2. The word sought, and sought with intense desire.
3. The word sought, and sought the more intensely the more it is found. It was because he had found so much in the word of the Lord already, that the soul of the Psalmist was breaking to find more. Those who have been once admitted to "the secret of the Lord" find their highest joy in knowing that secret still more fully. It is to those who know that secret that the promise is given: "He will show them his covenant:" Ps 25:14. F.G.M.
Ver. 20. One of the best tests of character and prophecies of what a man will be, are his longings.
1. The saint's absorbing object:"Thy judgments." The word here is synonymous with the "word" of God.
(a) The Psalmist greatly reverenced the word.
(b) He intensely desired to know its contents.
(c) He wishes to feed upon God's word.
(d) He longed to obey it.
(e) He longed to feel the power of God's judgments in his own
heart.
2. The saint's ardent longings.
(a) They constitute a living experience.
(b) The expression used in the text represents a humble
sense of imperfection.
(c) It indicates an advanced experience.
(d) It is an experience which we may term a bitter sweet.
(e) These longings may become very wearying to a man's
soul.
3. Cheering reflections.
(a) God is at work in your soul.
(b) The result of God's work is very precious.
(c) It is leading on to something more precious.
(d) The desire itself is doing you good.
(e) It makes Christ precious. See "Spurgeon's Sermons, "No.
1586: "Holy Longings."
Psalms 119:21*
Charles H. Spurgeon's The Treasury of David (1869–1885) — public domain. Psalms only. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain My soul breaketh for the longing that it hath…
Psa_119:20-21
My soul breaketh for the longing that it hath unto Thy judgments at all times.
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The right and the wrong
I. A hungering for the right. This hunger indicates:
1. The existence of rectitude. For every Divine instinct there is an objective provision.
2. The condition of healthfulness. As a rule, where there is hunger there is health. The soul that hungers for the right is not utterly diseased.
3. The certainty of supply. Physical hunger is not always satisfied, but spiritual always. Blessed are they that hunger, for they shall be filled.
II. A deploring for the wrong. Pride is a wrong.
1. That is Divinely rebuked and cursed.
2. Which turns men from the commandments of God. (Homilist.)
Holy longings
One of the best tests of a mans character will be found in his deepest and heartiest longings. You cannot always judge a man by what he is doing at any one time, for he may be under constraint which compel him to act contrary to his true self, or he may be under a transient impulse from which he will soon be free. He may for a while be held back from that which is evil, and yet he may be radically bad; or he may be constrained by force of temptation to that which is wrong, and yet his real self may rejoice in righteousness. A man may not certainly be pronounced to be good because for the moment he is doing good, nor may he be condemned as evil because under certain constraints he may be committing sin. A mans longings are more inward, and more near to his real self than his outward acts; they are more natural, in that they are entirely free, and beyond compulsion or restraint. As a man longeth in his heart, so is he.
I. The saints absorbing object. They long after Gods judgments, His revealed will.
1. The psalmist greatly reverenced the Word. All other books are at the best but as gold leaf, whereof it takes acres to make an ounce of the precious metal; but this book is solid gold; it contains ingots, masses, mines, yea, whole worlds of priceless treasure, nor could its contents be exchanged for pearls, rubies, or the terrible crystal itself. Even in the mental wealth of the wisest men there are no jewels like the truths of revelation.
2. He intensely desired to know its contents. He was not so well able to get at the truth as we are, since he had not the life of Christ to explain the types, nor apostolic explanations to open up the symbols of the law; therefore he sighed inwardly, and felt a killing heartbreak of desire to reach that which he knew was laid up in store for him. He saw the casket, but could not find the key.
3. He wished to feed upon Gods Word. The Word received into the heart changes us into its own nature, and by rejoicing in the decisions of the Lord we learn to judge after His judgment and to delight ourselves in that which pleases Him.
4. Doubtless, David longed be obey Gods Word--he wished in everything to do the will of God without fault either of omission or of commission. He prays in another place, Teach me Thy law perfectly.
II. The saints ardent longings.
1. They constitute a living experience, for dead things have no aspirations or cravings. You shall visit the graveyard, and exhume all the bodies you please, but you shall find neither desire nor craving. Where the heart is breaking with desire there is life.
2. The expression represents a humble sense of imperfection. The apostle of the Gentiles said, Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect; and the man after Gods own heart, even David, when he was at his best, and I think he was so when he was writing this blessed psalm, says not so much that he had obtained anything as that he longed after it, not so much that he had yet grasped it, but sighed for it: my soul breaketh for the longing that it hath.
3. Furthermore, the expression of the text indicates an advanced experience. Augustine dwells upon this idea, for he rightly says, at first there is an aversion in the heart to Gods Word, and desire after it is a matter of growth. The more full a man is of grace the more he hungers for grace. Strange it is to say so, but the paradox is true, the more he drinks, and the more he is satisfied and ceases to thirst in one sense, the more is he devoured with thirst after the living God. It is an advanced experience, then.
4. It is an experience which I cannot quite describe to you, except by saying that it is a bitter sweet; or, rather, a sweet bitter, if the adjective is to be stronger than the noun. There is a bitterness about being crushed with desire; it is inevitable that there should be, but the aroma of this bitter herb is inexpressibly sweet, no perfume can excel it. After all, a bruised heart knows more peace and rest than a heart filled with the worlds delights. How safe such a soul is.
III. A few cheering reflections. Methinks this morning some heart has been saying, There are comforting thoughts for me in all this. I am a poor thing, I have not grown much, I have not done much, I wish I had; but I have strong longings, I am very dissatisfied, and I am almost ready to die with desire after Christ. My dear soul, listen--let this encourage you.
1. God is at work in your soul. Never did a longing after Gods judgments grow up in the soul of itself. Weeds come up of themselves, but the rarer kind of plants I warrant you will never be found where there has been no sowing: and this flower, called love-lies-bleeding, this plant of intense eagerness after God, never sprang up in the human breast of itself. God alone has placed it there.
2. The result of Gods work is very precious. Thank Him for it. Though thou caner get no further than holy longing, be grateful for that longing.
3. Not only is the desire precious, but it is leading on to something more precious. The desire of the righteous shall be granted. Rest you sure of that, and cry mightily to Him with strong faith in His goodness.
4. Meanwhile, the desire itself is doing you good. It is driving you out of yourself, it is making you feel what a poor creature you are, for you can dig no well in your own nature, and find no supplies within your own spirit. It is compelling you to look alone to God. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 119:20-21 The arrogant are probably those who mock the…
119:20-21 The arrogant are probably those who mock the psalmist (119:22-23).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.