New King James Version
Psalms 119:20
20My soul breaks with longing For Your judgments at all times.
Psalms 119:20 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)My soul breaketh for the longing that it hath unto thy judgments at all times.
- New International Version (NIV)My soul is consumed with longing for your laws at all times.
- English Standard Version (ESV)My soul is consumed with longing for your rules at all times.
- New Living Translation (NLT)I am always overwhelmed with a desire for your regulations.
Context of Psalms 119:20
18Open my eyes, that I may see Wondrous things from Your law. 19I am a stranger in the earth; Do not hide Your commandments from me. My soul breaks with longing For Your judgments at all times. 21You rebuke the proud—the cursed, Who stray from Your commandments. 22Remove from me reproach and contempt, For I have kept Your testimonies.
Read all of Psalms 119Psalms 119:20 word by word
גָּרְסָ֣ה נַפְשִׁ֣י לְתַאֲבָ֑ה אֶֽל־מִשְׁפָּטֶ֥יךָ בְכָל־עֵֽת׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Psalms 119:20
- Psalms 119:40Behold, I long for Your precepts; Revive me in Your righteousness.
- Psalms 42:1As the deer pants for the water brooks, So pants my soul for You, O God.
- Psalms 63:1O God, You are my God; Early will I seek You; My soul thirsts for You; My flesh longs for You In a dry and thirsty land Where there is no water.
- Psalms 84:2My soul longs, yes, even faints For the courts of the Lord; My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.
- Proverbs 13:12Hope deferred makes the heart sick, But when the desire comes, it is a tree of life.
- Revelation 3:15“I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot.
- Psalms 106:3Blessed are those who keep justice, And he who does righteousness at all times!
- Job 23:11My foot has held fast to His steps; I have kept His way and not turned aside.
- Job 27:10Will he delight himself in the Almighty? Will he always call on God?
- Proverbs 17:17A friend loves at all times, And a brother is born for adversity.
Commentaries on Psalms 119:20
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 20My 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.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 20My 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…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 17-24Verses 17-24 If God deals in strict justice with us, we all perish. We ought to spend our lives in his service; we shall find true life in keeping his word. Those that would see the wondrous things of God's law and gospel, must beg him to give them understanding, by the light of his Spirit. Believers feel themselves strangers on earth; they fear missing their way, and losing comfort by erring from God's commandments. Every sanctified soul hungers after…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 20-21The arrogant are probably those who mock the psalmist (Psalm 119:22–23).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 17-2017-20. Life is desirable in order to serve God; that we may do so aright, we should seek to have our eyes opened to behold His truth, and earnestly desire fully to understand it.Read the comment
Topics related to Psalms 119:20
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Psalms 119
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- The Treasury of David
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
New King James Version — © 1982 Thomas Nelson, Inc
Commentaries