Psalm 119:20

(This is an entry from a devotional commentary I am working on from Psalm 119 entitled God and His Word.  The introduction can be found here, successive entries have covered the 22 sections of the Psalm, and following entries verse by verse.)

 

“My soul is crushed with longing

After Your ordinances at all times."

 

‘Is ‘crushed with longing’ a sustainable state?  Certainly the goal is unsurpassed.  ‘Crushed’ is the Hebrew גָּרַס, gāras: A verb meaning to be broken, crushed, to waste away.  ‘Longing’ is the Hebrew תַּאֲבָה, ta’aḇāh: A feminine noun indicating a longing, a desire.  These words normally indicate a severe lack of health, yet is it not healthy to have no greater desire than this? 

 

‘Longing [see also Psalm 119:174] states the bias of mind in or at which the soul feels itself thus overpowered even to being crushed: it is crushing from longing after God's judgment, viz., after a more and more thorough knowledge of them.’[1]

 

‘‘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… 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.’[2]


[1] Keil & Delitzsch, Commentary on the Old Testament, on Psalm 119:20, e-Sword edition

[2] Spurgeon, Charles Haddon, Treasury of David, on Psalm 119:20, e-Sword edition


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