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Psalm 119:131

I opened my mouth wide and panted, for I longed for your commandments.

129Your testimonies are wonderful, therefore my soul keeps them.
130The entrance of your words gives light. It gives understanding to the simple.
131I opened my mouth wide and panted, for I longed for your commandments.
132Turn to me, and have mercy on me, as you always do to those who love your name.
133Establish my footsteps in your word. Don’t let any iniquity have dominion over me.
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Notice

An open mouth and panting breath make longing for God's commandments feel urgent and physical, a striking picture of desire for his instruction.

Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.

How does the picture of panting compare with your desire for God's commandments today?

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What changes when you think of God's commandments as something to long for?

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Connect

Where else Scripture says this

10 passages readers most often link with this verse, and the thread each one shares with it.

This verse's connections, by chapterThe Bible's strongest chapter linksHover or tap a book to trace it
Psalm 42:1For the Chief Musician. A contemplation by the sons of Korah. As the deer pants for the water brooks, so my soul pants after you, God.Both psalms describe longing through panting: one longs for God's commandments, and the other longs for God himself.
Psalm 119:5Oh that my ways were steadfast to obey your statutes!Both verses express desire concerning God's instruction: longing for his commandments and wishing for steadfast obedience to his statutes.
Psalm 119:20My soul is consumed with longing for your ordinances at all times.Both verses describe intense longing for God's instruction, expressed through panting in one and a consumed soul in the other.
Psalm 119:15I will meditate on your precepts, and consider your ways.God's instruction is the focus of both verses, with longing for his commandments and a resolve to meditate on his precepts.
1 Peter 2:2as newborn babies, long for the pure spiritual milk, that with it you may grow,Both passages use bodily need to describe longing: panting for God's commandments and a newborn's desire for spiritual milk.
Hebrews 12:14Follow after peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no man will see the Lord,Both concern a life directed toward God, though Hebrews urges peace and sanctification rather than describing longing for commandments.
Isaiah 26:8–9Yes, in the way of your judgments, LORD, we have waited for you. Your name and your renown are the desire of our soul.Both express desire directed toward God: the psalm longs for his commandments, while Isaiah names his name and renown as the soul's desire.
Job 29:23They waited for me as for the rain. Their mouths drank as with the spring rain.Both use mouths and bodily thirst to picture eager desire, though Job describes people waiting for him rather than longing for God's commandments.
Romans 7:24What a wretched man I am! Who will deliver me out of the body of this death?Both speakers express urgency in bodily terms, though Romans cries for deliverance and the psalm longs for God's commandments.
Job 7:2As a servant who earnestly desires the shadow, as a hireling who looks for his wages,Both describe intense desire, though Job pictures a servant wanting shade and a hireling awaiting wages rather than longing for God's instruction.
Where this verse fits

Feeling distant from God. sermon or Bible study notes. praise and worship.

What the Bible says about doubt →What the Bible says about worship →
One step

Something small to carry out of this verse

Read Psalm 119:129–133 aloud, pausing at verse 131

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Encouragement

The longing here has a clear object: God's commandments. His authority is worthy of love, and the psalmist wants the words that direct his life.

Now put it in your words.

Start an entry on Psalm 119:131. Write what it stirs. Psalmlog sets your words beside Scripture and gives you one next step. Your first entry is free, no account needed.

Keep goingPsalm 119 · the whole chapter with its connection mapPsalms · every chapterBuild a reading plan through Psalms

Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).