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Psalm 119:20
My soul is consumed with longing for your ordinances at all times.
18Open my eyes, that I may see wondrous things out of your law.
19I am a stranger on the earth. Don’t hide your commandments from me.
20My soul is consumed with longing for your ordinances at all times.
21You have rebuked the proud who are cursed, who wander from your commandments.
22Take reproach and contempt away from me, for I have kept your statutes.
Notice
Longing for God's ordinances “at all times” can make you pause over the place his commands have among your strongest desires.
Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.
What words would describe your desire for God's commands today, compared with “consumed with longing”?
Write on thisWhen is longing for God's ordinances most present or most absent in your day?
Write on thisConnect
Where else Scripture says this
12 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
Galatians 5:17For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, that you may not do the things that you desire.Both passages speak of desire, though Galatians describes conflict between flesh and Spirit while the psalm expresses longing for God's ordinances.
Psalm 119:40Behold, I long for your precepts! Revive me in your righteousness. VAVBoth verses express longing for God's instruction, with verse 40 adding a plea for life in his righteousness.
Psalm 84:2My soul longs, and even faints for the courts of the LORD. My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.Both describe longing that consumes the soul, directed toward God's ordinances here and toward his courts and the living God in Psalm 84.
Psalm 42:1–2For 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 describe the soul's desire: Psalm 42 compares longing for God to thirst, while this verse names longing for his ordinances.
Psalm 63:1A Psalm by David, when he was in the desert of Judah. God, you are my God. I will earnestly seek you. My soul thirsts for you. My flesh longs for you, in a dry …Both speak of the soul's intense longing, with Psalm 63 using thirst in a waterless land to describe desire for God.
Job 23:11–12My foot has held fast to his steps. I have kept his way, and not turned away.Both concern God's direction for life: the psalm expresses longing for his ordinances, while Job describes keeping his way.
Revelation 3:15–16“I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were cold or hot.The connection is limited: the psalm voices consuming longing, while Revelation assesses works as neither cold nor hot.
Job 27:10Will he delight himself in the Almighty, and call on God at all times?Both use “at all times” for a response directed toward God, whether longing for his ordinances or calling on him.
Proverbs 17:17A friend loves at all times; and a brother is born for adversity.Both use “at all times” to describe constancy, applied to longing for God's ordinances and to a friend's love.
1 Chronicles 16:12Remember his marvelous works that he has done, his wonders, and the judgments of his mouth,God's ordinances and the judgments of his mouth are the shared thread, desired in the psalm and remembered in Chronicles.
Song of Songs 5:8I adjure you, daughters of Jerusalem, If you find my beloved, that you tell him that I am faint with love.Both portray desire with consuming intensity, though the psalm concerns God's ordinances and the Song concerns a beloved.
Proverbs 13:12Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but when longing is fulfilled, it is a tree of life.Both describe longing as something that affects the inner life, though Proverbs contrasts deferred hope with longing fulfilled.
Where this verse fits
Feeling distant from God. sermon or Bible study notes. wanting a steady prayer habit.
One step
Something small to carry out of this verse
Encouragement
God's ordinances are something the psalmist longs for with his whole soul. Desire for what God commands belongs within a life of faith.
Now put it in your words.
Start an entry on Psalm 119:20. 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).