I open my mouth and pant, longing for Your commandments.
Parallel translations
- WEB I opened my mouth wide and panted, for I longed for your commandments.
- KJV I opened my mouth, and panted: for I longed for thy commandments.
- NKJV I opened my mouth and panted, For I longed for Your commandments.
- NASB I opened my mouth wide and panted, For I longed for Your commandments.
- NLT I pant with expectation, longing for your commands.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
He opens his mouth and pants with longing for God's commandments. He hungers intensely for the word.
Overview
The psalmist pictures himself gasping like a thirsty man, so great is his craving for God's commandments. His desire for the word is visceral and urgent. This hunger and thirst for righteousness is precisely what Christ blesses, promising that those who so hunger will be filled (Matt. 5:6; Ps. 42:1-2).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Ps 42:1For the choirmaster. A Maskil of the sons of Korah. As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul longs after You, O God.
- Ps 119:20My soul is consumed with longing for Your judgments at all times.
- 1 Pet 2:2Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation,
- Heb 12:14Pursue peace with everyone, as well as holiness, without which no one will see the Lord.
- Isa 26:8–9Yes, we wait for You, O LORD; we walk in the path of Your judgments. Your name and renown are the desire of our souls.
- Ps 81:10I am the LORD your God, who brought you up out of Egypt. Open wide your mouth, and I will fill it.
- Job 29:23They waited for me as for rain and drank in my words like spring showers.
- Ps 119:174I long for Your salvation, O LORD, and Your law is my delight.
- Ps 119:162I rejoice in Your promise like one who finds great spoil.
- Ps 119:40How I long for Your precepts! Revive me in Your righteousness.
Resources, by level
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Christ at the center
The Psalms are Christ's own prayer book and a gallery of his portraits — the suffering one of Psalm 22, the risen Lord of Psalm 16, the priest-king of Psalm 110, the Son to whom the nations are given.
How Psalms 119:131 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.