I opened my mouth, and panted: for I longed for thy commandments.
Parallel translations
- WEB I opened my mouth wide and panted, for I longed for your commandments.
- BSB I open my mouth and pant, longing for Your 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 42:1As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God.
- Ps 119:20My soul breaketh for the longing that it hath unto thy judgments at all times.
- 1 Pet 2:2As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:
- Heb 12:14Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:
- Isa 26:8–9Yea, in the way of thy judgments, O LORD, have we waited for thee; the desire of our soul is to thy name, and to the remembrance of thee.
- Ps 81:10I am the LORD thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt: open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it.
- Job 29:23And they waited for me as for the rain; and they opened their mouth wide as for the latter rain.
- Ps 119:174I have longed for thy salvation, O LORD; and thy law is my delight.
- Ps 119:162I rejoice at thy word, as one that findeth great spoil.
- Ps 119:40Behold, I have longed after thy precepts: quicken me in thy righteousness.
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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.