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Matthew Poole's Concise Commentary

Psalms 119:20

Breaketh; fainteth, as it frequently doth, when a thing vehemently desired is denied or delayed. Compare Proverbs 13:12. Unto thy judgments; to a more sound knowledge and serious practice of them.

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See also Psalms 119:20 in other biblical comments:

  • Adam Clarke Bible Commentary

    Verse Psalms 119:20. _MY SOUL BREAKETH_] We have a similar expression: _It_ _broke my heart, That is heart-breaking, She died of a broken_ _heart_. It expresses excessive longing, grievous disappoint...

  • Albert Barnes' Bible Commentary

    MY SOUL BREAKETH - This word means to break; to crush; to break in pieces by scraping, rubbing, or grating. The idea would seem to be, not that he was crushed as by a single blow, but that his soul -...

  • Annotated Bible by A.C. Gaebelein

    Psalms 119 The Law Written on Their Hearts and the Praise of the Word This is the longest and most perfect Psalm in the whole collection. It is an alphabetical acrostic. It is composed of 22 section...

  • Arthur Peake's Commentary on the Bible

    CXIX. PRAISE OF THE LAW. This is the longest and most artificial Ps. in the whole collection. It is divided into twenty-two strophes, each beginning with one of the twenty-two letters of the Heb. alph...

  • Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes

    SOUL. Hebrew. _nephesh._ App-13. BREAKETH FOR. hath broken owing to. Occurring again only in Lamentations 3:16. LONGING. fervent desire; same word as verses: Psalms 119:40; Psalms 119:174

  • Charles Simeon's Horae Homileticae

    DISCOURSE: 698 DAVID’S DESIRE AFTER GOD’S WORD Psalms 119:20. _My soul breaketh for the longing that it hath unto thy judgments at all times._ IN general, there is no other connexion between the diff...

  • Coke's Commentary on the Holy Bible

    MY SOUL BREAKETH, &C.— This may be rendered, _is taken up,_ or wholly employed, in longing for, or love to thy judgments....

  • College Press Bible Study Textbook Series

    PSALMS 119 DESCRIPTIVE TITLE Jehovah's Will in Relation to Human Character and Conduct, celebrated in Twenty-two Alphabetical Stanzas, and by the aid of Eight Comprehensive Synonyms. ANALYSIS (The...

  • Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

    My soul breaketh for the longing that it hath unto thy judgments at all times. MY SOUL BREAKETH FOR THE LONGING THAT IT HATH UNTO THY JUDGMENTS AT ALL TIMES. "Breaketh" implies a heart full of desi...

  • Darby's translation notes (1890)

    119:20 judgments (d-8) See Note, ver. 7; and so ver. 52....

  • Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible

    The longest Ps. and the best example of an alphabetical Ps. There are in it twenty-two stanzas; each of the 8 vv. of each stanza commences with the same Hebrew letter. The subject is practically the s...

  • EasyEnglish Bible Commentaries

    Psalms 107:150 _GORDON CHURCHYARD_ THE WORD OF GOD PSALMS 119 JESUS SAID, "IF YOU LOVE ME YOU WILL OBEY ME" (JOHN 14:15)....

  • Ellicott's Commentary On The Whole Bible

    BREAKETH. — The Hebrew is peculiar to this place and Lamentations 3:16. The LXX., Vulg., and Aquila have “greatly desired;” Symmachus, “was perfect;” Theodotion, “had confidence;” Jerome, “longed,” al...

  • ETCBC data on Hebrew bible

    גָּרְסָ֣ה נַפְשִׁ֣י לְ תַאֲבָ֑ה אֶֽל ־מִשְׁפָּטֶ֥יךָ...

  • Expositor's Bible Commentary (Nicoll)

    Psalms 119:1 IT is lost labour to seek for close continuity or progress in this psalm. One thought pervades it-the surpassing excellence of the Law; and the beauty and power of the psalm lie in the un...

  • Frederick Brotherton Meyer's Commentary

    A PRAYER FOR UNDERSTANDING Psalms 119:17 These verses are full of yearning and unsatisfied desire. The soul breaks for longing, cleaves to the dust, and melts for heaviness. We are reminded of the co...

  • G. Campbell Morgan's Exposition on the Whole Bible

    Any dealing with this psalm must necessarily be general and not particular. It has been called the psalm of the Law, not inaccurately; but the term, "The Law," should be understood in its widest signi...

  • Hawker's Poor man's commentary

    GIMEL. Here are again many very gracious and fervent breathings after divine favor, which need nothing explanatory by way of comment. Some of them very highly correspond with what might be supposed to...

  • John Darby's Synopsis

    Psalms 119 is in general the law written in the heart. This gives it an important place in the series of psalms. It is found distinctly connected too with Israel's sorrows in the last days and their p...

  • John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

    MY SOUL BREAKETH FOR THE LONGING,.... His heart was just ready to break, and his soul fainted; he was ready to die, through a vehement desire of enjoying the object longed for, after mentioned; "hope...

  • John Trapp Complete Commentary

    My soul breaketh for the longing [that it hath] unto thy judgments at all times. Ver. 20. _My soul breaketh_] The Seventy render it, My soul hath desired to desire thy judgments. How many broken spir...

  • Joseph Benson’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

    _I am a stranger in the earth_ Or, _a sojourner._ I am not here as in my home, but as a pilgrim travelling homeward in a strange land: a condition which calls for thy pity and help: see note on Psalms...

  • Kretzmann's Popular Commentary of the Bible

    _ Gimel._ Prayer For Enlightenment Unto A Godly Life....

  • Kretzmann's Popular Commentary of the Bible

    My soul breaketh for the longing, is crushed and faint with eager desire, THAT IT HATH UNTO THY JUDGMENTS AT ALL TIMES, to meet with God's approval by following the directions of His Word....

  • Matthew Henry Commentary on the Whole Bible

    17-24 If God deals in strict justice with us, we all perish. We ought to spend our lives in his service; we shall find true life in keeping his word. Those that would see the wondrous things of God's...

  • Patchworkid's Personal Study Bible Notes

    Psalms 119:20 soul H5315 breaks H1638 (H8804) longing H8375 judgments H4941 times H6256 soul -...

  • Spurgeon's Bible Commentary

    Psalms 119:17. _Deal bountifully with thy servant, that I may live, and keep thy word._ O Lord, I am thy servant; yet, I pray thee, do not pay me wages according to my deserts, but according to the g...

  • Spurgeon's Bible Commentary

    Psalms 119:9. _Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word._ «Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way?» A vital and solemn question. His way is f...

  • Spurgeon's Bible Commentary

    It is not easy to see the special subjects that are spoken of by David in each of the short portions of eight verses, yet I do not doubt that if each portion were very carefully examined, we should se...

  • Summarized Bible Commentary

    CONTENTS: The excellency and usefulness of the divine revelation set forth and exhortation to all to make it their meditation and to be governed by it. CHARACTERS: God, Psalmist. CONCLUSION: Great b...

  • Sutcliffe's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

    That David was the author of this psalm, no one ever doubted. It is divided into twenty two octo-distichs, having a letter of the Hebrew alphabet at the head of each distich; and the couplets are most...

  • The Biblical Illustrator

    _My soul breaketh for the longing that it hath unto Thy judgments at all times._ THE RIGHT AND THE WRONG I. A hungering for the right. This hunger indicates: 1. The existence of rectitude. For ever...

  • The ESV Global Study Bible's Study Notes

    PSALM PSALM—NOTE ON PSALMS 119:1. This psalm celebrates the gift of God’s law as the perfect guide for life. Its theme is echoed in Psalms 19:1 and in such wisdom psa

  • The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary

    INTRODUCTION 1. Date and authorship. Some ascribe the authorship to “David, before his accession to the kingdom, in exile and peril (Psalms 119:9; Psalms 119:23; Psalms 119:46;...

  • The Pulpit Commentaries

    EXPOSITION This is an "alphabetic psalm" of a more stringent character than any other. It consists of twenty-two stanzas, each of eight verses, every verse in each stanza beginning with its own proper...

  • Through The Bible C2000 Serie by Chuck Smith

    Now as we get to Psalms 119:1-176, it is an extremely difficult psalm for exposition, because each section seems to be more or less independent of in itself, and each verse, many times, almost indepen...

  • Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

    Job 23:11; Job 23:12; Job 27:10; Proverbs 13:12; Proverbs 17:17;...

  • Wells of Living Water Commentary

    THE WONDERFUL WORD Psalms 119:1 INTRODUCTORY WORDS When we hold the Bible in our hands we are holding a Book that is distinct from any and every other book the world has ever known. 1. IT IS DISTIN...

  • Wesley's Explanatory Notes

    Breaketh — Faints, as it frequently does, when a thing vehemently desired is delayed. Judgments — To a more sound knowledge and serious practice of them....

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