[ 1 minutes to read ]

My soul breaketh for the longing that it hath unto thy judgments at all times.
~ Psalm 119:20

[B]eing a pilgrim, a stranger in a strange land, makes one a seeker. A pilgrim is looking for something. He is not settled. The Psalmist stated in verse 19 that he was a stranger in the earth. He was not at home in the world and did not find lasting satisfaction in the things of the world. In verse 20, he revealed his soul-breaking desire for God’s judgments.

The truly hungry long after food. The truly thirsty long after drink. Jesus promised that those who “hunger and thirst after righteousness . . . shall be filled” (Matthew 5:6). Food and drink do not satisfy very long. They perish with the using. Only God can bring lasting satisfaction to a longing soul.

The Psalmist’s longings are “at all times.” His desire is not a fit of passion. Rather, it is a sustained, persistent reaching-out of his soul. He is not a lukewarm poser. The church at Laodicea was full of self-confident, self-reliant, self-satisfied souls. They said within themselves that they were rich and needed nothing. These are not longing, seeking souls. These are not souls breaking from the enduring strain of stretching out to be filled with God’s Word.

The reality is that we have a hunger and thirst that cannot be satisfied with anything silver and gold can buy. The Psalmist knew this and thus longed after “the judgments of the LORD,” which “are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold” (Psalm 19:9-10).

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