psalm 119:20

20 - My soul breaketh

for the longing that it hath 

unto thy judgments at all times.

Breaketh comes from the Hebrew word "garac" which means "to be crushed with."

I have heard many different people in many different situations talk to me about crushing and being crushed. The teen has a crush. The betrayed friend is crushed. The one who lost the bid on the new house is crushed. The college student who didn't get accepted is crushed. And on and on...

However, I don't believe I have ever had anyone come to me and say they were crushed because they had a longing for the Word. I'm not sure I have ever met anyone who was really that dead to themselves.

"The desires of gracious men after holiness are intense--

they cause a wear of heart, a straining of the mind, 

till it feels ready to snap with the heavenly pull.  

A high value of the Lord's commandment leads to a 

pressing desire to know and to do it, 

and this so weighs upon the soul 

that it is ready to break in pieces under the crush of its own longings."

~Charles Spurgeon

Dear Lord! I pray that I may ascend to such a place with you that I am dead to my own flesh and am crushed with the desire to bury myself in Your Word!


© 2012 by Melani Brady Shock