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Tehillim 119:20
גָּרְסָה נַפְשִׁי לְתַאֲבָה אֶל-מִשְׁפָּטֶיךָ בְכָל-עֵת
garsah nafshi letaavah el-mishpateicha vechol-et
My soul is consumed with the longing that it has for Your ordinances at all times.

Another obstacle is physical passion, which shatters a man's body.  But I break away "my soul" from passion, by reminding her of "Your ordinances at all times."  As our Sages have taught: "At all times should a man incite the good inclination against the evil inclination."

Another interpretation says: I am "consumed with the longing" to study, but the obstructions prevent me.  As a result, "my soul is consumed" and shattered.  Every time I am forced to remain idle from the Torah, "my soul" shatters from "the longing that it has for Your ordinances at all times."

Even when there is no need for me to study the practical Halachah, I study Torah out of passion and with great dedication.  King David thus explains the reason for his deep desire to know the secrets of the Torah - his longing did not stem from the body but from the soul.  "My soul is consumed with the longing that it has for Your ordinances at all times."

Some perceive the present verse as a petition: "Consume" - break away - "my soul" from the external husk that obstructs me from keeping the mitzvot.  Man's physical nature gives rise to a desire for money, for instance, and this can make him commit robbery.  But if You will "consume" - break away - "my soul" from the material, it will be "consumed" instead "with longing"... "for Your ordinances at all times."

Rava said, "Let a man study even though he forgets.  Let him study even if he does not know what he is saying.  For it says, 'My soul studies (leta'avah) [out of desire].'  It does not say (tachanah) [to grind it fine].  Rashi explains, "In my passion for Torah learning, I would break it up (proceed to analyze it in detail) despite my limited capacity to grind very fine; I was actually incapable of in-depth study."

Torah learning is unlike any worldly commodity, since a person does not usually devote himself to other pursuits all the time.  Today he may devote himself to this field of knowledge, and tomorrow to another.  Not so the Torah, of which it says, "You will meditate in it day and night" (Yehoshua 1:8).  Every day and every moment the student perceives new things.  Even if he has already studied the matter before, novel insights are revealed to him.  That is what King David says here, "My soul is consumed with the longing that it has for Your ordinances at all times."

Tehillim 119:1 - Tehillim 119:2 - Tehillim 119:3 - Tehillim 119:4 - Tehillim 119:5 - Tehillim 119:6 - Tehillim 119:7 - Tehillim 119:8 - Tehillim 119:9 - Tehillim 119:10 - Tehillim 119:11 - Tehillim 119:12 - Tehillim 119:13 -  Tehillim 119:14 - Tehillim 119:15 - Tehillim 119:16 - Tehillim 119:17 - Tehillim 119:18 - Tehillim 119:19

Tehillim 119:13
בִּשְׂפָתַי סִפַּרְתִּי כֹּל מִשְׁפְּטֵי-פִיךָ
Bisfatai siparti kol mishpetei-ficha
With my lips have I told all the ordinances of Your mouth.

David explains why he pleaded, "teach me Your statutes" (v119:12).  Whereas "with my lips have I told all the ordinances of Your mouth" - I spoke of those mitzvot, the ordinances, whose reasons I knew - now I ask about the "statutes" whose reasons are unknown.

At the outset, David said, "With my whole heart have I sought You" (v119:10).  Here he says that he did not remain content with contemplation alone.  Rather: "With my lips have I told all the ordinances of Your mouth."  He then goes on to speak of his endeavor to understand, as well, the inner substance of the mitzvot.

Another interpretation is based on the meaning of "siparti" as counting.  "With my lips have I counted all the ordinances of Your mouth."  I would count all the words of the Torah and all the mitzvot, to make certain that I missed nothing that required implementation.

Although "I stored" Your ordinances "in my heart" (v119:11), not to forget them (v119:16), "with my lips have I told all the ordinances of Your mouth."  Verbal articulation of what one studies is an aid against forgetfulness.

Tehillim 119:12
Tehillim 119:11
Tehillim 119:10
Tehillim 119:9
Tehillim 119:8
Tehillim 119:7
Tehillim 119:6
Tehillim 119:5
Tehillim 119:4
Tehillim 119:3
Tehillim 119:2
Tehillim 119:1

-MeAm Lo'ez

Tehillim 119:7 odcha beisher levav belamdi mishpetei tzidkecha
I will give thanks to You with an upright heart, when I learn Your just ordinances.

Until here King David spoke in praise of the Torah.  From here on it is in praise of the mitzvot (commandments).

"I will give thanks to You with an upright heart," unlike those about whom it says, 'His mouth speaks and Him, but their heart is far from Him' (cf. Yeshayahu 29:13).  Thus we "learn" from "Your just ordinances" that everything depends on intention.  Hence the law of the city of refuge (BaMidbar 35) teaches that one who kills deliberately is executed, and one who kills unwittingly is exiled.

Because I have trained myself to accept "Your just ordinances," therefore "I give thanks to You" both for the good and for the bad, "with an upright heart."  As our Sages have said, one is required to recite the blessing (also for the bad) with gladness.  Thus Hillel once heard a voice of loud lament coming from his city, and he said, "I am certain that these are not my family lamenting."  This is explained to mean that he had educated his family to accept everything with gladness and to not shriek.

Torah is the antidote for the yetzer harah (evil inclination).  Torah study subdues the yetzer harah.

Tehillim 119:6
Tehillim 119:5
Tehillim 119:4
Tehillim 119:3
Tehillim 119:2
Tehillim 119:1

MeAm Lo'ez
Chazal