"My soul longs for your laws at all times." He said to him, "What is 'my soul longs'? I would open the Torah portion, and I would see the beauty of it to the right and to the left, and I would not have time to move away from it. Therefore, I would meditate on it [i.e. "long for it"]. But who could move away [from the Torah] when it is already said, 'Its measure is longer than the earth and broader than the sea' (Job 11:9)? Therefore, it is said, 'My soul longs [for your laws]...'"
"My soul clings to the dust; give me life according to your word." Isaiah said (Isaiah 40:8), "The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever." There are things that God said to our forefather Jacob, as it says (Genesis 28:14), "Your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth." Just as the dust of the earth grinds all metals, and yet endures forever, so too will your children grind all the nations and they will endure forever. (ibid) "You shall spread out to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south." Similarly, Isaiah said (Isaiah 52:2), "Shake yourself from the dust, arise; sit down, O Jerusalem." And the sons of Korah said (Psalm 44:25), "Why do you hide your face and forget our affliction and our oppression? For our soul is bowed down to the dust; our belly clings to the ground." Immediately, may your help come to us. And so Hannah says (1 Samuel 2:8), "He raises up the poor from the dust; he lifts the needy from the ash heap." They have come to the land that upholds them. Therefore, David said to Him, "My soul clings to the dust, etc."