Matthew Henry on Psalms 119:54
Here is, 1. David's state and condition; he was in the house of his pilgrimage, which may be understood either as his peculiar trouble (he was often tossed and hurried, and forced to fly) or as his lot in common with all. This world is the house of our pilgrimage, the house in which we are pilgrims; it is our tabernacle; it is our inn. We must confess ourselves strangers and pilgrims upon earth, who are not at home here, nor must be here long. Even David's palace is but the house of his pilgrimage. 2. His comfort in this state: "Thy statutes have been my songs, with which I here entertain myself," as travellers are wont to divert the thoughts of their weariness, and take off something of the…
Read the whole note in the consoleJohn Gill on Psalms 119:54
Thy statutes have been my songs in the house of my pilgrimage. Meaning either his unsettled state, fleeing from place to place before Saul; or, literally, his house of cedar, his court and palace, which he considered no other than as an inn he had put into upon his travels homeward; or rather the earthly house of his tabernacle, in which, as long as he continued, he was but a pilgrim and stranger; or, best of all, the whole course of his life; which Jacob calls the days of the years of his pilgrimage, Genesis 47:9; so Hipparchus the Pythagorean (i) calls this life a sort of a pilgrimage; and Plato also. This world is not the saints house and home; this is not their rest and residence; they c…
Read the whole note in the consoleJohn Calvin on Psalms 119:49-56
Psalm 119:49-56
z 49. Remember thy word to thy servant, I, which thee hast made him hope. z 50. This is my consolation in my affliction, because thy word revives me. z 51. The proud have greatly scorched me: I have not turned aside from thy law. z 52. I called to mind thy judgments of old, O Jehovah! and comforted myself. z 53. Terror seized me, for' the wicked who forsake thy law. z 54. Thy statutes have been my songs in the house of my pilgrimage. z 55. By night I remembered thy name, O Jehovah! and I kept, thy law. z 56. This is done to me, because I have kept thy statutes.
49. Remember thy word. He prays that God would really perform what he promised; for the event proves that he does…
