Psalms 119:54

THE 119th Psalm is said, by many, to consist of detached sentences and to be rather a casket of gold rings than a chain of united golden links, yet the position of this verse is somewhat remarkable, for the verse before it runs thus— "Horror has taken hold upon me because of the wicked that forsake Your Law." Most of you know for yourselves what that sentence means, for if you hear a man swear in the streets, your blood runs chill with horror. And when you think of what has been said by blasphemers against the Person of our Divine Lord and against the Divine Truths of Revelation, you are horrified that men should have had the audacity to think—much less to say—such wicked things against the Most High God. David rightly said, "Horror has taken hold upon me," and then he added our text, as if he would say, "I am horrified that they should break the Law of God and tread it under foot, for to me it is an intense delight—'Your statutes have been my songs in the house of my pilgrimage.' That which is their scorn is my song. What they count dross is gold to me. How can they treat such precious Truths of God contemptuously?" He is horrified at the thought that what is, to him, the very soul of his life, and the life of his soul, should be to them a castoff and a hate. Surely some connection is visible here—these rings are evidently linked to each other. It is well to notice the following verse. David writes, "I have remembered Your name, O Lord, in the night, and have kept Your Law"—as much as if he had said—"It is not always daylight with me; but when it is, Your statutes are my song. My sun is not always above the horizon; but when it is dark with me and I am in trouble, I do not forget You. You are still my solace. I remember Your name and I am comforted.

"Thy statutes have been my songs in the house of my pilgrimage." Like others of God's servants, David knew that he was not at home in this world, but a pilgrim through it, seeking a better country. He did not, however, sigh over this fact, but he sang about it. He tells us nothing about his pilgrim sighs, but speaks of his pilgrim songs. Even the palace in which he dwelt was but "the house of his pilgrimage," the inn at which he rested, the station at which he halted for a little while.

Thy statutes have been my songs - During our captivity all our consolation was derived from singing thy praises, and chanting among our fellow-captives portions of thy law, and the precepts it contains.

Thy statutes - Thy law; thy commandments. Have been my songs - Have been to me a source of joy; have been my happiness, my consolation, my delight. I have found pleasure in meditating on them; I have had peace and joy in them in the day of loneliness and trouble. The psalmist rejoiced, doubtless, as the good now do, (a) in law itself; law, as a rule of order; law, as a guide of conduct; law, as a security for safety; (b) in such a law as that of God - so pure, so holy, so suited to promote “the happiness of man; (c) in the stability of that law, as constituting his own personal security, the ground of his hope; (d) in law in its influence on the universe, preserving order, and securing harmony. In the house of my pilgrimage - In my life considered as a journey to another world; in my pilgrimage through the desert of this world; amidst rocks, and sands, and desolation; among tribes of savage men, wanderers, robbers, freebooters; with no home, no place of shelter; exposed to cold, and rain, and sleet, and ice, and snow, as pilgrims are - for to all these is the “pilgrim” - the way-farer - exposed, and all these represent the condition of one passing through this world to a better (compare Heb 11:13). Here, says the psalmist, I sang. I found joy in these scenes by thinking on the pure law - the pure and holy truth of God. I comforted myself with the feeling that there “is” law; that there is just government; that there is a God; that I am under the protection of law; that I am not alone, but that there is one who guides me by his truth. Compare the notes at Job 35:10. See Act 16:25; Psa 34:1.