John Calvin Commentary Psalms 119:19

"I am a sojourner in the earth: Hide not thy commandments from me." — Psalms 119:19 (ASV)

I am a stranger on the earth. It is proper to inquire into the reason for his calling himself a sojourner and stranger in the world. The great concern of the unholy and worldly is to spend their life here easily and quietly; but those who know that they have their journey to pursue, and have their inheritance reserved for them in heaven, are not engrossed or entangled with these perishable things, but aspire to that place to which they are invited. The meaning may be summed up this way: “Lord, since I must pass quickly through the earth, what will become of me if I am deprived of the doctrine of your law?” We learn from these words from what point we must commence our journey, if we would go on our way cheerfully to God.

Besides, God is said to conceal his commandments from those whose eyes he does not open. Because they are not endowed with spiritual vision, in seeing they do not see, so that what is before their eyes is hidden from them.

And, to demonstrate that he does not present his request carelessly, the prophet adds that his affection for the law is most intense. For it is no common ardor that is expressed by him in the following words: My soul is rent with the desire it hath at all times unto thy judgments. Just as a man who might concentrate all his thoughts on one point with such intensity as almost to lose his power of perception may be said to be the victim of his intemperate zeal, so the prophet declares the energy of his mind to be paralyzed and exhausted by his ardent love for the law.

The clause, at all times, is meant to express his perseverance. For it may occasionally happen that a man may apply himself with great ardor to the study of the heavenly doctrine, but it is only temporary—his zeal soon vanishes. Steadfastness is therefore necessary, lest, through weariness, we become faint in our minds.