John Calvin Commentary Psalms 119:54

"Thy statutes have been my songs In the house of my pilgrimage." — Psalms 119:54 (ASV)

Thy statutes have been my songs. He repeats in different words what he had previously mentioned, that God's law was his sole or special delight during all his life. Singing is an indication of joy. The saints are pilgrims in this world and must be regarded as God’s children and heirs of heaven because they are sojourners on earth.

By the house of their pilgrimage, then, their journey through life may be understood. One circumstance deserves particular notice: that David, during his exile from his native country, did not cease to draw consolation amid all his hardships from God's law—or rather, a joy that rose above all the sadness his banishment caused him.

It was a noble example of rare virtue, that when he was denied a sight of the temple, could not approach the sacrifices, and was deprived of the religious ordinances, he still never departed from his God. The phrase, the house of his pilgrimage, is therefore employed to highlight the conduct of David, who, when banished from his country, still retained God's law deeply engraved on his heart, and who, amid the severity of that exile—which was likely to depress his spirits—cheered himself by meditating on God's law.