John Calvin Commentary Psalms 119:92

"Unless thy law had been my delight, I should then have perished in mine affliction." — Psalms 119:92 (ASV)

Had not your law been my delight. The prophet continues to develop almost the same theme, affirming that he would have been undone had he not, in his calamities, sought consolation from the law of God. The adverb, אז az, means then; but since it is sometimes used for a long time, it is equivalent here to long ago; unless some might prefer to consider it as a significant and emphatic reference to the matter at hand, as if he were still in the state he describes.

He confirms from his own experience what he had previously said, to make it clear that he did not speak of things of which he had no knowledge, but that he asserts what he had truly experienced—namely, that there is no other solace, and no other remedy for adversity, than our resting upon the word of God and our embracing the grace and the assurance of our salvation which are offered in it.

He here unquestionably commends the very same word, which he had just now said dwelt in heaven. Though it resounds on earth, enters into our ears, and settles in our hearts, yet it still retains its celestial nature; for it descends to us in such a way that it is not subject to the changes of the world.

The prophet declares that he was grievously oppressed by a weight of afflictions enough to overwhelm him, but that the consolation he derived from the Divine Law in such desperate circumstances was like life to him.