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 tediousness of their journey, by singing a pleasant song now and
then. David was the sweet singer of Israel, and here we are told whence
he fetched his songs; they were all borrowed from the word of God.
God's statutes were as familiar to him as the songs which a man is
accustomed to sing; and he conversed with them in his
pilgrimage-solitudes. They were as pleasant to him as songs, and put
gladness into his heart more than those have that chant to the sound of
the viol, Amos vi. 5. Is any afflicted then? Let him sing over God's
statutes, and try if he cannot so sing away sorrow, Ps. cxxxviii. 5.