It is good for me that I have been afflicted, That I may learn Your statutes.
Parallel translations
- WEB It is good for me that I have been afflicted, that I may learn your statutes.
- KJV It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes.
- BSB It was good for me to be afflicted, that I might learn Your statutes.
- NASB It is good for me that I was afflicted, So that I may learn Your statutes.
- NLT My suffering was good for me, for it taught me to pay attention to your decrees.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The psalmist counts it good that he was afflicted, so that he might learn God's statutes. It matters because God uses trials to deepen our understanding of and devotion to His word.
Overview
Looking back, the psalmist sees affliction as a good gift because it taught him God's statutes. What was painful served a gracious purpose in his growth. This confidence that suffering works for good reflects the gospel assurance that God works all things for the good of those who love Him in Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 5
- Heb 12:10–11For they indeed, for a few days, punished us as seemed good to them; but he for our profit, that we may be partakers of his holiness.
- Ps 119:67Before I was afflicted, I went astray; but now I observe your word.
- 1 Cor 11:32But when we are judged, we are punished by the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world.
- Ps 94:12–13Blessed is the man whom you discipline, Yah, and teach out of your law;
- Isa 27:9Therefore by this the iniquity of Jacob will be forgiven, and this is all the fruit of taking away his sin: that he makes all the stones of the altar as chalk stones that are beaten in pieces, so that the Asherah poles and the incense altars shall rise no more.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
The Psalms are Christ's own prayer book and a gallery of his portraits — the suffering one of Psalm 22, the risen Lord of Psalm 16, the priest-king of Psalm 110, the Son to whom the nations are given.
How Psalms 119:71 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.