¶The afflictions of the righteous are many, But the Lord rescues him from them all.
Parallel translations
- WEB Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but Yahweh delivers him out of them all.
- KJV Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the LORD delivereth him out of them all.
- BSB Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers him from them all.
- NKJV Many are the afflictions of the righteous, But the Lord delivers him out of them all.
- NLT The righteous person faces many troubles, but the Lord comes to the rescue each time.
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 righteous face many afflictions, but the Lord delivers them out of them all.
Overview
David honestly acknowledges that the righteous suffer many troubles, yet promises God's complete deliverance. Faith does not exempt from affliction but assures rescue through it. This pattern of suffering and deliverance is supremely seen in Christ and shared by those united to him.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 19
- Ps 34:17The righteous cry, and Yahweh hears, and delivers them out of all their troubles.
- 1 Pet 4:12–13Beloved, don’t be astonished at the fiery trial which has come upon you, to test you, as though a strange thing happened to you.
- 2 Cor 4:17For our light affliction, which is for the moment, works for us more and more exceedingly an eternal weight of glory;
- Ps 34:6This poor man cried, and Yahweh heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles.
- John 16:33I have told you these things, that in me you may have peace. In the world you have oppression; but cheer up! I have overcome the world.”
- Ps 34:4I sought Yahweh, and he answered me, and delivered me from all my fears.
- 2 Tim 3:11–12persecutions, and sufferings: those things that happened to me at Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra. I endured those persecutions. The Lord delivered me out of them all.
- Job 5:19He will deliver you in six troubles; yes, in seven no evil shall touch you.
- Prov 24:16for a righteous man falls seven times, and rises up again; but the wicked are overthrown by calamity.
- 2 Cor 4:7–12But we have this treasure in clay vessels, that the exceeding greatness of the power may be of God, and not from ourselves.
- Ps 71:20You, who have shown us many and bitter troubles, you will let me live. You will bring us up again from the depths of the earth.
- 1 Th 3:3–4that no one be moved by these afflictions. For you know that we are appointed to this task.
- Heb 11:33–38who, through faith subdued kingdoms, worked out righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions,
- Acts 14:22confirming the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that through many afflictions we must enter into God’s Kingdom.
- Job 42:12So Yahweh blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning. He had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, one thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand female donkeys.
- Rev 7:14–17I told him, “My lord, you know.” He said to me, “These are those who came out of the great tribulation. They washed their robes, and made them white in the Lamb’s blood.
- Jas 5:10–11Take, brothers, for an example of suffering and of perseverance, the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.
- 2 Cor 11:23–27Are they servants of Christ? (I speak as one beside himself) I am more so; in labors more abundantly, in prisons more abundantly, in stripes above measure, in deaths often.
- Job 30:9–31“Now I have become their song. Yes, I am a byword to them.
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 34:19 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.