Key Verse Spotlight
Psalms 119:67 - Meaning and Application
Understand how this verse speaks to what you're facing and how to apply it today
Translation: World English Bible — Catholic Edition
" Before I was afflicted, I went astray; but now I observe your word. "
Psalms 119:67
Verse in Context
Understanding the surrounding verses prevents misinterpretation:
65 You have treated your servant well, according to your word, LORD.
66 Teach me good judgment and knowledge, for I believe in your commandments.
67 Before I was afflicted, I went astray; but now I observe your word.
68 You are good, and do good. Teach me your statutes.
69 The proud have smeared a lie upon me. With my whole heart, I will keep your precepts.
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David here tells us what he had learned from experience. First, he speaks of the danger of a comfortable life: “Before I was afflicted, while I lived in peace and plenty and knew no sorrow, I went astray from God and from my duty.” Sin is a form of wandering, and we are most likely to drift from God when life feels easy and settled. Prosperity often becomes a sad cause of wrongdoing, because it can make people proud, indulge the flesh, forget God, love the world, and ignore the warnings of God’s word. See (Psalm 30:6). It is good for us, when we are suffering, to remember how and where we wandered before the suffering came, so that affliction can do its work in us.
Second, he speaks of the blessing of suffering: “Now I have kept your word, and so I have been brought back from my wandering.” God often uses affliction to bring back those who have strayed from him. When suffering is made holy by God’s grace, it humbles us over sin and shows us how empty the world is. It softens the heart and opens the ear to correction. The prodigal son’s distress first brought him to himself, and then back to his father.
From This Chapter
Psalms 119:1
"Blessed are those whose ways are blameless, who walk according to the LORD’s law."
Psalms 119:2
"Blessed are those who keep his statutes, who seek him with their whole heart."
Psalms 119:3
"Yes, they do nothing wrong. They walk in his ways."
Psalms 119:4
"You have commanded your precepts, that we should fully obey them."
Psalms 119:5
"Oh that my ways were steadfast to obey your statutes!"
Psalms 119:6
"Then I wouldn’t be disappointed, when I consider all of your commandments."
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