2 Corinthians 7:9

9 Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorrowful, but that your sorrow led to repentance. For ye were made sorrowful in a godly manner, that ye might receive injury from us in nothing.

2 Corinthians 7:9 Meaning and Commentary

2 Corinthians 7:9

Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry
Their grief and sorrow, as a natural passion, was no matter or cause of joy to him; nor was this what he sought after, being what he could take no real pleasure in; for so far as that was a pain to them, it was a pain to him:

but that ye sorrowed to repentance;
their sorrow issued in true evangelical repentance, and this was the ground of his rejoicing; for as there is joy in heaven among the angels, at the repentance of a sinner, so there is joy in the church below, among the saints and ministers of the Gospel, when either sinners are brought in, or backsliders returned by repentance:

for ye were made sorry after a godly sort;
what gave him so much joy and satisfaction was, that their sorrow was of the right sort; it was a godly sorrow, they sorrowed after; or according to God, according to the will of God, and for sin, as it was committed against him; it was a sorrow that God wrought in them:

that ye might receive damage by us in nothing;
what added to his pleasure was, that his writing to them, and the effect it produced, had not been in the least detrimental to them; things had worked so kindly, and this sorrow had wrought in such a manner, that they were not hurt in their souls, but profited; nor in their church state, they had not lost one member by it; nay, the offender himself, which was the occasion of all this trouble, was recovered and restored by these means.

2 Corinthians 7:9 In-Context

7 and not by his coming only, but also by the consolation wherewith he was comforted in you when he told us of your earnest desire, your mourning, your fervent mind toward me, so that I rejoiced the more.

8 For though I caused you sorrow with a letter, I do not now repent, though I did repent; for I perceive that the same epistle hath caused you sorrow, though it were but for a season.

9 Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorrowful, but that your sorrow led to repentance. For ye were made sorrowful in a godly manner, that ye might receive injury from us in nothing.

10 For godly sorrow is not to be repented of, but worketh repentance unto salvation; but the sorrow of the world worketh death.

11 For behold this selfsame thing, when ye sorrowed in a godly manner: what earnest concern it wrought in you, yea, what clearing of yourselves, yea, what indignation, yea, what fear, yea, what vehement desire, yea, what zeal, yea, what requital! In all these things ye have proved yourselves to be clear in this matter.