Commentators unanimously agree that the turning to God described here is a direct result of affliction. God uses hardship, described as a "chastisement" (Calvin) and a "bitter experience" (Ellicott), to cure people of their reliance on idols and self-sufficiency. Matthew Henry even calls them "happy afflictions" because they accomplish the divine purpose of separating people from their sin and causing them to seek their true source of help.