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Great are thy tender mercies, O LORD: quicken me according to thy judgments.
Psalms 119:156 · King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB Great are your tender mercies, Yahweh. Revive me according to your ordinances.
  • BSB Great are Your mercies, O LORD; revive me according to Your ordinances.
  • NKJV Great are Your tender mercies, O Lord; Revive me according to Your judgments.
  • NASB Great are Your mercies, Lord; Revive me according to Your judgments.
  • NLT Lord, how great is your mercy; let me be revived by following your regulations.

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

God's tender mercies are great, and the psalmist asks to be revived by His ordinances. He pleads on the basis of God's abundant compassion.

Overview

After noting the plight of the wicked, the psalmist turns to celebrate the greatness of God's 'tender mercies.' On that vast mercy he bases his repeated plea to be revived, restored to life and vigor. This abundant compassion is supremely displayed at the cross, where God's great mercy meets sinners in Christ.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 8

  • Ps 86:15But thou, O Lord, art a God full of compassion, and gracious, long suffering, and plenteous in mercy and truth.
  • Ps 86:13For great is thy mercy toward me: and thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest hell.
  • Ps 51:1Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.
  • Isa 63:7I will mention the lovingkindnesses of the LORD, and the praises of the LORD, according to all that the LORD hath bestowed on us, and the great goodness toward the house of Israel, which he hath bestowed on them according to his mercies, and according to the multitude of his lovingkindnesses.
  • Isa 55:7Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
  • 2 Sam 24:14And David said unto Gad, I am in a great strait: let us fall now into the hand of the LORD; for his mercies are great: and let me not fall into the hand of man.
  • Ps 86:5For thou, Lord, art good, and ready to forgive; and plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon thee.
  • 1 Chr 21:13And David said unto Gad, I am in a great strait: let me fall now into the hand of the LORD; for very great are his mercies: but let me not fall into the hand of man.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (1)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Psalms videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Psalms 119:156YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on PsalmsMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    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 119:156 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.