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Revive me according to Your loving devotion, that I may obey the testimony of Your mouth.
Psalms 119:88 · Berean Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB Preserve my life according to your loving kindness, so I will obey the statutes of your mouth. LAMED
  • KJV Quicken me after thy lovingkindness; so shall I keep the testimony of thy mouth.
  • NKJV Revive me according to Your lovingkindness, So that I may keep the testimony of Your mouth. ל Lamed
  • NASB Revive me according to Your faithfulness, So that I may keep the testimony of Your mouth. Lamedh
  • NLT In your unfailing love, spare my life; then I can continue to obey your laws. Lamedh

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

He asks God to preserve his life by His covenant love so he can keep obeying God's statutes. He desires life in order to serve, not merely to survive.

Overview

Closing the KAF stanza, the psalmist prays for preservation grounded in God's loving kindness rather than his own worth. His aim in living is obedience to the statutes that come from God's own mouth, tying his rescue to renewed service. This God-centered desire for life points to the gospel, where God grants new life so that the redeemed may walk in obedience (Eph. 2:10; Titus 2:14).

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 8

  • Ps 25:10All the LORD’s ways are loving and faithful to those who keep His covenant and His decrees.
  • Ps 119:25My soul cleaves to the dust; revive me according to Your word.
  • Ps 119:40How I long for Your precepts! Revive me in Your righteousness.
  • Ps 119:2Blessed are those who keep His testimonies and seek Him with all their heart.
  • Ps 119:159Consider how I love Your precepts, O LORD; give me life according to Your loving devotion.
  • Ps 119:146I call to You; save me, that I may keep Your testimonies.
  • Ps 78:5For He established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel, which He commanded our fathers to teach to their children,
  • Ps 132:12If your sons keep My covenant and the testimony I will teach them, then their sons will also sit on your throne forever and ever.”

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 119:88YouTube · 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 119:88 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.