Bible Strands
Psalms 119:156
Great are Your mercies, O LORD; revive me according to Your ordinances.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The psalmist addresses Yahweh amid active persecution, positioned between a statement that salvation is distant from the wicked (Psalms 119:155) and a declaration of steadfastness despite many foes (Psalms 119:157).
The words — רַבִּ֥ים (ra.Bim) means [are] great, and חַיֵּֽ/נִי (chai.Ye./ni) means preserve alive/ me, structuring the verse as a direct request for restoration anchored in divine character.
The thread — The emphasis on God’s abundant mercy and rescue from distress aligns with Psalms 86:15, Psalms 86:13, and Psalms 51:1, where compassion and deliverance are consistently linked to covenant faithfulness.
Why it lands — The text requires the reader to pursue spiritual survival exclusively through obedience to God’s ordinances, treating divine statutes as the sole mechanism for preservation rather than human effort or favorable circumstances.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Great are thy tender mercies, O Lord: quicken me according to thy judgments.
Cross-references
- Psalms 86:15 But You, O Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion and faithfulness.
- Psalms 86:13 For great is Your loving devotion to me; You have delivered me from the depths of Sheol.
- Psalms 51:1 For the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. When Nathan the prophet came to him after his adultery with Bathsheba. Have mercy on me, O God, according to Your loving devotion; according to Your great compassion, blot out my transgressions.
- Isaiah 63:7 I will make known the LORD’s loving devotion and His praiseworthy acts, because of all that the LORD has done for us—the many good things for the house of Israel according to His great compassion and loving devotion.
- 2 Samuel 24:14 David answered Gad, “I am deeply distressed. Please, let us fall into the hand of the LORD, for His mercies are great; but do not let me fall into the hands of men.”
- 1 Chronicles 21:13 David answered Gad, “I am deeply distressed. Please, let me fall into the hand of the LORD, for His mercies are very great; but do not let me fall into the hands of men.”
- Psalms 86:5 For You, O Lord, are kind and forgiving, rich in loving devotion to all who call on You.
- Isaiah 55:7 Let the wicked man forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the LORD, that He may have compassion, and to our God, for He will freely pardon.