Psalms 71:20

Though You have shown me many troubles and misfortunes, You will revive me once again. Even from the depths of the earth You will bring me back up.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — An old, afflicted man addresses God in the middle of a prayer that moves from praise of God's greatness (v. 19) to a request for renewed honor (v. 21). He names his suffering plainly before asserting God's power to reverse it.

The words — תְּחַיֶּינִי (techaiyeini, H2421) is the root חיה, "to live / to be alive," the same root used in the Old Testament for the act of restoring life; it is not a generic "revive" but the language of making a dead thing live.

The thread — The pattern of suffering followed by divine restoration recurs in Psalms 138:7, where God preserves the psalmist in the midst of trouble, and in Hosea 6:1, where Israel acknowledges that the one who tore will heal. Psalms 60:3 inverts the image, presenting God as the source of the hardship itself.

Why it lands — It asks the reader to hold two facts at once: the troubles are real and the restoration is promised, with no requirement to resolve the tension between them. The verse does not minimize suffering; it places it inside a larger arc that ends in life.

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

אֲשֶׁ֤ר'a.Sherwho הִרְאִיתַ֨נִיhir.'i.Ta./niyou have made see/ me צָר֥וֹתtza.Rottroubles רַבּ֗וֹתra.Botmany וְרָ֫ע֥וֹתve./Ra.'otand/ calamities תָּשׁ֥וּבta.Shuvyou will return תְּחַיֵּ֑ינִיte.chai.Yei./niyou will preserve alive/ me וּֽמִתְּהֹמ֥וֹתu./mi./te.ho.Motand/ from/ [the] depths of הָ֝אָ֗רֶץha./'A.retzthe/ earth תָּשׁ֥וּבta.Shuvyou will return תַּעֲלֵֽנִי׃ta.'a.Le./niyou will bring up/ me

King James Version

Thou, which hast shewed me great and sore troubles, shalt quicken me again, and shalt bring me up again from the depths of the earth.

Cross-references

Psalms 138:7 If I walk in the midst of trouble, You preserve me from the anger of my foes; You extend Your hand, and Your right hand saves me.
Hosea 6:1 Come, let us return to the LORD. For He has torn us to pieces, but He will heal us; He has wounded us, but He will bind up our wounds.
Psalms 60:3 You have shown Your people hardship; we are staggered from the wine You made us drink.
Psalms 86:13 For great is Your loving devotion to me; You have delivered me from the depths of Sheol.
Ezekiel 37:12 Therefore prophesy and tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘O My people, I will open your graves and bring you up from them, and I will bring you back to the land of Israel.
Psalms 40:1 For the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. I waited patiently for the LORD; He inclined to me and heard my cry.
Psalms 80:18 Then we will not turn away from You; revive us, and we will call on Your name.
Psalms 119:25 My soul cleaves to the dust; revive me according to Your word.
Jonah 2:6 To the roots of the mountains I descended; the earth beneath me barred me in forever! But You raised my life from the pit, O LORD my God!
Psalms 16:10 For You will not abandon my soul to Sheol, nor will You let Your Holy One see decay.