Psalm 119:156 NKJV
Great are Your tender mercies, O Lord;
Revive me according to Your judgments.
Revived by Mercy, Restored by Judgment
My Notes
Scripture: “Great are Your tender mercies, O Lord; Revive me according to Your judgments.” —Psalm 119:156 (NKJV)
David’s cry is rich with reverence and hope. He doesn’t merely acknowledge God’s mercy—he marvels at it. “Great are Your tender mercies…” These are not vague sentiments; they are the very heartbeat of God’s nature. His mercies are great in scope, deep in compassion, and tender in their touch. They are not exhausted by our failures, nor diminished by our weakness. They endure forever and reach higher than the heavens.
David had just spoken of the misery of the wicked (v. 155), but he turns now to the mercy of God. The contrast is striking: while salvation is far from those who reject God’s Word, mercy is near to those who seek Him. And David seeks not just mercy, but revival—“Revive me according to Your judgments.”
This is a plea for spiritual revival, for renewed strength, love, and faith. David knows that revival comes not by emotion alone, but by the truth and justice of God’s Word. God’s judgments—His righteous decisions, His covenant promises, His holy standards—are the measure and the means of revival.
David’s prayer is rooted in covenant grace. He asks to be revived according to God’s judgments—not according to his own merit, but according to God’s established way of dealing with those who love His name (v. 132). This is the rhythm of grace: mercy that forgives, truth that restores, and revival that empowers.
The greatness of God’s mercy can be measured:
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By the infinite debt it cancels (Isaiah 1:18; 43:25)
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By the eternal ruin it rescues us from (Psalm 86:13)
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By the heavenly crown it prepares for us (Revelation 1:5–6)
And His tenderness? It is the comfort of the broken, the hope of the weary, and the invitation to all who dare to believe. If His grace in us makes us gentle and forgiving, how much more gentle is He? He is easy to be entreated, slow to anger, and rich in mercy.
Let this verse be your prayer when you feel dry, distant, or discouraged. God’s mercy is great. His judgments are true. And His revival is near.
Time to Reflect
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How have you experienced the “tender mercies” of God in your life?
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What areas of your soul feel in need of revival today?
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Do you ever struggle to believe that God’s mercy is greater than your sin?
Prayer
Abba, great are Your tender mercies. I do not deserve them, yet You offer them freely. Revive me, Lord—not by my strength, but according to Your judgments. Let Your Word breathe life into my soul. Where I am weary, restore me. Where I am wandering, guide me. Where I am wounded, heal me. Let Your mercy be my song and Your truth my anchor. Help me to trust in Your covenant love, rest in Your compassion, and rise as You revive me. I ask for these things in Jesus’ name, Amen.
Cross References for Further Study (NKJV)
Forgiveness and Mercy
Isaiah 1:18 “Come now, and let us reason together,” Says the Lord, “Though your sins are like scarlet, They shall be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They shall be as wool.”
Isaiah 43:25 “I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake; And I will not remember your sins.”
Micah 7:18–19 Who is a God like You, Pardoning iniquity And passing over the transgression of the remnant of His heritage? He does not retain His anger forever, Because He delights in mercy. He will again have compassion on us, And will subdue our iniquities. You will cast all our sins Into the depths of the sea.
Revival Through the Word
Psalm 119:25 My soul clings to the dust; Revive me according to Your word.
Psalm 119:50 This is my comfort in my affliction, For Your word has given me life.
Psalm 119:93 I will never forget Your precepts, For by them You have given me life.
John 6:63 It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.
1 Corinthians 15:45 And so it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.
Compassion and Wisdom
Psalm 103:13–14 As a father pities his children, So the Lord pities those who fear Him. For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust.
James 3:17 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy.
Lamentations 3:22–23 Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, Because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness.
Covenant and Grace
Psalm 119:132 Look upon me and be merciful to me, As Your custom is toward those who love Your name.
Hebrews 8:10–12 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts; And I will be their God, and they shall be My people. None of them shall teach his neighbor, and none his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ For all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them. For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, And their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.
Romans 5:6–8 For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Deliverance and Redemption
Psalm 86:13 For great is Your mercy toward me, And You have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol.
Revelation 1:5–6 And from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth. To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, And has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, To Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
Romans 2:4–5 Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and long-suffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance? But in accordance with your hardness and your impenitent heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God.
Proverb for Today
The fear of man brings a snare, But whoever trusts in the Lord shall be safe. Proverbs 29:25 NKJV
NOTE: Psalm 119 has 22 sections to which each section is represented by a letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Today, we’re looking at verse 156, which is in the 20th section, which is called “Resh ר” Its primary meaning is “head,” symbolizing leadership, authority, and the beginning or summit of something. This connection to “head” is derived from the Hebrew word “rosh” (ראש), which means head or chief. The pictograph of the ancient Hebrew letter Resh is a head of a man, reinforcing its association with the head as the source of intellect and wisdom. The letter also carries symbolic duality, representing both spiritual leadership and poverty, as the word “rash” (רָשׁ) means poor or lowly, and “rasha” (רָשָׁע) means wicked person. This duality reflects the idea that a person can choose between greatness and degradation, with the potential for spiritual renewal even from a state of poverty or wickedness.
In this section of the psalm, David appears to draw closer to God in prayer, presenting his case and invoking divine assistance with greater boldness and anticipation. It is a pleading passage, and the central theme revolves around the word “Consider.” With unwavering confidence, he asserts his personal relationship with the Lord’s cause as a compelling reason for divine intervention. The specific aid he seeks is personal revival, for which he repeatedly implores the Lord.
……..Bill
Commentaries:
Summary of Commentaries:
Psalm 119:156 celebrates the greatness and tenderness of God’s mercies, which David pleads as the basis for revival. Spurgeon notes this verse echoes verse 149 but shifts focus from David’s prayer to God’s mercy and judgments as the source of quickening. God’s mercies are many, tender, and immense—able to blot out infinite debt, rescue from eternal ruin, and raise to heavenly glory. Revival comes not only through comfort but also through God’s judgments, which awaken and sanctify. David’s plea reflects deep trust in God’s covenant ways. Each verse in this psalm is distinct, revealing fresh grace and divine wisdom.
Charles Spurgeon
This verse is exceedingly like verse one hundred and forty-nine, and yet it is no vain repetition. There is such a difference in the main idea that one verse stands out distinctly from the other. In the first case, he mentions his prayer, but leaves the method of its accomplishment with the wisdom or judgment of God; while here, he pleads no prayer of his own, but simply the mercies of the Lord, and begs to be quickened by judgments rather than to be left to spiritual lethargy. We may take it for granted that an inspired author is never so short of thought as to be obliged to repeat himself: where we think we have the same idea in this psalm, we are misled by our neglect of careful study. Each verse is a distinct pearl. Each blade of grass in this field has its own drop of heavenly dew.
“Great are thy tender mercies, O LORD.” Here, the Psalmist pleads the largeness of God’s mercy, the immensity of his tender love; yea, he speaks of mercies—mercies many, mercies tender, mercies great; and with the glorious Jehovah, he makes this a plea for his one leading prayer, the prayer for quickening. Quickening is a great and tender mercy, and it is many mercies in one. Shall one so really good permit his servant to die? Will not one so tender breathe new life into him?
“Quicken me according to thy judgments.” A measure of awakening comes with the judgments of God; they are startling and arousing, and hence the believer’s quickening thereby. David would have every severe stroke sanctified to his benefit, as well as every tender mercy. The first clause of this verse may run, “Many,” or “manifold are thy compassions, O Jehovah.” This he remembers in connection with the “many persecutors” of whom he will speak in the next verse. By all these many mercies, he pleads for enlivening grace, and thus he has many strings to his bow. We shall never be short of arguments if we draw them from God himself, and urge both his mercies and his judgments as reasons for our quickening.
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Enduring Word
Great are Your tender mercies, O LORD: Though the wicked are far from salvation and far from God’s word, the tender mercies of God are close to all who will seek them. In a paradoxical way, though the salvation of God is far from them, God is not far because of His tender mercies. (Guzik)
i. We can measure the greatness of this mercy:
· By the infinite debt that it blots out (Isaiah 1:18; 43:22-25).
· By the eternal ruin from which it saves (Psalm 86:13).
· By the heavenly crown to which it raises (Revelation 1:5-6).
(Guzik)
ii. “The other epithet he gives them is, that they are ‘tender’ mercies; because the Lord is easy to be entreated; for he is slow unto wrath, but ready to show mercy.” (Cowper, cited in Spurgeon)
Revive me according to Your judgments: This is the same thought repeated from Psalm 119:154. The psalmist is emphasizing in the two verses that God’s word is both a source and a measure of revival. (Guzik)
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John Gill
Great [are] thy tender mercies, O Lord,…. Not his providential mercies only, which are many and undeserved, and constantly repeated; but his special mercies in Christ, which flow from the tenderness of his heart; and his merciful lovingkindness to his people, and which are great or many, as to quantity; there being a multitude of them, not to be reckoned up: and for quality they are wonderful beyond expression and conception; proceed from unmerited love, rich, free, sovereign grace, and last for ever;
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Matthew Henry
Here,
David admires God’s grace: Great are thy tender mercies, O Lord! The goodness of God’s nature, as it is his glory, so it is the joy of all the saints. His mercies are tender, for he is full of compassion; they are many, they are great, a fountain that can never be exhausted. He is rich in mercy to all that call upon him. David had spoken of the misery of the wicked (v. 155), but God is good notwithstanding; there were tender mercies sufficient in God to have saved them, if they had not “despised the riches of those mercies.” Those that are delivered from the sinner’s doom are bound forever to own the greatness of God’s mercies which delivered them.
He begs for God’s grace, reviving quickening grace, according to his judgments, that is, according to the tenor of the new covenant (that established rule by which he goes in dispensing that grace) or according to His manner, His custom or usage, with those that love his name, v. 132.
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Miscellaneous Comments
“Great are thy tender mercies, O LORD” Two epithets he ascribes to God’s mercies; first, he calls them “great,” and then he calls them “tender” mercies. They are great in many respects: for continuance, they endure forever; for largeness, they reach unto the heavens, and are higher than they; yea, they are above all the works of God. And this is for the comfort of poor sinners, whose sins are many and great: let them not despair; his mercies are greater and more; for since they are greater than all his works, how much more greater than thou and all thy sinful works!… The other epithet he gives them is that they are “tender” mercies, because the Lord is easy to be entreated; for he is slow unto wrath, but ready to show mercy: S. James saith that the wisdom which is from above is “gentle, peaceable, easy to be entreated.” If his grace in his children makes them gentle and easy to be entreated, what shall we think of him? Since he will have such pity in us poor creatures, that seventy times seven times in the day he will have us to forgive the offenses of our brethren; Oh, what pity and compassion abound in himself! Thus, we see our comfort is increased; that as his mercies are great, so are they tender; easily obtained, where they are earnestly craved.
—William Cowper.
The Psalmist, when speaking of the wretched condition of “the wicked,” is naturally led to adore the mercies of the Lord which had “made him to differ.” For indeed to this source alone must we trace the distinction between us and them.
—Charles Bridges.
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Resh ר
153
Consider my affliction and deliver me,
For I do not forget Your law.
154
Plead my cause and redeem me;
Revive me according to Your word.
155
Salvation is far from the wicked,
For they do not seek Your statutes.
156
Great are Your tender mercies, O Lord;
Revive me according to Your judgments.
157
Many are my persecutors and my enemies,
Yet I do not turn from Your testimonies.
158
I see the treacherous, and am disgusted,
Because they do not keep Your word.
159
Consider how I love Your precepts;
Revive me, O Lord, according to Your lovingkindness.
160
The entirety of Your word is truth,
And every one of Your righteous judgments endures forever.
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