Can I pull up old deleted messages?

If you have deleted one or more messages, you can restore them in Recently Deleted.

This requires your iPhone to have iOS 16

1. Open the Messages app and tap Edit in the top right corner, select: Show Recently Deleted

2. Mark the messages you want to recover and tap: Recover.

Note that, after 30-40 days the messages are automatically deleted. Once the messages are

deleted, they can no longer be recovered.

You can find more information here:

Recover deleted text messages on your iPhone or iPad - Apple Support

Another option. If you have a Backup from your computer (iCloud Backup cannot be used) from when the messages were on your iPhone, then you can try to restore from that backup.

Find more information on how to restore from a backup here:

Restore your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch from a backup - Apple Support