Bible Strands
Psalms 85:3
You withheld all Your fury; You turned from Your burning anger.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The psalmist addresses God directly, recounting past forgiveness while immediately petitioning for the removal of lingering displeasure. This occurs within a communal lament that shifts from recalling delivered mercy to pleading for present restoration.
The words — The Hebrew אָסַ֥פְתָּ ('a.Saf.ta) literally means "you withdrew," paired with הֱ֝שִׁיב֗וֹתָ (he.shi.Vo.ta) for "you turned back." Both verbs describe God actively ceasing His wrath rather than passively overlooking it.
The thread — This pattern of God turning from fierce anger appears in Deuteronomy 13:17 regarding devoted things, in Psalm 106:23 where Moses stands in the breach, and in Isaiah 12:1 as a confessed reality of past wrath now withdrawn. Each reference tracks the same textual sequence of divine wrath being actively reversed.
Why it lands — The verse demands recognition that divine forgiveness requires the active cessation of wrath, not merely the covering of sin. It places the responsibility for restoration entirely on God before the community can request renewed favor.
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
Thou hast taken away all thy wrath: thou hast turned thyself from the fierceness of thine anger.
Cross-references
- Deuteronomy 13:17 Nothing devoted to destruction shall cling to your hands, so that the LORD will turn from His fierce anger, grant you mercy, show you compassion, and multiply you as He swore to your fathers,
- Psalms 106:23 So He said He would destroy them—had not Moses His chosen one stood before Him in the breach to divert His wrath from destroying them.
- Isaiah 12:1 In that day you will say: “O LORD, I will praise You. Although You were angry with me, Your anger has turned away, and You have comforted me.
- Jonah 3:9 Who knows? God may turn and relent; He may turn from His fierce anger, so that we will not perish.”
- Psalms 78:38 And yet He was compassionate; He forgave their iniquity and did not destroy them. He often restrained His anger and did not unleash His full wrath.
- Isaiah 6:7 And with it he touched my mouth and said: “Now that this has touched your lips, your iniquity is removed and your sin is atoned for.”
- John 1:29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!
- Exodus 32:11 But Moses sought the favor of the LORD his God, saying, “O LORD, why does Your anger burn against Your people, whom You brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and a mighty hand?
- Exodus 32:22 “Do not be enraged, my lord,” Aaron replied. “You yourself know that the people are intent on evil.
- Isaiah 54:7 “For a brief moment I forsook you, but with great compassion I will bring you back.