Psalms 85:3 · Bible study
Psalms 85:3 Commentary: Wrath Withdrawn, Grace Restored
Hebrew · 10 what the commentators say
Meaning in one sentence
Psalm 85:3 recalls God's past withdrawal of fierce anger after forgiving sin, providing a foundation for praying for revival and hope in present troubles.
Research Summary
- Meaning: God actively withdrew His fierce anger after forgiving His people’s sin, proving His mercy is not merely theoretical but enacted.
- Key words: “Taken away” (gathered up, drawn back); “turned from” (withdrew, gave a new direction); “fierceness” (heat, burning anger).
- Main debate: Whether this refers strictly to Israel’s historical return from exile or typologically points to Christ’s atonement for sin.
- Theological theme: Divine wrath is real but not final for God’s people; mercy follows forgiveness and becomes the basis for renewed prayer.
- Best use: A foundation for confident prayer in seasons of distress, reminding believers that God has dealt with sin and can do so again.
Translation Comparison
BSB Berean Standard Bible 2020
You withheld all Your fury; You turned from Your burning anger.
WEB World English Bible 2000
You have taken away all your wrath. You have turned from the fierceness of your anger.
KJV King James Version 1769
Thou hast taken away all thy wrath: thou hast turned thyself from the fierceness of thine anger.
ASV American Standard Version 1901
Thou hast taken away all thy wrath; Thou hast turned thyself from the fierceness of thine anger.
YLT Young's Literal Translation 1898
Thou hast gathered up all Thy wrath, Thou hast turned back from the fierceness of Thine anger.
Darby Darby Bible 1890
Thou hast withdrawn all thy wrath; thou hast turned from the fierceness of thine anger.
Douay-Rheims Douay-Rheims Bible 1899
Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I have cried to thee all the day.
Translations in other languages (10 available)
Dejaste toda tu saña: te volviste de la ira de tu furor.
Removeste toda a tua indignação; do ardor de tua ira te desviaste.
Tu as pardonné l’ iniquité de ton peuple,
der du vormals hast allen deinen Zorn aufgehoben und dich gewendet von dem Grimm deines Zorns:
De misdaad Uws volks hebt Gij weggenomen; Gij hebt al hun zonden bedekt. Sela.
Tu hai acquetato tutto il tuo cruccio, ti sei distolto dall’ardore della tua ira.
Odpuściłeś nieprawość ludu twojego, pokryłeś wszelki grzech ich. Sela.
Помилуй меня, Господи, ибо к Тебе взываю каждый день.
你收 轉了 所發的忿怒 和你猛烈的 怒氣。
You were no longer angry: you were turned from the heat of your wrath.
Verse in Context
Scholars' Consensus
Commentators agree that Psalm 85:3 describes a concrete, past act of divine mercy: God took away His wrath and turned from the heat of His anger toward His people. Barnes calls this a historical event, ‘formerly’ God made it clear He cherished no anger against them, and says it becomes ‘the basis of the appeal which follows.’ Gill takes a stronger typological line: God ‘gathered’ up His anger and ‘poured it forth upon his Son,’ so that believers experience no condemnation. Keil and Delitzsch focus on the Hebrew verb they read as ‘gathered up’, the wrath that was let loose has been drawn back to God. Calvin connects the imagery to the scapegoat ritual, where sins were carried away. The Cambridge Bible glosses ‘taken away’ as ‘withdrawn, or drawn in.’ Across these traditions, the verse functions as a foundation: because God has turned from anger before, the psalmist dares to ask Him to do so again (vv.5, 7).
How settled is the interpretation?
Interpretive difficulty: Medium
Main views:
- Historical restoration view: Roots the verse in the post-exilic context: the return from Babylon demonstrated that God had withdrawn His wrath (Keil, Barnes, Matthew Henry).
- Typological/Christological view: Sees the gathering up of wrath as a type of Christ bearing the full weight of God’s anger on the cross (Gill, Calvin via scapegoat).
What is clear: God is the one who removes His own anger after sin is dealt with, and this act of mercy is a sure foundation for hope and prayer.
What Scholars Agree and Debate
| Topic | Agreed | Debated |
|---|---|---|
| The meaning of 'taken away' (Hebrew root gather/collect) | The phrase describes God’s active withdrawal of wrath, not a passive fading of anger. | Whether the physical return from exile or a spiritual/cultic removal (typified in the scapegoat) is primarily in view. Some (Keil, Barnes) emphasize the historical deliverance; others (Gill, Calvin) see a foreshadowing of the cross. |
| The relationship between forgiveness (v.2) and wrath removal (v.3) | They are inseparable: sin is the cause of wrath, and forgiveness precedes the turning of anger. | Whether the sequence is causal (forgiveness produces wrath removal) or revelatory (the removal of wrath makes forgiveness visible). Most see a logical order: sin dealt with → wrath withdrawn. |
| The permanence of God’s removal of wrath | God is fully capable of turning from anger and has done so for His people. | Whether this verse promises a once-for-all removal (as in Christ’s work, per Gill) or a repeated pattern of judgment and restoration in the history of Israel (the more common reading among Reformation-era commentators). |
Historical & Cultural Context
This verse belongs to a psalm almost certainly written after the return from the Babylonian exile. The opening verses recall God’s favour to the land, the restoration of Jacob, and the forgiveness of iniquity (vv.1, 2). Verse 3 then specifies: the anger that had burned against the people has been removed. The language of ‘fierceness of anger’ (from a Hebrew phrase meaning ‘heat of nose’) appears often in the Old Testament for God’s just response to covenantal unfaithfulness (Deut. 13:17). Exile was understood as that wrath made visible: the land made desolate, the people scattered. So the return itself was living evidence that God had turned.
Calvin, citing Jewish interpreter Abarbanel, links the phrase to the Day of Atonement ritual: the scapegoat carried away Israel’s sins into a ‘land of separation’ (Lev. 16:22), and their return from captivity signified that their sins were left behind. The verb ‘taken away’ (from a root meaning ‘collect, gather up’, used also in Joel 3:15 of withdrawing light) carries the sense of drawing wrath back into the divine hand, as Keil and Delitzsch note. This is not a passive disappearance of anger but an active, sovereign decision to stop punishing.
Thus the verse stands at the hinge of the psalm: it concludes the backward look at mercy already shown and sets the stage for the urgent plea, ‘Turn us, O God of our salvation, and cause your indignation toward us to cease’ (v.4). The poet knows that sin once dealt with can be dealt with again. The memory of wrath turned away becomes the fuel of faith in present trouble.
Textual Notes
The consulted sources note no significant textual variants for this verse. The Hebrew text is stable, and the ancient versions (Septuagint, Syriac, Targum) all reflect the same sense of God withdrawing His anger. The minor differences among English translations (e.g., ‘taken away’ vs. ‘withheld’ vs. ‘gathered up’) stem from the semantic range of the Hebrew verb, not from divergent manuscripts.
Reception History
This verse has been read in Jewish and Christian traditions as a testament to God’s willingness to relent from judgment. Jewish interpreters like Abarbanel connected the imagery to the Day of Atonement scapegoat, where sins were carried away (Lev. 16). Early Christian commentators saw here a pattern of the gospel: the wrath we deserved was gathered onto Christ. Reformation-era writers (Calvin, Gill, Matthew Henry) emphasized that the verse provides a ground for confident prayer. In modern usage, it often appears in prayers of confession and in hymns that retell God’s rescue of His people, recalling how He ‘turned from the heat of His anger’ and restored His favour.
Preaching This Verse
Three-point outline
- God’s wrath is real and fierce. The verse does not soften the language, it speaks of ‘all your wrath’ and ‘the fierceness of your anger.’ Biblical faith does not downplay the seriousness of sin or the reality of divine judgment.
- God has taken that wrath away. The gathering up of wrath is His own work. He withdrew what He had let loose. This is more than a change of mood, it is a decisive act of mercy grounded in forgiveness (v.2).
- This past act becomes the ground of present hope. Because God has turned before, the psalmist pleads for Him to turn again (vv.4, 7). Our memory of God’s mercy forms the basis for our cry for help.
Five-point outline
- Remembering what God has done (vv.1, 2): forgiveness of iniquity, covering of sin.
- The removal of wrath (v.3): a sovereign withdrawal of anger.
- The problem of present suffering (vv.4, 5): if God has turned, why are we still in trouble?
- The prayer for revival (vv.6, 7): ‘Won’t you revive us again?’
- The assurance of future grace (vv.8, 13): God will speak peace; mercy and truth will meet.
Illustration hooks
- A heated argument between a parent and a child. After apologies are made, the parent visibly relaxes and draws back their anger, the tension is gone. The child now dares to ask for something they want, because the relationship is restored.
- A heavy rainstorm passing: the clouds that poured out are now gathered up and drawn away. The sun returns. The memory of the rain remains, but the experience of it is over.
- A court case where the debt is paid by someone else. The judge’s verdict of ‘not guilty’ does not mean the law was wrong; it means the penalty has been satisfied.
Questions your congregation is asking
- If God is love, why does He get angry? Does this verse mean that His anger is temporary?
- How can I know that God has turned His anger away from me personally? Is it just about the past, or can I experience it now?
- What do we do when we feel like God’s anger is still present, even after we have confessed?
Leading a Discussion
Psalm 85:3 sits at the turning point of a community prayer. The psalmist first recalls that God forgave sin and withdrew His anger. Then the community prays for that to happen again. This verse invites us to examine how we hold together God’s past faithfulness and our present struggles.
Discussion questions
- Read verses 1, 3 together. What did God do for His people according to these verses? How does verse 3 connect to verse 2?
- Why do you think the psalmist starts with remembering past mercy before making a request? What does that teach us about prayer?
- Barnes says God’s former turning from anger ‘constitutes the basis of the appeal which follows.’ How does remembering God’s past help us in difficult moments now?
- Calvin and Gill see in this verse a picture of Christ carrying away wrath. How might that shape a New Testament reader’s understanding of the cross?
- Verse 3 uses strong language: ‘all your wrath,’ ‘fierceness of your anger.’ Why is it important that the Bible does not hide God’s anger? What does it tell us about sin and about God’s character?
- If God has taken away His wrath, why do the verses that follow (4, 7) still ask Him to cease His anger? What does this tension say about the Christian life?
- How does this verse encourage you to pray for your church or community today? What past act of God can you remember as a foundation?
Cross-References
Source: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (TSK, public domain)
| Exodus 32:11 | Moses begged Yahweh his God, and said, “Yahweh, why does your wrath burn hot against your people, that you have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? |
| Exodus 32:12 | Why should the Egyptians talk, saying, ‘He brought them out for evil, to kill them in the mountains, and to consume them from the surface of the earth’? Turn from your fierce wrath, and turn away from this evil against your people. |
| Exodus 32:22 | Aaron said, “Don’t let the anger of my lord grow hot. You know the people, that they are set on evil. |
| Deuteronomy 13:17 | Nothing of the devoted thing shall cling to your hand, that Yahweh may turn from the fierceness of his anger and show you mercy, and have compassion on you and multiply you, as he has sworn to your fathers, |
| Psalms 78:38 | But he, being merciful, forgave iniquity, and didn’t destroy them. Yes, many times he turned his anger away, and didn’t stir up all his wrath. |
| Psalms 106:23 | Therefore he said that he would destroy them, had Moses, his chosen, not stood before him in the breach, to turn away his wrath, so that he wouldn’t destroy them. |
| Isaiah 6:7 | He touched my mouth with it, and said, “Behold, this has touched your lips; and your iniquity is taken away, and your sin forgiven.” |
| Isaiah 12:1 | In that day you will say, “I will give thanks to you, Yahweh; for though you were angry with me, your anger has turned away and you comfort me. |
Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0). Commentaries are public domain.
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What the Commentators Say
8 public-domain commentaries, condensed into plain language.
Adam Clarke's Commentary Methodist/Wesleyan 1826
Clarke highlights the Hebrew word asaphta, which means "gathered up." His point is that God did not simply set aside his wrath; he collected it fully, bundled it together, and carried it away, together with the people's iniquities. This completes the metaphor from the previous verse.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible Protestant 1832
Barnes reads the verse as a recollection of a specific past occasion when God visibly withdrew his anger and restored peace with his people. This remembered act of grace, not a general truth about God's character, becomes the concrete basis for the prayer that follows.
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges Anglican 1880
The Cambridge Bible notes that God's removal of his wrath is pictured as drawing back or withdrawing something that had been let loose against his people. The anger had been poured out for their sin, and the renewal comes as God deliberately pulls back that fierce punishment.
Geneva Bible Notes Reformed 1599
The Geneva note emphasizes that God's withdrawal of anger is complete: he does not merely restrain his wrath but turns it back entirely. The phrasing highlights a full reversal, from fierce opposition to total removal of displeasure.
Gill's Exposition of the Bible Baptist 1748
Gill explains that sin deserves God's wrath, but the Lord gathers that wrath and pours it on Christ instead. When pardon is applied, believers no longer feel any sense of condemnation. God's fierce anger is fully pacified through His Son's sacrifice, and He turns away from it toward His people.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Commentary Protestant 1871
JFB notes that God's turning from His fierce anger itself implies He is open to reconciliation. The act of withdrawing judgment shows He is reconcilable, not that He remains unapproachable.
Lange's Commentary Reformed 1857
Lange argues that the personified attributes—mercy, truth, righteousness, peace—are divine, not human virtues, acting as heavenly messengers in harmonious union.
Matthew Henry's Commentary Reformed/Presbyterian 1710
Matthew Henry observes that God is so eager to hear his people's prayers that he himself inspires their content, putting the very words into their mouths by his Spirit. He also notes that present distress should never erase grateful remembrance of past mercies; even in low times, the church must recall God's former favours.