What is the meaning of Psalm 85:3? You withheld all Your fury “You withheld all Your fury” spotlights God’s choice to restrain judgment that was entirely deserved. • God’s restraint shows His mercy outweighing the wrath our sin invites—“The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in loving devotion” (Psalm 103:8-9). • The phrase “all Your fury” reminds us there is nothing partial about divine power; every ounce of wrath could have been unleashed, yet He opted to hold it back—“For My name’s sake I delay My wrath, and for the sake of My praise I restrain it for you” (Isaiah 48:9). • Israel had repeatedly broken covenant, but God spared them “less than our iniquities deserve” (Ezra 9:13). This withholding is not leniency; it is purposeful patience leading to repentance—“The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise… but is patient with you” (2 Peter 3:9). • The continuance of life itself testifies to this mercy: “Because of the LORD’s loving devotion we are not consumed” (Lamentations 3:22). We live in the pause between deserved judgment and offered forgiveness. You turned from Your burning anger “You turned from Your burning anger” declares that God not only paused His wrath but actively redirected it away from His people. • “Then the LORD relented from the calamity He had planned” (Exodus 32:14) is an early picture of this turn. His divine change of course never contradicts His immutability; it shows His covenant faithfulness responding to intercession and repentance. • Nineveh experienced the same pivot when they humbled themselves: “God relented of the disaster… and He did not bring it” (Jonah 3:10). • The turn of wrath produces praise: “Though You were angry with me, Your anger has turned away, and You comfort me” (Isaiah 12:1). • Micah celebrates the gospel shape of this truth—God “does not retain His anger forever because He delights in loving devotion” (Micah 7:18-19). • Ultimately, the New Covenant reveals where that burning anger went: onto the sinless substitute, Christ (Isaiah 53:5; 2 Corinthians 5:21). For all who trust Him, wrath is not ignored but satisfied, allowing God to be “just and the justifier” (Romans 3:26). summary Psalm 85:3 assures us that the Lord, who could rightly unleash full judgment, has chosen instead to restrain His fury and actively turn His anger away. This reflects a heart of covenant mercy, patience that invites repentance, and foreshadows the cross where wrath is finally and completely absorbed. His gracious restraint today is a call to grateful obedience and confident hope. |
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