God answers.

By awesome deeds you answer us with righteousness,

O God of our salvation,

the hope of all the ends of the earth

and of the farthest seas;

Psalm 65:5

This is David’s poetic praise describing answered prayer. There are four things God does in answer to prayer that are worth thinking about in this verse. The first is found in the reality that God does answer prayer, and can do so dramatically. The phrase David uses is that God answers by “awesome deeds”. And certainly the history of Israel was filled with awesome answers to prayer: the deliverance from Egypt, the crossing of the Red Sea, feeding in the wilderness, the conquest of Canaan, David’s own story of protection, and on an on. God displays His power in answer to the prayers of His people.

Secondly, God answers with righteousness. God’s responses to our prayers are always right. He never is vindictive or cruel with an answer. He is holy. God is just. And His answers to our prayers come in His perfect holiness. This is why He will not grant to us an unholy request. But when we too pray in holiness and obedient submission, God responds in righteousness.

Thirdly, God is the God of our salvation when He answers prayer. Our salvation is always in view as God’s first response to us. God is a deliverer. And of course when we trust Christ as Savior and Lord, we find salvation in answer to our prayers of belief and trust. God saves when He answers prayer.

And finally, God answers in hope. David says that the hope God brings in confident assurance of answered prayer extends globally. There is no place we can be on land or ocean where God cannot hear our prayer and answer us in hope. We can confidently hold hope in prayer because God does indeed answer, showing His power, with righteousness, for our salvation as our only hope!