498_A prayer answering God

Psalm 65 Praise is due to you, O God, in Zion,
and to you shall vows be performed.
2 O you who hear prayer,
to you shall all flesh come.
3 When iniquities prevail against me,
you atone for our transgressions.
4 Blessed is the one you choose and bring near,
to dwell in your courts!
We shall be satisfied with the goodness of your house,
the holiness of your temple!

5 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;
6 the one who by his strength established the mountains,
being girded with might;
7 who stills the roaring of the seas,
the roaring of their waves,
the tumult of the peoples,
8 so that those who dwell at the ends of the earth are in awe at your signs.
You make the going out of the morning and the evening to shout for joy.

9 You visit the earth and water it;
you greatly enrich it;
the river of God is full of water;
you provide their grain,
for so you have prepared it.
10 You water its furrows abundantly,
settling its ridges,
softening it with showers,
and blessing its growth.
11 You crown the year with your bounty;
your wagon tracks overflow with abundance.
12 The pastures of the wilderness overflow,
the hills gird themselves with joy,
13 the meadows clothe themselves with flocks,
the valleys deck themselves with grain,
they shout and sing together for joy.

Some years ago, a missionary in Africa shared the story of a small rural village struck by drought. The crops were dying, the wells were dry, and hope was slipping through the cracked earth. The villagers tried everything—ancient rituals, appeals to government aid, even sacrificing livestock in desperation. Nothing changed. Then one elderly Christian woman quietly gathered a few others and knelt in the dust beneath a withered tree. She didn’t shout. She didn’t offer long speeches. She simply prayed, “Lord, You are the God who hears. Hear us now.” That night, the rain came. Not a drizzle, but a steady, soaking rain that turned dry soil into mud and despair into dancing. When someone later asked why she thought God answered her prayer when so many others had failed, she replied, “Because I wasn’t praying to the sky. I was praying to my Father.”

Psalm 65 is a song for every heart that believes in prayer, as contact with the living and loving God who hears, who cares, and who answers. From beginning to end, this psalm overflows with praise, thanksgiving, and awe. Importantly, this did not arise from David’s perfect life, but from his knowledge of a mighty and perfect God.

The psalm opens: “Praise is due to you, O God, in Zion, and to you shall vows be performed. O you who hear prayer, to you shall all flesh come.” What sets the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob apart is that He hears prayer, and is therefore worthy of praise and thanksgiving offerings.

On Mount Carmel, the prophets of Baal danced, cried out, and even cut themselves as they tried to get an answer from him. But there was only silence. Then Elijah prayed a simple, faith-filled prayer: “Answer me, O Lord, answer me, that this people may know that you, O Lord, are God.” And fire fell from heaven. The difference wasn’t the volume or passion of the prayer—it was the One being prayed to.

Our God is not distant nor deaf, nor indifferent. He is the God who hears, and therefore all flesh comes to him. Not by our merit or through ritual, nor because we’re good enough. David says in verse 3, “When iniquities prevail against me, you atone for our transgressions.” We come only because He atones and forgives our transgressions, on his own. This is his gift to those who seek him in simple faith, for in Jesus Christ he has done it all.

“Blessed is the one you choose and bring near, to dwell in your courts! We shall be satisfied with the goodness of your house, the holiness of your temple.” God does more than listen, he welcomes and satisfies those who come to him in faith, with abundant goodness and holiness. He delights in drawing us close and in satisfying our hunger and thirst with himself.

Then David turns his eyes outward, to the worldwide works of God, in mercy and power. “By awesome deeds you answer us with righteousness, O God of our salvation, the hope of all the ends of the earth.” He is no regional deity or tribal god. This is the hope of the entire world. The creator of all things is the one who listens to our prayers for help.

David sees in nature the fingerprints of a prayer-answering God. He sees sunrises and sunsets not as random events, but as joyful choruses—“the dawn and the dusk shout for joy.” Creation isn’t indifferent; it’s joyfully responsive to God.

Simply studying nature without an external agenda leads to wonder at its intricately interwoven beauty and functionality, its greatness and microscopic precision all in one. The world rejoices in its Maker. God’s world is not only functional—it is beautiful, abundant, and alive with joy. The pastures “gird themselves with joy,” and the valleys “shout and sing together for joy.”

For at the heart of all this splendor is provision. “You visit the earth and water it; you greatly enrich it; the river of God is full of water.” Divine generosity—rain that softens the soil, prepares the grain, and fills the barns. God’s provision is not sparse or grudging. His “wagon tracks overflow with abundance.” There is no lack in Him. And if He takes such care over soil and seed, how much more will He care for our souls?

Therefore our Lord said, “Your heavenly Father knows what you need.” He provides the lilies with their color, the birds with their food—will He not also provide for you? And so he instructed, “Don’t worry about what you’ll eat or wear. The pagans run after those things. Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”

We ask for healing, for jobs, for help. We should depend on God for our daily provision. But he has promised to provide. Our prayers should be that we may fulfil the will of God. David rejoices not merely in answered prayer, but in the One who answers. He is satisfied not just with provision, but with the presence of God.

For prayer is not a gift to enable us to change our circumstances, but to seek and follow the One who made us. The same God who waters the earth will water our dry hearts with His presence. His river is full of water, ready for those who come thirsty.

The Lord called out, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink.” Prayer is not a duty or a performance. Let us come to him and drink from the never-ending river of God’s grace.

Psalm 65 invites us into a vision of prayer that is confident and joyful, offered to God who hears, who forgives, who satisfies, and who answers for His glory and our good.

Knowing this, let us come humbly, honestly, and constantly. Let us lay our sorrow and guilt at his feet, trusting the Lord to forgive us as we repent and turn back to follow him. He has already opened the door and made a way through his cross, so let us come because he calls us.

Let us go beyond asking for our daily bread—let us ask to be fed on the bread that truly satisfies, the joy of doing the will of the Father. Let us ask for a clean and a single heart. Let our prayers be shaped by the will of heaven rather than the anxieties of earth.

And so, we shall rejoice in Him. Our souls will echo the joy of the valleys and hills. Obedience will become our song, not our burden. Our lives will reflect the joy and surrender of the rest of God’s creation. And we will gladly offer praise offerings to him who is neither powerless nor silent. He is the God who is present, who hears, and who answers. And that is our hope and our joy. God bless.