Isaiah 65:1-16 CSB
“I was sought by those who did not ask; I was found by those who did not seek me. I said, ‘Here I am, here I am,’ to a nation that did not call on my name.
[2] I spread out my hands all day long to a rebellious people who walk in the path that is not good, following their own thoughts.
[3] These people continually anger me to my face, sacrificing in gardens, burning incense on bricks,
[4] sitting among the graves, spending nights in secret places, eating the meat of pigs, and putting polluted broth in their bowls.
[5] They say, ‘Keep to yourself, don’t come near me, for I am too holy for you!’ These practices are smoke in my nostrils, a fire that burns all day long.
[6] Look, it is written in front of me: I will not keep silent, but I will repay; I will repay them fully
[7] for your iniquities and the iniquities of your ancestors together,” says the LORD. “Because they burned incense on the mountains and reproached me on the hills, I will reward them fully for their former deeds.”
[8] The LORD says this: “As the new wine is found in a bunch of grapes, and one says, ‘Don’t destroy it, for there’s some good in it,’ so I will act because of my servants and not destroy them all.
[9] I will produce descendants from Jacob, and heirs to my mountains from Judah; my chosen ones will possess it, and my servants will dwell there.
[10] Sharon will be a pasture for flocks, and the Valley of Achor a place for herds to lie down, for my people who have sought me.
[11] But you who abandon the LORD, who forget my holy mountain, who prepare a table for Fortune and fill bowls of mixed wine for Destiny,
[12] I will destine you for the sword, and all of you will kneel down to be slaughtered, because I called and you did not answer, I spoke and you did not hear; you did what was evil in my sight and chose what I did not delight in.”
[13] Therefore, this is what the Lord GOD says: “Look! My servants will eat, but you will be hungry. Look! My servants will drink, but you will be thirsty. Look! My servants will rejoice, but you will be put to shame.
[14] Look! My servants will shout for joy from a glad heart, but you will cry out from an anguished heart, and you will lament out of a broken spirit.
[15] You will leave your name behind as a curse for my chosen ones, and the Lord GOD will kill you; but he will give his servants another name.
[16] Whoever asks for a blessing in the land will ask for a blessing by the God of truth, and whoever swears in the land will swear by the God of truth. For the former troubles will be forgotten and hidden from my sight.

We say things like, I prayed but God didn’t answer me, where was God when…, why didn’t God help, save, heal, do something? Psalm 65:2 says everyone, saved and unsaved comes to God who responds to calls.
We habitually ask God where He is in a situation when we haven’t even invited Him into it or sought His counsel on it. Yet the Lord says He’s ready to respond whenever we call or ask but unfortunately we don’t call on Him.
The response to the above verses is what is outlined in the text, and it still holds for us today.
We normally spread out our hands in worship but in verse two, we see an extraordinary gesture of God spreading out His hands to us, inviting us for fellowship, for sinners to seek Him and for the wayward to return home as seen in Luke 15:11-32.
Here is the image of God standing crying “Here am I, I am here!” But we take no notice of Him.
We reject God daily in various ways, we reject when we are more interested in climbing the endless career ladder.
Climbing the unsatisfactory social network ladder. Chasing after wealth. Attaining celebrity status. All the while looking down on those who are fervently chasing the Lord for their spiritual zeal.
Some others try to manipulate God to bend to their rule and use all kinds of talismans to “seek” God as seen in verses 3-4.
How often do we return to the Lord with only gratitude for responding to our numerous calls? How often do we simply praise Him for responding to your unlimited requests?
How often do we ignore Him when we’ve got what we want until the next time?
And how often do we blame God for the very thing we prayed for? Too often!
The Lord responds to every situation and each person in different ways and seasons but when we don’t see things the way the Lord does, we see it as God not responding.
No matter how hard we look, we can’t see God or touch God or even know who God is without His help. But if God sent his son—born like us, took on human flesh—so we could relate to and know God as a loving Father who would rather die than let us self-destruct because of His love for us, as seen in John 3:16, why would He not respond favourably when we call? Seeing as He invites us to call on Him according to Jeremiah 33:3.
The Lord God always responds! We may not like the response we get sometimes but it’s still a respond-no matter what it is, our response to God’s response to our prayer should be; Glory! Hallelujah!
How does God respond to us? Tough question! God responds in so many ways. We may experience physical response through prayer to receive healing, provision, direction and favour, in most cases, much more than we asked, less than we asked for but with a twist that reveals that God always responds in His way that exceeds our expectations.
There is always a need for prayer and there is a God that answers according to Psalm 65:2, God will respond to us.
Shalom