In verses 5-8 the psalmist praises God as the savior of his people and as creator and Lord of the universe. God answers his people’s prayers with mighty acts of salvation, which are described in verse 5a as dread deeds, and in verse 8a as “signs” which cause fear and terror. They can be called “awesome deeds, mighty acts, wonders, miracles”; Good News Translation has “wonderful things” and “great things.”
The verb answer in verse 5a can be read as indicative (Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation, Bible en français courant, Biblia Dios Habla Hoy) or as imperative (New English Bible, New Jerusalem Bible). The translation of answer in such expressions as By dread deeds thou dost answer us depends upon the usage in the language. In such an expression the request or prayer to which an answer is expected is implicit. A term which means to reply to a question is not adequate here. A term is needed which means that God responds to the implied petition. In some languages this may be rendered, for example, “You hear us and help us by….” If the translator follows Revised Standard Version By dread deeds or Good News Translation “wonderful things,” he may translate, for example, “by doing great things for us.”
In verse 5a deliverance translates the word tsedeq (see comments on “right” in 4.1), as in 40.9; here it is parallel with salvation in verse 5b. Revised Standard Version has kept the parallelism more exact with the nouns deliverance and salvation. For comments on God of our salvation, see 18.46.
The whole inhabited earth is referred to in verse 5c-d by the phrases all the ends of the earth and the farthest seas; the latter (literally “the sea of those far away”) is unusual, and some (Briggs, An American Translation, Bible en français courant, New Jerusalem Bible) prefer to read ʾiyim “islands” instead of yam “sea.” It is better to stay with the Hebrew text, which is the recommendation of Hebrew Old Testament Text Project (“A” decision).
Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Reyburn, William D. A Handbook on the Book of Psalms. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1991. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .