Isaiah 33:2

O LORD, be gracious unto us; we have waited for thee: be thou their arm every morning, our salvation also in the time of trouble.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(2) O Lord, be gracious . . .—Faith transforms itself into prayer. The prophet will still “wait” upon God. In the change of person, “their arm,” “our salvation,” we hear the very words of the prayer as it was spoken, the first referring to the soldiers who were to fight the battles of their country, the second to the non-combatants who were assembled with Isaiah in supplication.

Benson Commentary

Isaiah 33:2. O Lord, be gracious unto us — The prophet and the pious Jews, contemplating the calamity coming upon their country, here direct their prayer unto God for themselves and their people. Be thou their arm — That is, their strength, namely, the strength of all that trust in thee, and wait for thee, Psalm 25:3; every morning — Hebrew, לבקרים, in the mornings; that is, every day seasonably and speedily; on all occasions as they need. In mentioning the mornings, the prophet is thought to refer to the time of the morning sacrifice, which was the morning hour of prayer with the pious Jews; but he includes all other times of prayer, in all which he desires God to hear and answer his people, and to be their salvation all the day long, and especially to support them in the time of trouble.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

33:1-14 Here we have the proud and false destroyer justly reckoned with for all his fraud and violence. The righteous God often pays sinners in their own coin. Those who by faith humbly wait for God, shall find him gracious to them; as the day, so let the strength be. If God leaves us to ourselves any morning, we are undone; we must every morning commit ourselves to him, and go forth in his strength to do the work of the day. When God arises, his enemies are scattered. True wisdom and knowledge lead to strength of salvation, which renders us stedfast in the ways of God; and true piety is the only treasure which can never be plundered or spent. The distress Jerusalem was brought into, is described. God's time to appear for his people, is, when all other helpers fail. Let all who hear what God has done, acknowledge that he can do every thing. Sinners in Zion will have much to answer for, above other sinners. And those that rebel against the commands of the word, cannot take its comforts in time of need. His wrath will burn those everlastingly who make themselves fuel for it. It is a fire that shall never be quenched, nor ever go out of itself; it is the wrath of an ever-living God preying on the conscience of a never-dying soul.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

O Lord - This is a solemn prayer to Yahweh, made by the Jews in the apprehension of the invasion of the Assyrian. It is not meant that this prayer was actually offered, but it is a prophetic representation indicating the alarm of the Jews at his approach, and their disposition to throw themselves upon the mercy of God.

We have waited for thee - That is, we have looked for deliverance from this threatened invasion from thy hand (compare the note at Isaiah 26:8).

Be thou their arm - The arm is a symbol of strengh. It is used in the Scriptures as emblematic of the divine protection, or of the interposition of God in time of calamity and dancer Exodus 15:16; Job 40:9; Psalm 44:3; Psalm 77:15; Psalm 89:21; Psalm 98:1. Lowth proposes to read 'our arm instead of 'their arm;' and the connection would seem to demand such a reading. The Vugate and the Chaldee read it in this manner, but there is no authority from manuscripts for a change in the text. The truth seems to be, that Isaiah, impelled by prophetic inspiration, here interposes his own feelings as a Jew, and offers his own prayer that God would be the strength of the nation. The form, however, is immediately changed, and he presents the prayer of the people.

Every morning - Constantly; at all times.

In the time of trouble - Referring particularly to the trouble consequent on the invasion of the Assyrians.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

2. us; we … their … our—He speaks interceding for His people, separating himself in thought for a moment from them, and immediately returns to his natural identification with them in the word "our."

every morning—each day as it dawns, especially during our danger, as the parallel "time of trouble" shows.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

O Lord, be gracious unto us; the prophet contemplating the judgment which was now coming upon God’s people, directeth his prayer to God for them.

Their arm; our arm or strength. The change of persons is most frequent in prophetical writings.

Every morning; when we offer the morning sacrifice, and call upon thee; which yet is not meant exclusively, as if he did not desire God’s help at other times; but comprehensively, the morning being put synecdochically for the whole day. The sense is, Help us speedily and continually.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

O Lord, be gracious unto us,.... This is a prayer of the church under the persecutions of antichrist, imploring the grace and favour of God in their miserable and distressed circumstances; desiring his gracious help, assistance, and deliverance; pleading not any merits of their own, but casting themselves upon the mercy and kindness of God:

we have waited for thee; time after time, year after year, in the use of means; hoping for the manifestations of thyself, and kind appearance for us; expecting help and salvation, and still continue to wait, believing the time will come when favour will be shown:

be thou their arm every morning; when they pray unto thee, the morning being the time of prayer; and also be their arm all the day long, to lean and depend upon, to support, protect, and defend them; there is a change of person from the first to the third, usual in prophetic and poetic writings: some take them to be the words of the Old Testament church, praying for the New Testament church; and others a prayer of the church for her children and members. The Vulgate Latin version renders it, "our arm"; and the Syriac version, "our helper"; and the Targum,

"our strength:''

some read the words in connection with the following clause, thus, "be thou", who wast "their arm every morning", referring to their forefathers, whose strength and support the Lord was,

our salvation also in the time of trouble (s); the deliverer of us from the antichristian yoke of bondage, from all his persecutions and oppressions, from the last struggle of the beast, from that hour of trouble and temptation that shall come upon all the earth.

(s) So some in De Dieu.

Geneva Study Bible

{d} O LORD, be gracious to us; we have waited for thee: be thou {e} their arm every morning, our salvation also in the time of trouble.

(d) He declares by this what is the chief refuge of the faithful, when troubles come, to pray, and seek help from God.

(e) Which helped our fathers as soon as they called on you.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

2. The nation’s prayer to Jehovah. The writer seems to make himself the spokesman of the community, a thing which Isaiah rarely does (see Isaiah 32:15); nowhere, as here, in a prayer. Cheyne, however, suggests that he speaks in the name of his own disciples, for whose sake he prays that the whole nation may be spared.

be thou their arm] i.e. their strength and defence (Jeremiah 17:5). The force of the pronoun “their” is uncertain; some change it (needlessly perhaps) to “our.” On the phrase “every morning,” cf. ch. Isaiah 28:19.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 2. - O Lord, etc. The mingling of prayer with prophecy is very unusual, and indicative of highly excited feeling. Isaiah realizes fully the danger of his people and nation, and knows that without prayer there is no deliverance. His prayer is at once an outpouring of his own heart, and an example to others. We have waited for thee (comp. Isaiah 8:17; Isaiah 26:8). Their Am; i.e. "the Arm of thy people." Every morning. Continually, day by day, since their need of thy support is continual. Isaiah 33:2

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

In Isaiah 33:2 the prophet's word of command is changed into a believing prayer: "Jehovah, be gracious to us; we wait for Thee: be their arm with every morning, yea, our salvation in time of need!" "Their arm," i.e., the power which shelters and defends them, viz., Thy people and my own. "Yea," 'aph, is emphatic. Israel's arm every morning, because the danger is renewed every day; Israel's salvation, i.e., complete deliverance (Isaiah 25:9), because the culminating point of the trouble is still in prospect.