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.
Parallel translations
- WEB Yahweh, be gracious to us. We have waited for you. Be our strength every morning, our salvation also in the time of trouble.
- BSB O LORD, be gracious to us! We wait for You. Be our strength every morning and our salvation in time of trouble.
- NKJV O Lord, be gracious to us; We have waited for You. Be their arm every morning, Our salvation also in the time of trouble.
- NASB Lord, be gracious to us; we have waited for You. Be their strength every morning, Our salvation also in the time of distress.
- NLT But Lord, be merciful to us, for we have waited for you. Be our strong arm each day and our salvation in times of trouble.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The people pray for the LORD's grace, asking Him to be their strength each morning and their salvation in trouble. It matters because it models dependent prayer in the face of crisis.
Overview
Turning from woe to prayer, God's people cry for grace, having waited on Him. They ask Him to be their daily strength and their salvation in distress. This humble, trusting petition exemplifies the faith Isaiah commends—looking to the LORD alone—and points to Christ, our strength and salvation.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 29
- 2 Cor 1:3–4Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort;
- Isa 30:18–19And therefore will the LORD wait, that he may be gracious unto you, and therefore will he be exalted, that he may have mercy upon you: for the LORD is a God of judgment: blessed are all they that wait for him.
- Isa 59:16And he saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor: therefore his arm brought salvation unto him; and his righteousness, it sustained him.
- Ps 60:11Give us help from trouble: for vain is the help of man.
- Ps 62:8Trust in him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us. Selah.
- Exod 14:27And Moses stretched forth his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to his strength when the morning appeared; and the Egyptians fled against it; and the LORD overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea.
- Ps 130:4–8But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared.
- Lam 3:25–26The LORD is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him.
- Ps 62:1Truly my soul waiteth upon God: from him cometh my salvation.
- Isa 25:9And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the LORD; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation.
- Ps 46:1God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
- Ps 123:2Behold, as the eyes of servants look unto the hand of their masters, and as the eyes of a maiden unto the hand of her mistress; so our eyes wait upon the LORD our God, until that he have mercy upon us.
- Ps 62:5My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him.
- Isa 25:4For thou hast been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat, when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall.
- Lam 3:23They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.
- Ps 90:15Make us glad according to the days wherein thou hast afflicted us, and the years wherein we have seen evil.
- Ps 37:39But the salvation of the righteous is of the LORD: he is their strength in the time of trouble.
- Isa 26:8Yea, in the way of thy judgments, O LORD, have we waited for thee; the desire of our soul is to thy name, and to the remembrance of thee.
- Hos 14:2Take with you words, and turn to the LORD: say unto him, Take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously: so will we render the calves of our lips.
- Ps 91:15He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him.
- Isa 40:10Behold, the Lord GOD will come with strong hand, and his arm shall rule for him: behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him.
- Ps 25:3Yea, let none that wait on thee be ashamed: let them be ashamed which transgress without cause.
- Jer 2:27–28Saying to a stock, Thou art my father; and to a stone, Thou hast brought me forth: for they have turned their back unto me, and not their face: but in the time of their trouble they will say, Arise, and save us.
- Isa 26:16LORD, in trouble have they visited thee, they poured out a prayer when thy chastening was upon them.
- Ps 27:13–14I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.
- Jer 14:8O the hope of Israel, the saviour thereof in time of trouble, why shouldest thou be as a stranger in the land, and as a wayfaring man that turneth aside to tarry for a night?
- Ps 46:5God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved: God shall help her, and that right early.
- Ps 50:15And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.
- Ps 143:8Cause me to hear thy lovingkindness in the morning; for in thee do I trust: cause me to know the way wherein I should walk; for I lift up my soul unto thee.
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Christ at the center
Isaiah sees him most clearly: the virgin's son Immanuel, the child on David's throne, the shoot from Jesse, the light to the nations, and above all the Suffering Servant pierced for our transgressions (ch. 53).
How Isaiah 33:2 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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