O LORD, be gracious to us: The prophet asks Yahweh to be compassionate to his people. The Hebrew verb rendered be gracious is imperative, but here it is a plea rather than a command.
We wait for thee: In the context this means the people long for Yahweh to come and help them confront their oppressing enemy (compare 8.17; 25.9; 26.8). Good News Translation provides a helpful model with “We have put our hope in you.” Bible en français courant has “we patiently count on you.”
Be our arm every morning: The people call on Yahweh to give them strength all the time. There is a textual problem in this line. Instead of our arm, the Hebrew text of Masoretic Text has “their arm” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh). Like Revised Standard Version, most versions emend the text to read “our arm” since the speakers are referring to themselves here. Hebrew Old Testament Text Project prefers Masoretic Text here, but we recommend the emended text since it fits the context better. Arm is a metaphor for his strength. We can retain the image by rendering Be our arm as “Be a strong arm for us.” A nonfigurative model is “Defend us with your power.” Good News Translation has “Protect us,” while Revised English Bible suggests “Uphold us.” The phrase every morning refers to any time of every day, not just the mornings. It may be rendered “every day.”
Our salvation in the time of trouble is parallel to the previous line, so the imperative verb Be is implied here. The noun salvation refers to the LORD rescuing his people (see the comments on “save” at 25.9). Some languages will prefer to render our salvation as “rescue us” or “save us” (Good News Translation). The time of trouble refers to any time when the people are in distress.
Translation examples for this verse are:
• O Yahweh, be kind to us;
we look to you for help.
Be like a strong arm to us each day,
rescue us when trouble comes.
• O Yahweh, be favorable to us;
we put our hope in you.
Be a protective arm to us each day,
be our rescuer when we are in distress.
Quoted with permission from Ogden, Graham S. and Sterk, Jan. A Handbook on Isaiah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2011. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .