The psalm begins with an individual speaking (verse 1), but in the rest of the psalm (verses 2-4), the group speaks. The language To thee I lift up my eyes (that is, “I look up to you”) represents the posture of prayer. For the figure of Yahweh’s throne in heaven, see 2.4; 11.4. Instead of Good News Translation “heaven, where you rule,” it is possible to say “heaven, where you sit on your throne.” But if the verb “rule” or “govern” is used, a direct object may be needed, in which case it will be “over the earth” or “over all the world.”
In English “I look up to you” has a double meaning; the unintended meaning is “I admire you.” The intended meaning is “I pray to you,” and in many languages it will be best to translate it that way. In languages in which “I look up” will not signify prayer, it may be best to reverse the two lines and say, for example, “You are in heaven, where you rule, and I pray to you.”
It is not easy to understand precisely what is meant in verse 2 by “as servants look at their master’s hand, as a maid servant looks at her mistress’ hand” (Revised Standard Version as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a maid to the hand of her mistress). It can be an attitude of waiting for a command, or waiting for reward or for punishment; it seems better, however, to take the language as a figure of trust and dependence (Kirkpatrick, Taylor, Anderson). With such an attitude the people look to Yahweh their God for his mercy (New Jerusalem Bible “favor”; New English Bible “kindness”). Good News Translation keeps the second person of address in verse 2, to keep it consistent with verse 1. Good News Translation has dropped the image of the eyes that are looking and switched to “depends” in lines a and b, and returns to the image in line c. Translators may find the poetic effect is enhanced by keeping the imagery intact. However, this should not be done if it distorts the meaning. In Hebrew the double simile followed by the conclusion (ke … ke … ken) has more alliteration than in English (as … as … so). In many languages the opposition of servants–master and maid–mistress is unknown. In such cases it may be possible to say, for example, “as a worker depends on the one who pays him.” It may be convenient in some languages to reduce the male–female lines to one by saying “as a man or woman worker depends….” Some translators may find the structure of verse 2 is too cumbersome, in which two comparisons are followed by a conclusion containing a time element. This may be overcome by reducing the two comparisons to a single line, as indicated above, or it may be necessary to place the comparison at the end; for example, “We will keep looking to you, LORD, our God, until you have mercy on us. We will do this as a servant or a maid looks to the one in charge of them.”
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 .