“Oh Lord, be gracious to us, we wait for you, be our arm every morning, our salvation in a time of trouble.”
– Isaiah 33:2
What does that mean? Think about it, be our arm every morning. Well, basically the picture here is the arm is the symbol of strength, so Isaiah, amongst God’s people is saying, “God, be gracious to us, we’re waiting for you, be our strength every morning. We need you to be our strength, our salvation, specifically in the time of trouble.”
Isaiah 33:2 Reminds Us That God Helps Us When We Are Weak
He’s coming from a place of weakness, where he’s surrounded by trouble and need around him and he looks up to the Lord in the morning and says, “Be my arm.” I think about my life today, I don’t know obviously know what’s going on in your life, but I feel weak at so many levels. I need strength in so many different ways. Physically weak, I feel in a sense, emotionally weak some days, maybe many days. Relationally weak, just the relational challenges whether it’s work or family or this or that in the church.
God is our strength, for we are weak and needy.
I think about even spiritual weakness. I think about my temptations to sin. And I just see my weakness on so many levels and yet, I have the opportunity to wake up in the morning from sleep to look up to the Lord on high, the God of the universe and pray, “Be my arm. Every morning, be my strength. Every morning, surrounded by all kinds of things in the world, I need you to be my strength,” and God hears that prayer.
He is gracious to us, he will be strength for us. Salvation specifically in the time of trouble, He will help us in every way we need. I just encourage you to pray. Let’s pray together.
This Verse Leads Us to Praise God and Confess Our Weakness
God, we praise you as our arm, our strength. God we confess our weakness on so many different levels today. We are so weak. Spiritually we are prone to temptation and sin. We need your strength spiritually. Physically, we can be so tired just physically and walking through physical struggle. I’m guessing some people are praying this right now and just needing physical strength, or emotional strength, amidst all kinds of challenges that maybe we are facing in our lives.
God amidst relational weakness and the challenges we’re experiencing in relationships whether it’s at home, at work, in the church, the community around us. God we praise you for the strength you are in all of these ways, so we pray, be our arm, be our strength, specifically our salvation. Save us from our tendency to sin and then oh God, in the midst of weakness in this world, show your strength in us. We pray, be gracious to us, we wait for you, you are our arm, our strength today. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
