For thou hast been a strength to the poor - Thou hast sustained and upheld them in their trials, and hast delivered them. God is often spoken of as the strength of his people. Isaiah 26:4 : ‘In the Lord Yahweh is everlasting strength.’ Psalms 27:1 : ‘The Lord is the strength of my life, of whom shall I be afraid?’ Psalms 28:8; Psalms 29:11; Psalms 31:2; Psalms 46:1; Isaiah 45:24. By the ‘poor’ and the ‘needy’ here undoubtedly are mean; the captive Jews who had been stripped of their wealth, and carried from their homes, and confined in Babylon.
A refuge - A place of safety; a retreat; a protection. God is often spoken of as such a refuge; Deuteronomy 33:27 : ‘The eternal God is thy refuge.’ 2 Samuel 22:3; Psalms 9:9; Psalms 14:6; Psalms 46:1, Psalms 46:7, Psalms 46:11; Psalms 57:1; Psalms 59:16)
From the storm - This word (זרם zerem) usually denotes a tempest of wind and rain. Here it is put for calamity and affliction. The figure is common in all languages.
A shadow from the heat - (See Isaiah 4:6, note; Isaiah 16:3, note; compare Isaiah 32:2.)
When the blast of the terrible ones - Of the fierce, mighty, invading enemies. When they sweep down all before them as a furious tempest does.
Is as a storm against the wall - For ‘wall’ here (קיר qiyr), Lowth proposes to read קוּר qûr, from קרר qârar, to be cold or cool, and supposes that this means a winters storm. In this interpretation also Vitringa and Cappellus coincide. But there is no need of supposing an error in the text. The idea is, probably, that of a fierce driving storm that would prostrate walls and houses; meaning a violent tempest, and intending to describe in a striking manner the severity of the calamities that had come upon the nation.