{"id":14686,"date":"2023-11-06T23:20:42","date_gmt":"2023-11-06T22:20:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.irenebom.com\/prayer_matters\/?p=14686"},"modified":"2023-11-06T23:36:26","modified_gmt":"2023-11-06T22:36:26","slug":"unless-the-lord-stands-watch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.irenebom.com\/prayer_matters\/2023\/11\/06\/unless-the-lord-stands-watch\/","title":{"rendered":"Unless the Lord stands watch"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"
\n 
\n <\/p>\n

Unless the Lord builds the house,
\n      the builders labour in vain.
\nUnless the Lord watches over the city,
\n      the guards stand watch in vain.<\/p>\n

Psalm 127:1<\/a><\/div>\n\n

The Mercy of Justice<\/h3>\n

Where are things heading, God of wisdom?
\nUnless you are a God of justice and judgement,
\n      the future of this arrogant world is dismal.
\nUnless you are a God of grace and mercy,
\n      our place in your future is hopeless.<\/p>\n

With the anger of a temple cleansing,
\n      overthrow greed and scatter our indifference.
\nWith the suffering of your crucified Son,
\n      forgive our sins and heal our diseases.
\nWith the mercy of justice and the justice
\n      of your unique mercy, lead us on towards
\n      the consummation of your kingdom.<\/p>\n

You alone are our help and hope.
\nYou alone are our health and happiness.<\/p>\n

Through Jesus Christ our Saviour.
\nAmen!
\n 
\n~ written by Bruce Prewer<\/strong>, and posted on www.bruceprewer.com<\/a><\/p>\n\n

From the blog<\/strong>
\nYield as sacrifice<\/a>
\nPrayer poem: Not unless<\/a>
\nOn Writing Prayer-Poems<\/a>
\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Unless the Lord builds the house,       the builders labour in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city,       the guards stand watch in vain. Psalm 127:1 The Mercy of Justice Where are things heading, God of wisdom? Unless you are a God of justice and judgement,       the future of this arrogant world is … Continue reading “Unless the Lord stands watch”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[13,3],"tags":[245],"class_list":["post-14686","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bible","category-prayer","tag-stand"],"yoast_head":"\nUnless the Lord stands watch - Prayer matters<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\""Unless the Lord watches over the city ..." 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Stand still for a moment, barefoot, on holy\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "call to worship"","block_context":{"text":"call to worship","link":"https:\/\/www.irenebom.com\/prayer_matters\/category\/call-to-worship\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.irenebom.com\/prayer_matters\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/body_shadow_on_namaqualand_daisies.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.irenebom.com\/prayer_matters\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/body_shadow_on_namaqualand_daisies.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.irenebom.com\/prayer_matters\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/body_shadow_on_namaqualand_daisies.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.irenebom.com\/prayer_matters\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/body_shadow_on_namaqualand_daisies.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5728,"url":"https:\/\/www.irenebom.com\/prayer_matters\/2018\/12\/03\/3-prayers-for-advent\/","url_meta":{"origin":14686,"position":3},"title":"3 Prayers for Advent","author":"Irene Bom","date":"December 3, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 To kick off this month's theme, Prepare, here are 3 short prayers to ready our hearts for Christmas and for Jesus' Kingdom to come, now and in the future. \u00a0 (Links to additional resources for Advent included below.) \u00a0 Prayer of Invocation (inspired by Matthew 11:3-5) O God, we\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "prayer"","block_context":{"text":"prayer","link":"https:\/\/www.irenebom.com\/prayer_matters\/category\/prayer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.irenebom.com\/prayer_matters\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/autumn_leaves.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.irenebom.com\/prayer_matters\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/autumn_leaves.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.irenebom.com\/prayer_matters\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/autumn_leaves.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.irenebom.com\/prayer_matters\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/autumn_leaves.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":17094,"url":"https:\/\/www.irenebom.com\/prayer_matters\/2026\/04\/13\/free-gift-of-forgiveness\/","url_meta":{"origin":14686,"position":4},"title":"Free gift of forgiveness","author":"Irene Bom","date":"April 13, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 Prayer of Confession We have failed to love you with all our heart and to be good stewards of your creation: Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. We have failed to take up the cross of discipleship and to be good stewards of your gospel: Christ, have mercy. Christ,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "confession"","block_context":{"text":"confession","link":"https:\/\/www.irenebom.com\/prayer_matters\/category\/confession\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.irenebom.com\/prayer_matters\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/glass_display.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.irenebom.com\/prayer_matters\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/glass_display.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.irenebom.com\/prayer_matters\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/glass_display.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.irenebom.com\/prayer_matters\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/glass_display.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":11164,"url":"https:\/\/www.irenebom.com\/prayer_matters\/2021\/03\/18\/good-grief\/","url_meta":{"origin":14686,"position":5},"title":"Good grief","author":"Irene Bom","date":"March 18, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"(Photo: Irene Bom) \u00a0 Ken Cope writes, Our traditional view of grief is that it should be reserved for funerals and tragedies. However, if we really want to encounter God and grow in our relationship with Him then our attitude toward grief must change from viewing it as an uncomfortable\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "prayer"","block_context":{"text":"prayer","link":"https:\/\/www.irenebom.com\/prayer_matters\/category\/prayer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.irenebom.com\/prayer_matters\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/drain_cover_reflection.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.irenebom.com\/prayer_matters\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/drain_cover_reflection.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.irenebom.com\/prayer_matters\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/drain_cover_reflection.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.irenebom.com\/prayer_matters\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/drain_cover_reflection.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"rttpg_featured_image_url":null,"rttpg_author":{"display_name":"Irene Bom","author_link":"https:\/\/www.irenebom.com\/prayer_matters\/author\/irenebom-com\/"},"rttpg_comment":0,"rttpg_category":"<a href=\"https:\/\/www.irenebom.com\/prayer_matters\/category\/bible\/\" rel=\"category tag\">bible<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.irenebom.com\/prayer_matters\/category\/prayer\/\" rel=\"category tag\">prayer<\/a>","rttpg_excerpt":"    Unless the Lord builds the house,       the builders labour in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city,       the guards stand watch in vain. Psalm 127:1 The Mercy of Justice Where are things heading, God of wisdom? Unless you are a God of justice and judgement,       the future of this arrogant world is…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.irenebom.com\/prayer_matters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14686","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.irenebom.com\/prayer_matters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.irenebom.com\/prayer_matters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.irenebom.com\/prayer_matters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.irenebom.com\/prayer_matters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14686"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.irenebom.com\/prayer_matters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14686\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.irenebom.com\/prayer_matters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14686"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.irenebom.com\/prayer_matters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14686"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.irenebom.com\/prayer_matters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14686"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}