Guard Our Cities, O Lord
Photo by Dmitry Sytnik on Unsplash
A city skyline bathed in the soft glow of dawn, a quiet reminder that without the Lord’s watchful care, all efforts are in vain.
A Morning Prayer
Unless the Lord watches over the city, the guards stand watch in vain.
Psalm 127: 1b
Good Father, we come to you this morning acknowledging that "unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labor in vain." Once again, we ask that you build our varied "houses" for your glory and our wellbeing.
In cooperation with you, we build houses, and we cluster them in cities. We are communal beings. Our hearts long for social connection, so we gather in cities, towns, and villages.
Lively commerce helps supply our material needs.
Opportunities for employment nurture our skills and creativity while sustaining us financially.
Schools educate us and our children.
Concerts, sporting events, and community gatherings bring fun, excitement, and entertainment into our lives.
Above all, O Lord, in our cities we long to live safely with our neighbors. We take measures to ensure our security: emergency responders, help for the needy, the homeless, and the abused.
Yet, O Lord, unless you watch over our cities, all our valiant guardian measures prove futile. Turn our hearts, the hearts within our cities, toward you, O Lord.
We know, Lord, that you are "gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love. The Lord is good to all and has compassion on all he has made."1
Therefore, on this day, Lord, we ask that you watch over us in our cities. Fill our cities, towns, and villages with productive commerce, meaningful employment, excellent schools, and joyous events and celebrations. Guard our cities, O Lord.
In the name of Christ Jesus, our Lord, we pray. Amen.
1Psalm 145:8-9