The Altar

George Herbert

A broken ALTAR, Lord, thy servant rears,
Made of a heart and cemented with tears;
      Whose parts are as thy hand did frame;
      No workman’s tool hath touch’d the same.
            A HEART alone
            Is such a stone,
            As nothing but
            Thy pow’r doth cut.
            Wherefore each part
            Of my hard heart
            Meets in this frame
            To praise thy name.
      That if I chance to hold my peace,
      These stones to praise thee may not cease.
Oh, let thy blessed SACRIFICE be mine,
And sanctify this ALTAR to be thine.

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