The Altar

One of my favorite poets is George Herbert who wrote in the early 1600s. He received an elite education at Cambridge and could have taken a powerful government position in England. Instead, he took a minor office in the church serving as a local country pastor. He cared deeply for those most in need and was much beloved by his parishioners. He was also a master poet.

His poem The Altar, draws heavily on scripture, including God’s command to Moses to build an alter using uncut stones. For Herbert, this altar becomes the human heart as in Psalm 51. I share this beautiful poem with you today:

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 touched the same.

A heart alone
Is such a stone,
As nothing but
Thy power 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 mind,
And sanctify this ALTAR to be thine.

Let us pray: Take my life, and let it be consecrated, Lord to thee. Loving God, we give you our hearts, we give you our hands, we give you our very lives again this day. Through Jesus Christ. Amen.