Devotional Verses Founded on and Illustrative of select Texts of Scripture [by Bernard Barton] |
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THE ALTAR'S SIMPLICITY. |
 | Devotional Verses |  |
THE ALTAR'S SIMPLICITY.
“And if thou wilt make me an altar of stone, thou shalt not build
it of hewn stone: for if thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast
polluted it.”
—Exodus, xx. 25.
Lord! may the precept still impart
Its import to the Christian's heart,
And teach us, as we look to Thee,
Thy worship's true simplicity.
Its import to the Christian's heart,
And teach us, as we look to Thee,
Thy worship's true simplicity.
28
If thus, 'mid ancient forms, the aid
Of human art thy word forbade,
Choosing for altar of thine own
Unhewn, and unpolluted stone:—
Of human art thy word forbade,
Choosing for altar of thine own
Unhewn, and unpolluted stone:—
By more than emblematic speech
Thy Spirit now this truth would teach
Altars of flesh, like those of stone,
Must be prepar'd by Thee alone.
Thy Spirit now this truth would teach
Altars of flesh, like those of stone,
Must be prepar'd by Thee alone.
If now to Thee we build no more
An outward shrine as heretofore,
That in the heart, if truly thine,
Must yet be rear'd by power divine.
An outward shrine as heretofore,
That in the heart, if truly thine,
Must yet be rear'd by power divine.
The meddling touch of human will
Would make that shrine polluted still;
The utmost stretch of human powers
Would leave the fabric only ours.
Would make that shrine polluted still;
The utmost stretch of human powers
Would leave the fabric only ours.
Thine it should be;—in mercy deign
To build—what we but build in vain,
And when the work by Thee is done
Accept its incense through thy Son.
To build—what we but build in vain,
And when the work by Thee is done
Accept its incense through thy Son.
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