A broken ALTAR, Lord, thy servant rears, / Made of a heart and cemented with tears
-- Speaker (Lines 1 – 2)

Importance: These are the opening lines of the poem, and they introduce the first-person speaker as well has his addressee, God. The speaker refers to himself as "servant" and also to the altar he presents as "broken," emphasizing his sinful nature in comparison to God's perfection. That the altar is made of a "heart" and held together by "tears" suggests that the speaker is expressing his emotions directly through the poetic over which he has labored.

Whose parts are as thy hand did frame; / No workman's tool hath touch'd the same.
-- Speaker (Lines 3 – 4)

Importance: In these lines, the speaker acknowledges that his composition is the same as it was when God created him. Here, he underscores God's power by suggesting that He and He alone has been the driving force in the speaker's life. The speaker also suggests that...