1. Hushed was the evening hymn,
The temple courts were dark,
The lamp was burning dim
Before the sacred ark:
When suddenly a voice divine
Rang through the silence of the shrine.
2. The old man, meek and mild,
The priest of Israel slept;
His watch the temple child,
The little Levite, kept;
And what from Eli's sense was sealed
the Lord to Hannah's son revealed.
3. O give me Samuel's ear!
The open ear, O Lord;
Alive and quick to hear
Each whisper of thy word;
Like him to answer at Thy call,
And to obey thee first of all.
4. O give me Samuel's heart!
A lowly heart that waits
Where in thy house Thou art,
Or watches at Thy gates,
By day and night, a heart that still
Moves at the breathing of Thy will.
5. O give me Samuel's mind!
A sweet unmurmuring faith,
Obedient and resigned
To Thee in life and death;
That I may read with child-like eyes
Truths that are hidden from the wise.