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.
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.
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.
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.
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.