Verse 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.

Verse 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.

Verse 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.

Verse 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.

Verse 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 childlike eyes Truths that are hidden from the wise.

Background: Hushed Was The Evening Hymn The Temple