“Speak, Lord, for Thy Servant Heareth”

HUSH’D 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 seal’d

The Lord to Hannah’s son reveal’d.

Oh! 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.

Oh! give me Samuel’s heart,

A lovely 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.

Oh! give me Samuel’s mind,

A sweet unmurmuring faith,

Obedient and resign’d.

To Thee in life and death.

That I may read with child-like eyes,

Truths that are hidden from the wise.