5461 Samuel 3:1-46 6. 6 6. 8 8
    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.
 
James Drummond Burns, 1823-64