HUSHED WAS THE EVENING HYMN

I had been thinking about the story of young Samuel this week, being called by God in the sanctuary at Shiloh (1 Samuel 3:1-20). On searching the internet I found that it  is this Sunday’s Old Testament reading and the inspiration for the Hymn of the Week.
 by James Drummond Burns. Just a few verses below -

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,

                                                          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.

James Drummond Burns (1823-1864)

 http://hollowayrev.wordpress.com/2012/01/13/hymn-of-the-week-hushed-was-the-evening-hymn/