Scripture Verse

Speak, Lord; for Thy servant heareth. 1 Samuel 3:10

Introduction

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Charles Wesley (1707–1788)

Words: Charles Wes­ley, Hymns and Sac­red Po­ems 1740. The orig­in­al ver­sion had an ad­di­tion­al first stan­za be­gin­ning, Sav­iour, Who rea­dy art to hear. The ver­sion be­low first ap­peared in the Wes­ley Hymn Book, 1780. Wes­ley’s text may have been in­spired by Mil­ton’s Pa­ra­dise Lost, Book 4, lines 639-40: With thee con­vers­ing, I for­get all time, All sea­sons and their change; all please alike.

Music: So­ho Jo­seph Barn­by, 1881 (🔊 pdf nwc).

Alternate Tunes:

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Joseph Barnby (1838–1896)

Lyrics

Talk with us, Lord, Thy­self re­veal,
While here o’er earth we rove;
Speak to our hearts, and let us feel
The kind­ling of Thy love.

With Thee con­vers­ing, we for­get
All time, and toil, and care;
Labor is rest, and pain is sweet,
If Thou, my God, art here.

Here, then, my God, vouch­safe to stay,
And bid my heart re­joice;
My bound­ing heart shall own Thy sway,
And ec­ho to Thy voice.

Thou call­est me to seek Thy face,
’Tis all I wish to seek;
To at­tend the whis­pers of Thy grace,
And hear Thee in­ly speak.

Let this my ev­ery hour em­ploy,
Till I Thy glo­ry see;
Enter into my mas­ter’s joy,
And find my hea­ven in Thee.