The Good Soldier
For God, and King, and Country,
A soldier once I knew,
His banner proudly flying
Against a sky of blue,
Rode forth out into battle
To fight for truth and right
And keep the torch-light burning
Through the coming night.
His King was good and gracious,
And wise, and true, and kind;
A Sovereign Lord anointed
In spirit and in
mind.
On the day of his enlistment
The soldier placed his hand
Upon a worn Bible
And accepted his command.
The soldier always honoured
The solemn oath he made;
And for his King and country
True to his pledge he stayed.
He learned the art of warfare,
And knew his craft full well,
Doing honour to the memory
Of warriors past who fell.
But on the field of battle
One day an order came
That made him blush to read it -
Made in his Sovereign's name.
The cap that he was wearing
Bore the royal crown
As did the sewn insignia
Upon his uniform.
Above him flew the banner
Of his home and native land,
Under which he was a soldier
By the King's command.
His mind could not consider
Nor his heart at all accept
To follow out that order
And still have self-respect.
And so our good brave soldier,
So strong, and proud, and true,
Failed to do his duty -
On account of me and you.
For 'twas you and I betrayed him
When we betrayed our King,
By allowing greed-filled traitors
Within his courts to sing.
(For they sing their song so subtly,
In earnest tones so sweet
That belie their under-meaning
To swindle and to cheat.
They promise all the people
That they shall have their share,
And by cunning and deception,
They trap them in their snare.)
And so the King surrounded
By liars steeped in fraud,
Was advised to make decisions
Against the will of God.
And all that we had stood for
Came crashing to the ground,
And bugle calls to battle
Took on a hollow sound.
And thus the soldier questioned,
As we must too, I fear,
Why he had gone to battle
When all that he held dear
Had been cast away forever
And trampled in the mud
By those whom we elected
And thought would do us good.
Dear God above, we pray Thee,
To bless and save our King!
To give to him advisors
Of hand and heart both clean;
To raise up strong defenders
Of what is right and true,
And whisper to our Sovereign
Such counsel as is due.
And then that brave dear soldier,
Who attends to his command,
Can fight with faith unchallenged
For the honour of his land.
And we can rest in knowledge,
That God will see us through,
Because we chose good people
Whom we know are true.
Written by Robert D.
Redmile,
Friday, the 19th March 2010.
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Hugh Message - www.HughMessage.com
Macdonald Realty 1st Pioneer, 22424 Fraser Highway, Langley, BC