Many
battles I have entered, never giving place to pause,
Thinking
nothing of the troubles I’ve encountered on the way;
For
I know I am but fighting for the Masters’ Holy Cause,
And
with all my strength I’ll fight that fight no matter come what may.
Though
the journey makes me weary and oft fills my heart with fear,
And
companions I have trusted in no longer stand their ground,
I
take courage in the knowledge that my Captain’s ever near:
For
a greater than this Leader, I know, never can be found.
I
have braved the dark of night and faced the summer’s scorching sun,
I
have felt the bite of winter as the chilling north wind blew;
Now
this tattered flesh is failing and my work on earth’s near done,
Soon
I’m going to a new land where with Him I’ll live anew!
Looking
back now I’m most thankful for the blessings I’ve received,
For
despite the many hardships, He’s been pretty good to me…
In
this world from all my troubles I know I’ll not be relieved:
But
from troubles I encounter for His sake I’ll never flee.
For
He bids me firmly take my stand and from Him never roam,
And
He promises to give me strength to overcome each test;
When
He’s ready He will summon me to join Him in that home
Where
the wicked cease to trouble and the weary are at rest.
H. L. Gradowith
02-25-2002
(In a letter from Andrew Jackson to F. P. Blair, dated February 29, 1844, regarding an act of Congress signed into law by President Tyler restoring (with interest) the sum of money a judge had “fined” the former President when he was commanding the troops that fought and won many battles in the area of Pensacola and New Orleans, Old Hickory, being near death and near destitute, wrote, “…How long a kind providence may permit me to remain in the land of the living he only knows, …but when providence pleases to make the call I will go without any regrets…where the wicked cease to trouble and the weary are at rest.” On these lines I was thinking when I penned this verse. The verse is not totally to be taken in the context of its inspiration, as it has obvious application to one whose life is now nearly over and who stands ready to inherit a better reward in another place. ts)