“Serve Him Till I Die”

A memory from my teen years flashed into my head, for some reason, and made me look up the old song “I’m on the Battlefield for My Lord.”

The back story: I was about 16 and at a teen youth rally. Visiting was a 90-year-old black man (about 4-foot-11!) from a Bible college in Louisville. He stood up in front of all those teenagers and, with no accompaniment or songbook, sang that song. Now, I’d say that I had a typical teenager’s mind-set; you know, considering old people to be pretty useless, right? But this Dr. Isaiah Moore sang with such power and conviction, such confidence and purpose. I was cut to the core that he still considered himself to be an active warrior for the Lord. He had fight and spirit. I wanted to be just like him!

To enhance that memory, I looked around online and enjoyed various renditions of the song.

The refrain is:
I am on the battlefield for my Lord,
I’m on the battlefield for my Lord;
And I promised him that I would serve him till I die.
I am on the battlefield for my Lord.
(lyrics by Sylvana Bells and E.V. Banks)

Here are the full lyrics.

Here’s a performance by The Messengers (featuring an older man soloist).

Here is a quartet doing it in more of a southern gospel style.

Here’s a cool pianist playing with a super bluesy/jazzy feel.

Maybe your main objective in life has been to find your dream job or make sure you get big vacations every year. Or maybe you see yourself as being “past my prime” or “retired—hey, I’ve put in my time.” Maybe you’ve even forgotten that we’re on a battlefield and that there’s work to do! If so, maybe this is the day to think of a 90-year-old man declaring, “I’m on the battlefield for my Lord. And I promised him that I would serve him till I die…”