No. 41 Zion’s Soldier, Swp 118
Heptatonic aeolian, mode 4 a + b (I II 3 IV V 6 7).
Christ is set on Zion’s hill; He receiveth sinners still:
Who will serve this blessed King? Come, enlist, and help me sing.
This soldier sure will be Happy in eternity,
This soldier sure will be Happy in eternity.
I by faith enlisted am in the service of the Lamb;
Present pay I now receive, future happiness he’ll give.
This soldier etc.
Zion’s King my Captain is, conquest I shall never miss;
Let the fiends of hell engage, fret and fume and roar in rage.
Let the world their forces join, with the fiends of hell combine;
Greater is my King than they, through him I shall win the day.
Wicked men I scorn to fear, though they persecute me here;
True, they may my body kill, but my King’s on Zion’s hill.
What a Captain I have got! Is not mine a happy lot?
Hear, ye worldlings, hear my song, this the language of my tongue.
When this life’s short space is o’er, I shall live to die no more;
Therefore will I take the sword, fight for Jesus Christ, my Lord.
Come, ye worldlings, come enlist; ’tis the voice of Jesus Christ:
Whosoever will may come; Jesus Christ refuseth none.
Jesus is my Captain’s name, now, as yesterday, the same;
In his name I notice give, all who come he will receive.
Be persuaded, take his pay, all your sins he’ll wash away;
Now in Jesus’ name believe; future happiness he’ll give.
(last chorus)
Yes! in heaven you sure will be praising God eternally. (repeat)
For a related chorus text see ‘O Ye Young and Gay and Proud’ in this collection. The tune, claimed by William Walker, is keyed in the natural minor (aeolian) of a. I suggest the signature of one sharp, bringing the tune into the dorian mode, as more natural.