Wounded, bleeding, dying,
Beneath a foreign sun,
Three soldier boys were waiting
As the summer day was done.
The battle now had ended,
The smoke had cleared away;
Revealing bleeding comrades—
Grim War’s relentless way!
But one had there a Bible
Someone had kindly given,
And opening its pages
They learned of God and heaven,
“Ask, and it shall be given;
Seek, and ye shall find;
Knock; and the door shall open.”
O, words—so wondrous kind!
And one whose life was passing
Fast to eternity,
Exclaimed in breathless accents—
In dying agony,:
“To knock, I am not able;
I can not rise to seek;
But if I ask; believing;
Will heaven hear me speak?
“Will God Almighty listen?”
While tears their eyes did fill,
Two comrades answered quickly,
Assuring, “Yes He will!”
“I wish that I had known it,
That I had learned before,
That Christ receives the sinner,
And opens heaven’s door!”
His life-blood fast was flowing—
“But I must trust He will!
Goodbye,” his white lips faltered;
A moan—then all was still.
O Christian, send this message:,
To men—for men must die—
That God Almighty listens,
That heaven hears their cry.
“I wish that I had known it!”
O, hear that anguish cry!
And millions never knew it
Before they said “Goodbye!