There was a people long ago
Who had great riches, wealth untold;
They built a city with a wall,
A kingdom they thought would never fall.
How they labored unceasingly
To lay up treasure increasingly;
They gave no thought to what lay beyond,
That their kingdom would someday be gone.
But one by one the stones came down;
The city was leveled to the ground,
No more fortune to be found,
No one left to wear a crown.
The mighty kingdom fell at last;
Its beauty's gone, its pleasure's past;
All was lost they sought to gain,
Their lives were wasted, their labor vain.
You can build a kingdom with a mighty wall,
But like the kingdom long ago, it is destined for a fall,
Unless Christ the Lord becomes your King
And ruler of everything.
—Perry Boardman
