Deck Of Cards

When I first heard this song, I was a little boy growing up

Down in the state of South Carolina

The song had been written and recorded by a man named

T. Texas Tyler

The song in it's original form related to something that

Happened during the second World War

Last year, early in 1991, when things were going kinda crazy

Over on the other side of the world, I remembered this old song

And I rewrote the first part of it to fit the situation

The second part of it I left like it's been all of these years

Because you can't improve upon perfection

I'd like to dedicate this tonight to all the Veterans

To their families, their loved ones

And everybody that loves this country

It was a sweltering hot Sunday morning in the Saudi Arabian desert

And a young soldier sat alone in his tent, deep in thought

A picture of his wife and children back home in the United States

Rested on a table nearby

His mind began to wander across the miles

Back to other Sunday mornings that seemed so long ago

Now and so far away, he thought of home

And he knew that when this day dawned in America

His family would go to church to pray for his well-being

And his safe return

The young soldier reached into his bag and he took out

A deck of playing cards

He began to spread them out across his bunk

About that time, one of his buddies came by and said

"You gonna get up a game?", "No," the soldier replied

"I'm gonna spend a little quiet time with the Lord"

"Looks like to me you're playing cards," his friend said

"No, you see, I don't have my Bible and since we can't

Display our religion in public, here, I brought along this deck

Of cards" and with that, the young boy started his story

You see when I look at the Ace, It reminded me

That there is but one God and the Deuce reminds me that

The Bible is divided into two parts

The Old and the New Testaments

When I look at the Trey, I think of the Father, the Son

And the Holy Ghost

When I see the Four, I'm reminded of the four Evangelists

Who preached the Gospel

There was Matthew, Mark, Luke and John

And when I see the Five, I think of the five wise virgins

Who trimmed their lamps, there were ten of them

Five were wise and were saved, five were foolish and were shut out

And when I look at the Six, I'm reminded that in six days

God made this great heaven and earth

The Seven reminds me that on the seventh day

God rested from His great work

When I see the Eight, I think of the eight righteous persons

God saved when He destroyed this old world

There was Noah, his wife, their three sons and their wives

And when I look at the Nine, I think of the lepers

Our Saviour cleansed

And nine out of the ten, didn't even thank Him

And when I see the Ten, I think of the Ten Commandments

God handed down to Moses on the table of stone

When I look at the King

It reminds me that there is but one King of Heaven

God Almighty

The Queen reminds me of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Queen of Heaven and the Jack or Knave is the Devil

When I count the number of spots on a deck of cards

I find 365, the number of days in a year

There's 52 cards, the number of weeks in a year

There's 4 suits, the number of weeks in a month

There's 12 picture cards, the number of months in a year

There's 13 tricks, the number of weeks in a quarter

So you see, my friend

This deck of cards serves me as a Bible

As an Almanac and as a Prayer Book

And friends, this story is true

I know because I know that soldier