By way of Google, I found this Mudcat thread with the lyrics to this song and additional information:thread.cfm?threadid=55373&messages=4

If I Can Help Somebody

written in 1945 by Alma Bazel Androzzo, made famous by Mahalia Jackson, a hit in 1951 for Irish tenor Joseph Locke

If I Can Help Somebody

If I can help somebody, as I pass along,
If I can cheer somebody, with a word or song,
If I can show somebody, how they're travelling wrong,
Then my living shall not be in vain.

Chorus:
My living shall not be in vain,
Then my living shall not be in vain
If I can help somebody, as I pass along,
Then my living shall not be in vain.

If I can do my duty, as a good man ought,
If I can bring back beauty, to a world up wrought,
If I can spread love's message, as the Master taught,
Then my living shall not be in vain.

-snip-

Here's two YouTube video clips of this song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KX1K0JL72J4
Then My Living Will Not Be In Vain-Deborah Chambers
**

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edBGuudFeu8
Then My Living Will Not Be In Vain-Patti Labelle