I Will Arise and Go to My Father

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Far I have wandered, sadly I've squandered

Author: Haldor Lillenas
Tune: [Far I have wandered, sadly I’ve squandered]
Published in 5 hymnals

Audio files: MIDI

Representative Text

1 Far I have wandered, sadly I’ve squandered
All the possessions that once were mine;
Evil hath bound me, darkness hath found me,
I am in need of grace divine.

Refrain:
I will arise and go to my Father,
In sin no more to roam;
He will forgive me,
He will receive me,
Now I am coming home.

2 I am returning, my heart is yearning,
Once more to know His forgiving grace;
Weary of straying, no more delaying,
Longing to see His blessed face. [Refrain]

3 Sin can not charm me, but only harm me,
Husks of the world can not satisfy;
I am relenting, truly repenting,
Surely He will not pass me by. [Refrain]

4 Sorrows enfold me, naught can uphold me,
While far away from the Lord I stray;
Hungry and weary, from byways dreary,
Gladly I’m coming home today. [Refrain]

Source: Songs of Full Salvation #76

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Author: Haldor Lillenas

Rv Haldor Lillenas DMus Norway/USA 1885-1959. Born at Stord, near Bergen, Norway, his father sold their 15 acre farm in Norway and emigrated to the U.S., buying a farm in Colton, SD. After he built a sod house, the family (wife and three chldren) also came to SD in 1887. They moved to Astoria, Oregon in 1889, where Lillenas learned English and began writing song lyrics at an early age. In 1900 the family moved again to Roseville, MN, where he worked as a farm laborer and began attending a Lutheran high school at Hawick, MN. He sold a few songs at age 19. At age 21 he began writing more songs, encouraged by some earlier ones becoming popular (“He set me free” was one). His mother died in 1906 and his father returned to ND, but Li… Go to person page >

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Text Information

Text Information

First Line:	Far I have wandered, sadly I've squandered
Title:	I Will Arise and Go to My Father
Author:	Haldor Lillenas
Language:	English
Refrain First Line:	I will arise and go to my Father
Publication Date:	1918
Copyright:	Public Domain