The Highlands of Canaan

I have left the wilderness beyond the rolling tide

Author: Haldor Lillenas
Tune: [I have left the wilderness beyond the rolling tide]
Published in 1 hymnal

Audio files: MIDI

Representative Text

1 I have left the wilderness beyond the rolling tide,
Hallelujah, hallelujah!
In the land of promise I would evermore abide,
Hallelujah, hallelujah!

Refrain:
For the highlands of Canaan I’m longing,
I have tasted its corn and wine;
I am going to possess all this land of righteousness,
I will claim it and make it mine.
For the highlands of Canaan I’m longing,
I have tasted its corn and wine;
I have left the desert sand for the blessed Beulah land,
Hallelujah forevermore!

2 Here the sun is brightly shining and the sky is clear,
Hallelujah, hallelujah!
No more marches thro’ the burning sands and deserts drear,
Hallelujah, hallelujah! [Refrain]

3 I would not always be dwelling near the Jordan side,
Hallelujah, hallelujah!
I would climb the hills of promise and would there reside,
Hallelujah, hallelujah! [Refrain]

4 Many cities have been conquered in this goodly land,
Hallelujah, hallelujah!
I am pressing towards the highlands at the Lord’s command,
Hallelujah, hallelujah! [Refrain]

Source: New Songs of Pentecost No. 3 #54

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 >

Text Information

First Line: I have left the wilderness beyond the rolling tide
Title: The Highlands of Canaan
Author: Haldor Lillenas
Language: English
Refrain First Line: For the highlands of Canaan I'm longing
Copyright: Public Domain

Instances

Instances (1 - 1 of 1)
TextAudioPage Scan

New Songs of Pentecost No. 3 #54

Suggestions or corrections? Contact us