'Tis Better On Before

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Since light has dawned on me

Author: Haldor Lillenas
Tune: [Since light has dawned on me]
Published in 2 hymnals

Audio files: MIDI

Representative Text

1 Since light has dawned on me,
The light of Calvary,
My heart has been aglow with heav’nly peace;
My sinful, guilty past
Is blotted out at last,
And day by day my blessings shall increase.

Refrain:
‘Tis better on before,
Beyond the open door,
The door of God’s tomorrows bright and far;
My yesterdays are past,
Beyond are realms so vast,
The realms of God my Father’s loving care.

2 When I was first redeemed,
How glorious it seemed
To know that all my sins were washed away;
But as I onward press
In paths of righteousness,
The way is growing brighter ev’ry day. [Refrain]

3 Tho’ burdens I must bear,
There’s One who waits to share
Them with me so my heart shall know no fear;
Bereavement, pain and loss
Are hallowed thro’ the cross,
And farther on the lights of home appear. [Refrain]

4 The reasons for the strife
And mysteries of life
In God’s tomorrow shall be all revealed;
In yonder home of peace
The stormy days shall cease,
And all the ills of life shall there be healed. [Refrain]

Source: Great Gospel Songs #49

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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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