Sitha Hari Ma Enathura Lyrics by Unknown Artist

Until I turned my heart and came back, you stood watching for me,
and without casting off sin-laden me, you kissed and embraced me
Father, I am helpless, helpless, helpless, have compassion on me

Seeking happiness and wealth, I went and ruined myself out there,
and I understood at last that the only wealth is you alone
Father, I am helpless, helpless, helpless, have compassion on me

Tears rose up in my eyes, my body burned as if on fire,
and it struck my heart, my Father, the day I became a pauper
Father, I am helpless, helpless, helpless, have compassion on me

This is a hymn of repentance and homecoming, and it retells, in the first person, the story Jesus made famous in the parable of the prodigal son. Its opening line is pure grace: “until I turned my heart and came back, you stood watching for me.” Like the father in the parable who watched the road and ran to meet his returning son, God is pictured waiting, hoping, looking out for the wanderer. And the welcome is unconditional, “without casting off sin-laden me, you kissed and embraced me.” There is no lecture, only an embrace.

Each verse ends with the same broken, heartfelt refrain, “Father, I am helpless, helpless, helpless, have compassion on me.” It is the cry of someone who has stopped pretending to be strong or deserving and can only throw themselves on mercy.

The verses tell how he learned his lesson, exactly as the prodigal did. “Seeking happiness and wealth, I went and ruined myself out there,” chasing everything except the one thing that mattered, until “I understood at last that the only wealth is you alone.” The final verse is the moment of true awakening, when “it struck my heart, my Father, the day I became a pauper,” the day of losing everything became the day of coming to his senses. What the listener is left with is the deep comfort at the centre of the gospel, that no matter how far we wander or how much we waste, the Father is already watching the road, ready to run, to kiss, to embrace, and to have compassion on the helpless one who finally turns for home.