The sun lifts over silver tracks

1.
The sun lifts over silver tracks,
first blessing of the day;
and all creation wakes to bring
its offering of praise.

2.
The wren threads dawn with trembling notes,
a psalm before the feast;
the blackbird’s call becomes the chant
that bids all fear to cease.

3.
The blackcap’s flute, the robin’s fire,
rise like sursum corda;
the goldcrest sparks its crown of gold—
a tiny Gloria.

4.
The swallow sweeps the pilgrim rails,
a bearer of the Light;
the rook and jackdaw lift rough prayers
that still are pure and right.

5.
A mallard stirs the canal’s glass,
its ripples bless the morn;
and every breath of waking earth
salutes the Risen One.

6.
So as the altar‑stone is set
and bread and wine are raised,
the whole creation joins our song—
one Eucharist of praise.

Hymn information

First line: The sun lifts over silver tracks
Text: Michael McFarland Campbell
Metre: CM
Tune: Bangor, or Third Mode Melody (2 verses per tune).
Scripture: Psalms 19; 84:3–5; 96; 104; 148; Isaiah 55:12; Colossians 3:1–2; Revelation 5:13.

© 2026 Michael McFarland Campbell. Permission granted for local church use with attribution. Not for commercial reproduction without permission.

A Benedictine Note

Although A Psalm Before the Feast is written as a congregational hymn rather than a psalm, it is deeply shaped by Benedictine spirituality.

The Rule of Saint Benedict invites Christians to begin each day with the praise of God. In the monastic tradition, the first office of the day is not an interruption to creation’s song, but a joining of it. Before monks or nuns gather to pray, the dawn has already broken, birds have begun to sing, and the whole created order is proclaiming the glory of its Creator.

This hymn imagines the Church arriving at the Eucharist having first listened to that morning chorus. The wren, blackbird, blackcap, swallow, rook, jackdaw, and mallard each become part of creation’s liturgy, offering their own “psalm before the feast.” When bread and wine are finally raised upon the altar, the congregation is not beginning the praise of God but joining a hymn that has already been sung since first light.

In that sense, the Eucharist becomes what it truly is: not only the worship of the gathered Church, but the thanksgiving of the whole creation, offered through Christ to the Father in the power of the Holy Spirit.