Psalm 113:3-4 From the rising of the sun to its setting, the name of The Lord is to be praised.
Isaiah 45:6 That men may know from the rising to the setting of the sun that there is no one besides Me.
Malachi 1:11 For from the rising of the sun even to its setting, My name will be great among the nations…
So many biblical passages contained this phrase and yet I had never heard a song that captured the poetic majesty of the idea. So naturally I felt called to do something about that! This one started out as a desire to do the idea justice, and slowly evolved over nearly twenty years of my life. In 2004 I was playing music with Jim Alicardi every now and then and I played what I had so far. He said it was great and made some suggestions for the lyrics. I followed his advice and kept it really simple and played it slow and flowing, to allow the imagery to wash over the listener as the picture words spilled out. Whether or not I achieved that is debatable, but I’m quite happy with the way it came out.
I came up with the bridge in 2010 when I started to record the song, and really love how much it added to the structure and overall sound. In the recording, I decided to try doing a guitar improvisational solo on the acoustic guitar. So practicing it the first time through, I let the track record (just in case) and really liked what came out the very first time around, so that’s what you hear on the recording. Certainly not perfect, but not bad for a first take! Later I added an intro and some fills that were similar; lead improv on acoustic. Then I added some melodic banjo on the bridge which blended nicely with the unplugged feel. The keyboard sound is called Cosmic Dawn- quite fitting I think.
FROM THE RISING OF THE SUN
Words and music by Reggie Michaud © 1988
From the rising of the sun to the setting of the same
From the promises of old to a child on Christmas day
You have come down. King of Kings from age to age
From the rising of the sun, to the setting of the same
You are my God
And You come to me when I’m blind and lost
And You comfort me when I need you most
I will worship you with each coming dawn
From the rising of the sun, to the setting of the same
You are my God
I have come to know you well, and I’ve come to hate my past
For the foolish things I’ve done, left a scar upon my soul
You have forgot, and cast my sins into the sea
From the rising of your Son, to the death that He endured
You are my God
And You come to me when I’m on my knees
And You comfort me just like the morning breeze
I will worship you with each coming dawn
From the rising of the sun, to the setting of the same
You are my God
From the rising of your Son, now until forever more
You are my God