Trust and Obey
A great song written by John Sammis and Daniel Towner, who heard somebody say something special at an evangelical meeting held by DL Moody. What a great song that sums up the Christian life! Listen and be blessed.
Welcome to Friday Classic Hymns! Today we're looking at a song that I always remember my friend George saying, "This is what it's all about: trust and obey. That sums everything up."
I never really even knew the song when he said it. I just thought it's quite a great little phrase. I only found out later that it was a classic hymn. It's not one that I sang growing up. We grew up in a church that was quite contemporary, so I went and learnt this song this week and just found it to be beautiful.
Do you know the song? Do you love it? Do you have special memories of it? Why don't you share those below in the comments? Let's get into the history and see where this one came from.
The Story Behind "Trust and Obey"
It was a man named John Sammis who wrote the words of this song. He was a businessman for a while and worked as the secretary for the YMCA, but then gave it up and became a minister. He was ordained as a Presbyterian minister. Later on, he became a faculty member at the Bible Institute in California. He died in 1912 after living a full, good life of Christian service.
The composer of this beautiful melody is a man named Daniel Towner. Towner studied at the Moody Bible Institute, which was a famous institution of the time and is still going strong. This was a place that trained not only pastors in theology, but they also raised up song leaders who would do music ministry. Towner was one of those who went through their programme. By the time he was finished, Moody hand-picked him as the leader of the music department, so he was talented and he wrote a lot of wonderful songs.
This song came about in 1886. Towner was accompanying D.L. Moody on an evangelistic outreach in Massachusetts. During one of their meetings, people were giving testimonies, and the song came about because of what somebody said in this meeting.
Let me read what Towner himself said: "Mr Moody was conducting a series of meetings in Brockton, Massachusetts, and I had the pleasure of singing for him there. One night, a young man rose in a testimony meeting and said, 'I'm not quite sure, but I'm going to trust, and I'm going to obey.' I just jotted that sentence down and sent it with a little story to the Reverend John Sammis, a Presbyterian minister. He wrote the hymn, and the tune was born."
Makes me think to myself: something that happens in church can seem insignificant, but it can be used. Who knows what you say or what you share in a meeting, in a Bible study, in a church service, or whatever? Who knows what might spark in somebody's mind that can create something wonderful? They created the song because of something that that young man probably never even realised he was saying. He probably didn't even know the power of that sentence, but it became "Trust and Obey."
The song was published and it became popular pretty much straight away. It has been popular ever since. It's really a lovely song. Daniel Towner would die as an older man in 1919, playing music at an evangelistic meeting—that's the way he would have wanted to go, I guess. Really, the words of the song are very special. Let's take a look at them.
What Do the Lyrics of "Trust and Obey" Mean?
Verse 1
There are five verses in the song, and verse one is one that most of us know. It says, "When we walk with the Lord in the light of His word, what a glory He sheds on our way!"
Doesn't that make you think of that Psalm that says, "Thy word is a light unto my path"? When we're walking with the Lord, His word sheds light on our path.
"While we do His good will, He abides with us still, and with all who will trust and obey."
Now, we read this type of thing in the Psalms and in the Proverbs a lot. If you will walk with the Lord, if you will stick with Him, if you will live life in His way, He will be with you and you will be blessed. So are you doing His good will? Are you sticking close to Him and making sure that you are living in His ways?
There's a close fellowship with God that can only be when we are walking in these ways. When we aren't walking in His ways, there comes a wall between us. But when you turn away from your selfish ways and live in God's ways and walk with His word leading the way, and when you trust and obey, then there's a closeness there. He abides with us still.
In that last line that says, "all who will trust and obey", that phrase gets repeated now in the chorus. The chorus says:
"Trust and obey, for there's no other way to be happy in Jesus but to trust and obey."
Do you agree with that? There's no other way to be happy in Jesus but to trust and obey.
We can be happy in Christ. We can be full of joy. We can live lives that are full, satisfying lives. Remember, Jesus said that He came to give us life in abundance, or life to the utmost, life to the full. If we're trusting Him and obeying Him, then we find it. But if we're living a sort of half-Christian life where we're trusting in other things and disobeying God and walking in our own ways, then we're always living a life of conflict, aren't we? That's when you can find no joy.
Trust and obey. Put your trust in God and God alone, and then obey Him and walk in His ways. There'll be such joy, there'll be such peace for us if we do that. If we turn away from our sinfulness, trust and obey.
Verse 2
Verse two says, "Not a shadow can rise, not a cloud in the skies, but His smile quickly drives it away."
I'm not sure about that, because sometimes shadows linger. Sometimes clouds stick around, and we go through long thunderstorms in life and long difficulties. His smile, I don't believe, just chases it away, but His smile is what helps us even whilst we're sitting in the rain.
Then the song says, "Not a doubt nor a fear, not a sigh nor a tear, can abide while we trust and obey."
Again, I'm not sure I agree, because Paul said that he always had sorrow. He had joy, but he always had sorrow. I think the Christian life is a life of joy and sorrow at the same time. There's much that gets to us, there's much that knocks us down. But maybe the songwriter is right when he said none of it will abide, none of it will stay. Perhaps another way to put it is it won't overwhelm us, because the joy that we have in Christ is greater. So if you have a doubt or a fear or a sigh or a tear, it's not a sign that you are totally off track. But if you're trusting and obeying, then those things will keep you close to God even in spite of the struggles.
Verse 3
Verse three goes, "Not a burden we bear, not a sorrow we share, but our toil He doth richly repay."
"Not a grief nor a loss, not a frown nor a cross, but is blessed if we trust and obey."
Now, this seems a little bit more realistic than verse two to me, because the author is saying we do go through bad things—burdens, sorrows, griefs, frowns, losses—but they are blessed. They are blessed if we trust and obey.
There's a verse in Romans that says God works everything out for good for those who love Him. So whatever difficulties come our way, they are worked into good. They are blessed even by God if we are trusting and obeying Him and walking in His ways. Good can come out of anything because our God can turn anything around.
Trust Him. Obey Him. Walk in His ways and see how even your difficulties begin to show forth His glory in your life.
There's that line there that says He repays. He repays. We will get our reward when we get there one day. If we've trusted and obeyed, we may not get it all in this life—in fact, in this life we're probably not going to get much—but, oh boy, the reward that awaits us when we are up there with Him one day!
Verse 4
Verse four says this: "But we never can prove the delights of His love until all on the altar we lay."
Isn't that what the whole song has been saying? If you're trusting and obeying, or if you've laid it all on the altar, then you will be able to understand the delights of His love and be able to benefit from who He is. But if you're holding back and you're sort of not really giving it to Him, then you're not going to be able to benefit from what He has for you.
"For the favour He shows, for the joy He bestows, are for all who will trust and obey."
So again, it's not for everybody. It's not for unbelievers, but it's for the people who've placed their faith in Jesus and trust in Him and obey Him that have this amazing blessing in their lives.
We can find peace and joy in Christ, but only if we've put our all on the altar and given ourselves to Him. Have you done that? Have you turned your life over to God and said, "I trust You and I obey You. I will give everything for You"? Because there's no peace until you've done that. Until you start to trust and obey, you will never find that joy and that peace, the favour and the joy that He has.
Verse 5
The last verse says this: "Then in fellowship sweet we will sit at His feet, or we'll walk by His side in the way."
There's a lovely picture of the Christian life. Once you have laid your all on the altar and become a child of God, then you sit at His feet and enjoy fellowship. But you also get up and walk and do what you've got to do in life, and you're walking by His side as you do it.
"What He says we will do, where He sends we will go."
I love that. That's a real statement of faith. We will do what He wants us to do. Have you made that statement? Can you sing that statement and mean it? We will go where He wants us to go and do what He wants us to do.
"Never fear, only trust and obey."
Never fear, only trust and obey. If you're walking God's ways, you don't need to fear. You can go and find Him going with you. But you've got to trust and you've got to obey.
Conclusion
Have you trusted your life to God? Have you given it over to Him and said, "I believe that You have got my life in Your hands and that You're going to work it out for good"? Are you obeying God and living your life in a way that honours Him, or are you still doing your own thing?
Trust and obey. There's no other way to find joy in this life than to trust Jesus and obey Him.
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References
Sammis, John H. "Trust and Obey" (1887)
Towner, Daniel B. (Composer), "Trust and Obey" (1887)
Moody Bible Institute Historical Records
"The Story Behind 'Trust and Obey'" – Hymnology Archives
