Trust and Obey (1st John 4:15-5:5)

 

Trust and Obey (1st John 4:15-5:5)

 

We have two people to thank for the popular hymn Trust and Obey. John H. Sammis, the author of the lyrics, and Daniel Towner the composer of the music.

 

Rev. John H. Sammis

Daniel Towner

Daniel Towner was born in Rome, Pennsylvania, in 1850. His father was a professor and director of music at singing schools in the area. As early as 7 years old, Daniel was recognized for his music abilities. Little Daniel’s voice could move you to tears. His father called him the Prince of Singers. By the time he was 17, Daniel developed a beautiful bass voice and was called the Wonderful Boy Bass.

 

He studied music at Susquehanna Collegiate Institute in Towanda, Pennsylvania, under the tutelage of Philip P. Bliss. He married Mary E. McGonigle in December 1870. They moved to Bingham, New York where he served as music director for Centenary Methodist Episcopal Church. They eventually ended up in Covington, Kentucky south of Cincinnati where he served Union Methodist Episcopal. While serving as their music director, Daniel Towner met the evangelist Dwight L. Moody. Towner organized and led a 1000 voice choir. Moody was impressed and offered Daniel a job as his music director for his evangelical ministry.

 

As music conductor during one of Dwight L. Moody’s renowned revivals, Daniel experienced something that stuck with him.

 

From Towner’s own testimony:

 

“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 am not quite sure—but I am going to trust, and I am going to obey.’ I just jotted that sentence down and sent it with a little story to the Rev. J. H. Sammis, a Presbyterian minister. He wrote the hymn, and the tune was born.”

 

Towner wrote the melody to the lyrics Sammis had sent to him in 1886.

 

Dainel Towner went on to become a professor and director of the music department at Moody Bible Institute. He served there until the year of his death in 1919, traveling the world with Moody, and shaping generations of church music leadership. He wrote music for over 2000 hymns.

 

John Sammis was born in 1846 in Brooklyn, New York. He moved to Logansport, Indiana when he was 22, where he converted to Christianity. He beacme a businessman. He was active in the YMCA, serving as secretary for the Terre Haute Association, and later becoming the Indiana State Secretary for the YMCA. After this, he studied at Lane and McCormack seminaries and was ordained in the Presbyterian church at Glidden, Iowa. He pastored churches in Indianapolis, Grand Haven, MI, Red Wing and St. Paul, Minn.

 

In 1909, John Sammis joined the faculty of the Bible Institute of Los Angeles (Biola University). There he contributed substantially to the college’s publication, King’s Business. He wrote more than 100 hymns, but none achieved the notoriety of Trust and Obey. He died in 1919 in LA, the same year that Daniel Towner died.

 

According to hymary.com, Trust and Obey appears in 578 hymnals. It consistently places in the top 50 most beloved hymns. Last year on September 3^rd, Erica Campbell’s recording of Trust and Obey made it to #1 on the Billboard Airplay Chart. Because of her recording of Trust and Obey, she was named the contemporary female artist of the year at the Stellar Gospel Music Awards last August.

 

The first recording in 1914 was issued on the Edison Blue Amberol wax cylinder. The Edison Mixed Quartet sang on the recording.

 

 

• Soprano: Elizabeth Spencer (Helen Clark)

• Contralto: Cornelia Marvin (E. Eleanor Patterson)

• Tenor: Harry Anthony (John Young)

• Baritone/Bass: Donald Chalmers or Frederick J. Wheeler (James F. Harrison)

 

Trust and Obey is popular because of its joyous melody and simple message. It’s got a hook that sticks with you. We probably all know the words to the refrain by heart:

 

Trust and obey

for there’s no other way

to be happy in Jesus,

but to trust and obey.

 

But let’s look into the lyrics. Open your hymnals to 467. The first publication (1887) has 5 stanzas. The United Methodist Hymnal limits it to four.

 

When we walk with the Lord in the light of His word,

what a glory he sheds on our way.

 

Psalm 119:105 tells us

 

Thy Word is lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.

 

Knowing God’s word helps us to walk with God in harmony as we follow His will revealed to us in scripture. His great promises guide us. His love empowers us to do His good will.

 

While we do His good will He abides with us still

And with all who will trust and obey

 

 

 

Jesus told us,

 

Let your light shine before people, so that they can see your good deeds and give honor to your Father in heaven. (Matthew 5:16)

 

And the apostle John urged us to love one another and care for those in need. From his first letter John says,

 

If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? (1^st John 3:17)

 

When we come to faith in Christ, we naturally want to serve our Lord and Savior through loving action to ward others. Love propels us to acts of compassion and justice. Love empowers our lives to do God’s good will. By His love we serve with love and witness to hope in Christ.

 

The missing stanza reads

 

Not a shadow to rise, not a cloud in the skies

But His smile quickly drives it away.

Not a doubt or a fear, not a sigh nor a tear

Can abide while we trust and obey

 

The idea here is the turning your attention to Jesus brings relief to your heart, driving away sadness and depression. This is the faith experience of a pre-prozac society. Or at least the experience of Rev. John Sammis, the author of these words.

 

Similar ideas are present in the remaining verses.

 

Not a burden, or sorrow, or toil goes without reward. The grief, loss and frowns we endure for the crosses we bear, for Christ’s sake, bring blessings as we trust and obey.

 

John tells us that perfect love casts out fear. And fear has to do with judgment. It’s hard to get close to a God you think is going to punish you. Life can be punishing enough. It’s true that God can use life’s punishments to grow us stronger if we will trust Him with our lives.

 

I can’t tell you how often I hear Christians say things like, “I hope I’ve done enough to please God and get into heaven!” What a distortion of the gospel! Works do not save us! We don’t earn our way into heaven by doing good. Heaven is a gift from our loving Father who sent His Son, Jesus to wipe away our guilty stains. Works is our grateful response.

 

Trust the gospel!

 

For by grace you are saved through faith, and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God; it is not from works, so that no one can boast. (Ephesains 2:8-9)

 

Perfect love casts out the fear of divine wrath. Jesus took our punishment on the cross. We can approach the throne of God with boldness, because of Jesus’ sacrifice.

 

We exist do God’s good will. We were made for it.

 

We are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (Ephesians 2:10)

 

So trust the good news of Jesus Christ and leave the fear of judgment behind. Come to the Lord and obey His command to love one another.

 

The third stanza says we will not be able to prove, to experience for ourselves the benefit of trusting in God’s word and obeying God’s commands, until we surrender everything on the altar, holding nothing back from the service of our Lord.

 

When we truly trust God and have faith that the way of Christ is the way to life everlasting, overflowing with abundance; when we surrender all for the sake of God’s glory, then we will enjoy fellowship sweet at the Lord’s feet as His disciples.

 

We’ll walk by his side…
what he says we will do,
where he sends we will go;
and never fear, only trust and obey.

 

I can’t help but think of another hymn, In the Garden, that speaks of sweet fellowship with the Lord. Jesus wants an intimate relationship with you, an abundant life filled with love, joy, hope and peace. All we need do is trust Him and obey His command to love.

 

We make Christianity complicated. We’ve split churches arguing over beliefs and practices. We’ve split churches over the color of carpet, or the position of the piano in the sanctuary. But this hymn invites us to two simple things to enjoy happiness in a relationship with Jesus:

 

Trust and Obey.

 

Trust the love and mercy of God through Christ. Trust that Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. Trust the word of God to guide your life.

 

Obey the word of God in the scriptures, obey the guidance of the Lord through the Holy Spirit in your heart. Act on every opportunity to show love to others.

 

Trust and obey and be happy in Jesus.