What a simple and logical concept this was when I was a child singing this hymn on Sunday mornings in worship. Trust and obey, back then the two just went hand-in-hand. Now it seems like the word “obey” has been replaced with less offensive words like: contemplate, tolerate, debate.…….obey just seems so harsh. Yet, I wonder, if we don’t obey Him can we really say that we trust Him? And if we don’t trust Him, how can we demand to enjoy the blessings and benefits of what a relationship with Him affords?
I know when my boys choose to disobey me it is always an issue of trust, of them believing they knew better than I did, it is always an issue of who they trust more, their friends, themselves, each other. Obedience to Christ is the outcome and the evidence of how much I truly trust Him and His Word.
To find the rest that He promises, that I know I crave. begins right here: to Trust and Obey. Read through the lyrics by John H Sammis 1887 and replace the word obey with one of the less offensive words from above and then see if the outcome in the following line of the hymn could possibly make any sense. Perhaps, like me, you’ve tried to “Trust and debate” and you realize that it doesn’t bring being happy in Jesus at all. Yet this is the version of watered down Christianity sold to so many of us, especially here in America. Now, read the hymn as it was penned well over a hundred years ago and rest in the truth of knowing all that is ours in Him when we trust and obey.
TRUST AND OBEY John H Sammis
When we walk with the Lord in the light of His Word,
What a glory He sheds on our way!
While we do His good will, He abides with us still,
And with all who will trust and obey.
Refrain:
Trust and obey, for there’s no other way
To be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.
Not a shadow can rise, not a cloud in the skies,
But His smile quickly drives it away;
Not a doubt or a fear, not a sigh or a tear,
Can abide while we trust and obey.
Not a burden we bear, not a sorrow we share,
But our toil He doth richly repay;
Not a grief or a loss, not a frown or a cross,
But is blessed if we trust and obey.
But we never can prove the delights of His love
Until all on the altar we lay;
For the favor He shows, for the joy He bestows,
Are for them who will trust and obey.
Then in fellowship sweet we will sit at His feet,
Or we’ll walk by His side in the way;
What He says we will do, where He sends we will go;
Never fear, only trust and obey.
The Laurel Wood 