Saturday, September 22, 2018

Trust and Obey – John H. Sammis


This one traveled through two other people before lodging in the imagination of John H. Sammis, a 40-year old minister. It conveys two directives that an anonymous young man vocalized for a crowd in Brockton, Massachusetts, really on the spur of the moment. Daniel B. Towner was spending one evening as he had probably on many other occasions, directing singing at a revival, when he heard these two words, “Trust and Obey”. They stuck, and he must have sensed that they were something special, or he wouldn’t have related the story to his acquaintance and friend, John. What was it in John’s makeup that made Daniel think his friend would craft a poem worth putting to music? Perhaps it was the coalescence of events that made this song’s birth special.

‘Trust and Obey’ has a story that is widely known, and probably represents one of the more commonplace methods of songwriting. Someone hears or speaks something from a sermon, and just like that, little else needs to be understood. Someone says ‘Yes, but He’s at work nonetheless.’ ‘Trust and Obey’ is like that, for who put the attitude inside the heart of an anonymous young fellow who stood up in that moment in Brockton when asked to share, and testified that he would just follow those two words’ instructions? He evidently heard something in Dwight Moody’s sermon, or in the songs that Daniel Towner was directing, that resonated inside himself. Perhaps he’d been wayward enough, and experienced the opposite side of life, so that he appreciated the novelty and the delight of receiving God’s favor just by being compliant. Daniel shared the experience with John Sammis, evidently because he thought the words, and the perhaps the simplicity of their delivery also, would stir a poem. John had been in professional ministry only five years, having trusted and obeyed himself to leave a successful career in business because he felt ‘a call’. And so, John could identify with what following divine orders might mean to someone – he’d done it. He crafted five verses to acknowledge and provide his own testimony for others to consider. ‘Do you want to know the secret of happiness?’, John seems to be asking in his five verses. It’s interesting that John chose to share so many ‘not’ things in his testimony. Count ‘em – no less than a dozen (vv. 2-3) had been cast out of his experience as a result of following what the song’s title words directed be done. Shadows, clouds, doubts, fears, sighs, tears (v.2); burdens, sorrows, griefs, losses, frowns, and crosses (v.3) – does that cover everything that might torment a person? Maybe John had more, but instead chose to dwell more on the ‘secret’ formula contained in the song’s name. After penning his poem, John collaborated with Daniel, laying it in his lap to formulate the music to underscore the message of his words.

Did the original speaker of the trust and obey theme ever realize his contribution to Towner’s and Sammis’ inspiration? The story has been so widely circulated that one might believe so. What might have been that man’s reaction? Did he conjure up other emotions or physical impediments that he’d overcome by trusting and obeying? John’s list is not exclusive – there’s more that you or I could add, unique to an individual’s experience. I just need to make certain I incorporate the first two words that the young man in Brockton first spoke. John and Daniel thought they were well worth repeating.
  
See more information on the song story in these sources: The Complete Book of Hymns – Inspiring Stories About 600 Hymns and Praise Songs by William J. Petersen and Ardythe Petersen, Tyndale House Publishers, 2006; Amazing Grace: 366 Inspiring Hymn Stories for Daily Devotions by Kenneth W. Osbeck, Kregel Publications, 1990; 101 More Hymn Stories, by Kenneth W. Osbeck, Kregel Publications, 1985; and Then Sings My Soul – 150 of the World’s Greatest Hymn Stories, Robert J. Morgan, Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2003.

Also see this link, showing all five original verses, and a brief recitation of the song’s story: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/htm/t/r/u/s/trustobey.htm

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