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.
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