Worship Arts Notes

Life can often be a restless, disrupted existence until we give ourselves wholeheartedly to something beyond ourselves and follow and obey it supremely.  Such implicit trust in God’s great love and wisdom with a sincere desire to follow His leading should be every Christian’s goal.  Our willingness to trust and obey is always the first step toward God’s blessings in our lives. 

In 1886 Daniel B Towner, director of the music department at Moody Bible Institute, was leading music for evangelist Dwight L. Moody’s series of meetings in Brockton, Massachusetts.  A young man rose to give a testimony, saying “I am not quite sure,” - “But I’m going to trust, and I’m going to obey.”  Mr. Towner jotted down this statement and sent it to Rev. J.H. Sammis, a Presbyterian minister and later a teacher at Moody, who wrote the present 5 stanzas.  Towner wrote the music. 

Salvation is God’s responsibility.  Our responsibility is to trust in that salvation and then obey its truths.  “Trust and Obey” presents a balanced view of a believer’s trust in Christ’s redemptive work, and it speaks of the resulting desire to obey Him and do Hi will in our daily lives.  Then and only then, do we experience real peace and joy. 

From

“Amazing Grace, 365 Hymn Stories for Daily Devotions”

by Kenneth Osbeck