I like a lot of the new Christian music. However, I also cherish some of the old hymns that I grew up with. I am trying to relearn some of the lyrics to these old hymns, and I am singing them to God during my devotional time in the morning—or any time, for that matter. Here are the lyrics of “Trust and Obey”:

1. 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.
   1. Refrain:
      Trust and obey, for there’s no other way
      To be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.

2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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 hymn began with a comment made by someone at a series of meetings led by the famous nineteenth-century evangelist, D. L. Moody. A young man stood up in a testimony meeting and said, “I am not quite sure—but I am going to trust, and I am going to obey.” Later on, a composer named Sammis would expand this thought into one of the most popular hymns of the twentieth century.

The fourth stanza of the hymn is the one that draws me up short. It is also a stanza that often is omitted when a worship leader decides to shorten an old hymn. The specific words that haunt me are about laying everything on the altar.

Trust and obey are put together in this hymn. They should be put together in our lives as well. And yet, I sometimes feel as if there are two different types of churches: those that emphasize faith/trust to the exclusion of obedience, and those that elevate obedience and ignore faith/trust.

Why do we do that, I wonder? I don’t know, but let me suggest why I myself sometimes do that. It is really quite simple: I find both trust and obedience to be exceedingly difficult. If I can spend a lot of time debating which is most important, then maybe I can avoid doing either of them. Sorry to be so frank, but there it is!

Part of my “all” that I need to lay on the altar is my tendency to argue (and blog) about faith and obedience. Instead, I need to trust and obey. My twelve-step sponsor often replies to my daily report to him with the letters JKDTNRT: Just keep doing the next right thing. I would add the word “and”, along with the letters JKTG: Just keep trusting God.

During the American Revolutionary War, our first naval hero, John Paul Jones, was doing battle with a British ship. Jones’ ship was badly damaged, and the British ship invited Jones to surrender. Jones was was reported to have said, “Surrender?! I have not yet begun to fight!”

But my problem is that I am dealing, not with an external enemy, but with my mutinous mind. So, I would suggest a better confession: “I have not yet begun to surrender!” I need to keep surrendering my lackluster trust and my lack of obedience to God if I want to win this battle.

The bottom line is something my favorite professor, Victor P. Hamilton, said during a sermon: “It is either trust and obey, or it is rust and decay.”

Indeed!