05/20/2026
In 1886 when Daniel B. Towner, the composer of the music, was leading worship at one of Dwight L. Moody’s big revivals in Brockton, Massachusetts. Towner shared the story in Ira D. Sankey’s biography, My Life and the Story of the Gospel Hymns.
He recalled that one night, during a testimony meeting, a young man stood up and said, “I am not quite sure—but I am going to trust, and I am going to obey.” That simple, honest statement stuck with Towner. He jotted it down and sent it, along with a little note about the moment, to his friend Rev. J.H. Sammis, a Presbyterian minister.
Sammis took that phrase and turned it into one of the most well-loved hymn refrains of all time:
“Trust and obey, for there’s no other way
To be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.”
The hymn first appeared in Hymns Old and New in 1887, and it’s been in hymnals ever since.
Sammis himself had quite a journey to ministry. Born in Brooklyn, New York, he started as a successful businessman in Logansport, Indiana. But through his work with the YMCA, he felt called to ministry, eventually attending McCormick and Lane Seminaries and becoming a Presbyterian minister in 1880. He pastored churches across Iowa, Indiana, and Minnesota before joining the faculty at the Los Angeles Bible Institute.
Like so many gospel songs, this hymn is built on the simple truth that trusting God’s word and obeying His will is the surest path to lasting peace and joy. And in the final stanza, Sammis captures the ultimate promise of our faith—that one day, we will sit at His feet.
