'Tis So Sweet To Trust In Jesus

Okay, it's Sunday again. I think we could all use another hymn.

'Tis So Sweet To Trust In Jesus
Louisa M. R. Stead

'Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus, Just to take Him at His word,
Just to rest upon His promise, Just to know, "Thus saith the Lord."

Chorus
Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him! How I've proved Him o'er and o'er.
Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus! O for grace to trust Him more.

Oh, how sweet to trust in Jesus, Just to trust His cleansing blood,
Just in simple faith to plunge me, 'Neath the healing, cleansing flood!

Yes, 'tis sweet to trust in Jesus, Just from sin and self to cease,
Just form Jesus, simply taking Life and rest and joy and peace.

I'm so glad I learned to trust Thee, Precious Jesus, Savior, Friend,
And I know that Thou art with me, Wilt be with me to the end.

The song was written by Louisa Stead, an English-born woman who moved to America in 1871. On a picnic with her husband and four-year-old daughter, she watched her husband drown attempting to save a drowning boy. The hymn was written in response to her own soul-searching question of "why?". Mrs. Stead later went on to the mission field in South Africa where she served until she died. Her daughter became a missionary to Rhodesia.

What was it that sustained Mrs. Stead? What drove her to God in the face of His apparent unkindness? When others would have fled God's cruelty, she proclaimed, "'Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus." What did she see that pressed her closer to God?

Louisa Stead knew a God who was faithful. Today's blithe bumper sticker, "God said it, I believe it, that settles it!" may be true, but our experiential record demonstrates a lack of the sincere trust needed in times of trial. The hymnist, on the other hand, demonstrated a trust in God in the midst of what psychologists consider the most stressful condition known to man, the loss of a loved one.

So how did she acquire this faith? The chorus answers the question. "How I've proved Him o'er and o'er." God, being God, has the right to demand our belief, but He points instead to our own personal history to prove His faithfulness. Throughout Scripture, God calls on experience to prove His faithfulness. He reminds Israel again and again that it was He who brought them out of Israel. He reminds them of the many blessings He has bestowed. He reminds them also of His recurring wrath. In the book of Amos, He points out the inevitability of judgment that always follows sin. God is faithful. He says He is. If we would look, we would see it.

The second line of the chorus is a wonderfully human plea. In the gospel of Mark, a man asks Jesus to heal his child. Jesus tells him he must have faith. With a plea we can all understand, he replies, "I believe; help Thou my unbelief." The hymn concurs. Following on the glorious certainty of God's faithfulness, we hear, "O for grace to trust Him more!" This, too, is my prayer.

One of the most amazing things about the good news of redemption is its incredible simplicity. Man's religion tries to muddy the waters with a performance-oriented view. If we're good enough, we'll get to heaven. Christians know this isn't the case, but a strong undercurrent of legalism remains. The evangelical church fights with the extremes of righteousness by law and antinomianism, the end of law. God's good news is so much simpler. "Just to trust His cleansing blood." The hymnist relies on the simplicity of faith. So does God's Word. "We are saved by grace through faith," Paul tells us (Eph. 2:8). It doesn't get any more plain than that.

There's much more to this good news, this trust in our heavenly Father. The next verse says that we are to "cease from sin and self." This is an ongoing process, the end of which will be in heaven, but imagine a world of people who are not tied up in self-interest. Imagine a society predicated on looking out for each other rather than scurrying to protect one's self. The world finds such a prospect abhorrent, but with our trust in Jesus, there is no other rational path. Why should I be worried about self when this faithful God, the One with the proven character, is looking out for my best? I can only imagine the rest of being self-forgetful.

Is there unrest in your life? Are you stressed? Do you have worries? Is there little joy? The problem is not circumstances. The problem is trust. There is no reason we can't all agree with this last verse. "I'm so glad I learned to trust Thee, precious Jesus, Savior, Friend." What have I to worry over with Jesus in my life? What could possible trouble me with the Lord of lords as my friend? Is there trouble anywhere? If you lack peace, it's your choice. We have the proven faithfulness of God in which to rest. With Him we are never alone (Hebrews 13:5). This recurring theme in Scripture should cheer us in our daily living. If it doesn't, we are refusing to believe God. We are failing to trust Jesus.