'Tis So Sweet

My wife led the staff devotions at Divisional Headquarters yesterday, and she asked me to lead the song "'Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus" at the end of our time.  I was elated to be asked, because this is among my absolute favorite songs in the Salvation Army Song Book.  Don't get me wrong here.  There is and always will be a special place in my heart for the entirety of "The Salvation Soldier" section.  But there is definitely something to be said about song #991.

As a Soldier of the Holland, MI corps, I enjoyed seeing this song fairly often in the bulletin.  I'm not sure what attracted me to it then.  I just knew that I liked it.  Upon re-reading it recently, though, I think I've figured it out.  So much of its relevance for me comes in just the first verse.

"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.'" - Louisa M.R. Stead
While the repetition of the word "just" seems a bit much and I don't  click so well with the KJV-style language at the end, the message of this verse is so refreshing.  Here we are in the world of imperfect people.  All too often, we say one thing and mean something entirely different.  We make promises we either don't intend to keep or neglect to keep for one reason or another.  When talking to others, we don't know which words to hang on to and which to throw away, and it eventually all ends up sounding like untrustworthy junk.

No wonder we can sing about how sweet it is to trust in Jesus.  We can take Him at His word because His word is always true.  He means what He says.  He is who He is.  That is unchanging.  After dealing with so many broken promises, we can rest upon His promises.  No matter who has been unfaithful to us in any sense, God will never be unfaithful.  His very nature is faithfulness and love.  And of course, if you read Scripture from the King James Version or others that use this style of English, when the phrase, "Thus saith the Lord" comes up, you know you're looking at absolute truth.


In a world of deception, forgetfulness, and a genuine lack of commitment, we can absolutely trust fully in Jesus.  And that, my friends, truly is sweet.

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