The story behind the hymn
Louisa Stead watched her husband drown attempting to rescue a child off Long Island, leaving her with a young daughter and no means of support. Out of that devastation — and the provision of God through kind strangers — came this hymn of hard-won trust.
The hymn is honest about trust as a learned thing: just to take Him at His word, just to rest upon His promise. Its refrain repeats the lesson like a scholar repeating lines: Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him, how I've proved Him o'er and o'er.
Stead later served as a missionary in South Africa and Rhodesia. At her funeral, African converts sang this hymn — the song of a trust that had been tested and found true.
The lyrics
'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.
Refrain
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!
I'm so glad I learned to trust Thee,Precious Jesus, Saviour, Friend;And I know that Thou art with me,Wilt be with me to the end.
Public domain. Free to sing, copy, print, and share.
The Scripture behind it
Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
Trust in the LORD with all thine heart.
O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.
O taste and see that the LORD is good — the sweetness of proving him.