By He Reads Truth
Frances Jean “Fanny” Crosby (1820-1915), an only child from Brewster, New York, was one of the most prolific hymn writers the world has ever seen, composing over 8,000 hymns, along with several books and over 1,000 poems. Because publishers in her day were often reluctant to publish a woman’s work, Fanny used more than 200 masculine pseudonyms over the course of her career.
Blind from an early age, Crosby saw the world through her mind’s eye. She would begin to compose a hymn in her head, and once she had it written on her memory, she would then recite it to her personal stenographer who would write it down for her. She often worked on 5 or 6 hymns at a time, each floating in its own corner of her imagination until she felt ready to let it out.
In describing her hymn-writing process, Crosby once said: “It may seem a little old-fashioned, always to begin one’s work with prayer, but I never undertake a hymn without first asking the good Lord to be my inspiration.” The hymn “Blessed Assurance” reveals that she did indeed believe her Lord to be good.
“Blessed Assurance” is an exploration of the wonder of what it means to walk presently in what Peter calls a “living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (1 Pet 1:3). For Fanny Crosby, one thing this “living hope” means is that we have a reason, right now, to celebrate with the confidence to draw near to God, trusting that He will never cast us away. This hymn celebrates the goodness of being at ease in a confident and perfect love that casts out fear (1 John 4:18).
“Blessed Assurance” in unashamedly happy. Crosby uses words like foretaste, praising, delight, happy, goodness, and, of course, blessed to give the song its buoyancy. In a cynical world, a hymn like this is refreshing. Crosby isn’t offering Christians a false sense of optimism. She is articulating the sure and eternal benefits of the work of Christ given to the believer. “Blessed Assurance” invites us to “draw near with a true heart, in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water” (Heb 10:22).
For the blind hymn writer from New York, passages like 1 John 4:7-19, Hebrews 10:19-23, and 1 Peter 1:3-9 were cause for celebration, which is what this hymn sets out to do. The Christian’s hope for happiness and peace is not wishful thinking. It is based on what we have already been promised because of the finished work of Christ—a blessed assurance that Jesus is ours.
BLESSED ASSURANCE
Fanny Crosby, 1873
Blessed assurance; Jesus is mine!
Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine!
Heir of salvation, purchase of God,
born of his Spirit, washed in his blood.
Refrain:
This is my story, this is my song,
praising my Savior all the day long;
this is my story, this is my song,
praising my Savior all the day long.
Perfect submission, perfect delight,
visions of rapture now burst on my sight;
angels descending bring from above
echoes of mercy, whispers of love. [Refrain]
Perfect submission, all is at rest,
I in my Savior am happy and blest;
watching and waiting, looking above,
filled with his goodness, lost in his love. [Refrain]
For an added layer of worship during reading plan, we’ve created a Spotify playlist for Hymns V! You can find the complete HRT Hymns V Playlist here, or listen to the first track on the player below. Enjoy!
235 thoughts on "Blessed Assurance"
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Mickey Reid says:
That because of God promises we always have hope. He will not leave us, he will not abandon us. It’s not a false hope and it has been proven by his actions.
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That we need to rely on Gods promises.
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That the good news can give us all the faith that we need.
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Have better faith in God when I am faced with difficult situations.
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Pray to be able to rely on God more when I am tested and stressed.
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Kyle says:
I can walk through life without the fear of death for I know the promise of God is true! I have Jesus and through Him I am saved! Death has no sting
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God’s love is perfect and faithful! It drives out the fear of death because of the assurance of His promise! He is always faithful because the nature of God is perfection!
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The Gospel continues to echo the good news of Jesus! It assures us that we will “receiv[e] the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls” in 1 Peter 3:9. Jesus is ours!
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Man can be assured in their eternal salvation! There is no need for fear because God has promised us life through Christ Jesus!
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Dear Lord,
How perfect and faithful is your love! Thank You for the blessed assurance of life! I have no fear of death because Your perfect love drives out my worries and doubts! Keep me in awe of Your love and use me for Your glory!
In Jesus’ name,
Amen -
Craig Albertson says:
Love from Him is never until the day we die. In this sense that’s why we follow Him.
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That we are violent and need His help.
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Jeff Copeland says:
We are in deep need of the Divine.
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That God is rich in grace and lavishes His love upon us and we must abandon our efforts of self rule and fully depend on the finished work of Christ.
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I need to meditate deeper on the finished work of Christ on my behalf until I pour out praise to Jesus all the day long.
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God is deeply committed to my well being. Trusting God through Christ grants me the riches of a very gracious God.
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Mediate upon all that God has done to give me the blessings of peace, assurance and hope.
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Matthew Parkolap says:
He will never reject us once we have accepted him and repented of our sins. We have the confidence to draw near to him
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It is the true way to lasting peace, joy, love and comfort. Submission to God and being washed by Christs blood is the heart of the gospel
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We have a hope in God that does not disappoint. It is less a hope and more an assurance.
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