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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Will Givens says:
I will respond in singing. I will respond with joy. This IS my story and this IS my song, indeed I will praise the name of my Savior. He has not given up on me and He has not put me out on the streets. Rather, like Hosea for his bride, He has bought me back from the streets time and time again. He refuses to let me go.
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I am none of these things. I am faithless and shifting, wandering and wavering, blown about like a leaf fallen from a tree, dry and dull. On my own, I am powerless to survive the storms of this life, much less remain joyful in them.
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Yet in Christ. I have hope. He is faithful on my behalf. He will not let go of me. He is the hound of heaven, unrelenting no matter the distance to which I run.
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I will pray with a joy and thankfulness that responds to the present promise rather than the present conditions. I will pray for more and more of a love that casts out fear. I will pray for those who are living in fear, blind to a love like this. I will pray boldly and with confidence knowing that I am loved.
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McClain C says:
God is my steadfast love my foretaste and refuge. He is something I can be assured in when all else fails! That’s such a special gift. I fear a lot of things and struggle with anxiety. This helps me feel his love and comfort
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Aaron Simmons says:
We are not worthy of his love a grace but yet he gives it to us freely, all we have to do is believe in what he did on the cross. GOD is so worthy of my praise, GOD is amazing and so so good…
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Man can not love like God can and in fact man can’t love at all without knowing God, it is said “those who do not know me so not know love” and wow that’s crazy to me. Gods love will pore out of you if your focus is on him.
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The Gospel is a love letter from God, it shows me over and over just how much he cares about me, the good and the bad and how much he loves me no matter what I do…
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I will focus on him and try to spread his love onto others. I want to share what is TRUTH with others so they can REST in knowing no matter what you do there is some one who wants to help you through life and loves you more then you can even comprehend!
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I will pray that I can love like God does and treat others on this earth like Jesus did. I will pray for the people on this earth that don’t know the truth that they will come to know YOU for who you really are, a loving, caring, grace giving God. Not the stereotypical got up there with a lightning bolt waiting to SMITE you down the minute you sin… GOD cares about YOU! And he wants what’s best for you 😊
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Zach Lyons says:
Man was created to be loved by God. God didn’t need us to love him, but our love comes as a response to what he did (and is doing) for us. Our response is obedience, praise and loving others. Through doing this, his love is made perfect in us.
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Pray for those who don’t know Him. Pray that they will find him, and that those who have found him will realize the blessing they have. It’s no small thing, and its something worth sharing. It is life eternal, a gift greater than you could ever give to someone.
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Salvation is assured; life is able to be full of joy, happiness and beauty because he is in the process of redeeming me and the world.
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Jordan Serio says:
Man is loved by God.
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God loves to celebrate us! He loves loves loves His people and finds delight in them.
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andrew says:
He is faithful and loving, and He has been since the beginning of Himself. He does not change.
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We fail to reach any type of rank higher than that of being redeemed by God. even in redemption we are sinful and we do not understand His love like we should, but He is faithful to forgive us our sins. and He is love and good and perfect.
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‘Lord, please teach me to love my neighbor. teach me to be a good steward of all you have given me. i pray i will stay in your word, learning about you and your grace further and further each day. and i thank you for my salvation. i thank you for your grace.
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Gabe Whittaker says:
I think that the most simple phrase in this delightful hymn is also the most meaningful. “Filled with His goodness, lost in His love.” To have a love so deep, so strong, so all- encompassing that we can’t even fully understand it is simply beautiful. We are so far from deserving this love, yet it is graciously and gladly given to us. Our God lavishes us with affection in a way that can only be described as scandalous. He wants HER in His kingdom? The girl who sells herself to strangers? He desires HIM to be in His family? The one who persecutes everyone he sees? It’s incredible to know that a God who knows every thought before we think it and every word before we speak it sees us in all of our imperfections and says “I WANT THAT MAN TO BE MY SON! I WANT THAT LADY TO BE MY DAUGHTER! I WANT THAT PERSON IN MY FAMILY!”
That is love.
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Darrick says:
He doesn’t expect me to love him first. He loves me first and wants me to abide in it that I may know blessed assurance. This puts all else at rest. I’m home. I’m blessed. Jesus paid it all.
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