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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Jordan Koschei says:
The Gospel truly is Good News!
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God’s love is a constant – no matter how I feel, He isn’t going anywhere. I can approach Him with total confidence and boldness, for He will not cast me away.
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I will focus my eyes on the Truth today, and remember that I can approach God boldly with assurance no matter how I’m feeling.
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I am a very great sinner, but in Christ I have reason for optimism.
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I will pray for God’s help in maintaining a focus on Him and not on my own shortcomings today.
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Benjamin McKnight says:
We do not need to fear God as much as I thought before, but we should stay optimistic never living in fear that in the end there is no grey zone, just Sheeps and goats!
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Evan Tinklenberg says:
The Gospel becomes sweeter and sweeter the more we realize the assurance of God. Our salvation is not up in the air; it’s not wishful thinking, but rather it is a sure promise that finds its fulfillment in Christ. This is truly Good News!
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The first thing that happens when I shift my perspective from God to man is that I see how unsure and unsteady and empty are the “assurances” of the world. Nothing but God Himself can satisfy our soul’s deepest longings, and these passages demonstrate that man, apart from God in Christ, can do nothing to ensure his salvation. Man, apart from God, is terrible at loving himself and others, and is utterly despondent without the hope of God.
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I can walk with confidence in Christ, regardless of circumstance. In this life I may face temptation, persecution, distress, danger, mistreatment, and a myriad of other things for the sake of Jesus, but I will not suffer one thing: despair. There will be no point when my hope is empty, because my hope is assured in Christ.
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God’s love is sure and steadfast, and the hope we have in Christ is truly an anchor for the soul (Heb. 6). God’s goodness is on display in all of creation, but most clearly in the revelation of His Son, who purchased with his own blood an eternal weight of glory, an inheritance for the saints, to which in this life we look forward and to this end we love with the love with which Christ first loved us.
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Father, Son, and Holy Spirit…
I give you thanks that in Christ all your promises are a “yes”. That in you my hope is a sure and steady anchor, because it does not rest ultimately on my own ability but on your faithfulness. I pray, O Lord, that you would work in me by your Holy Spirit to bring glory to you in the way I live the life you’ve given me in faith and full assurance of love in Christ. Thank you, Father, for your sovereign will which you work for my joy and your glory, and for your grace, which supersedes my understanding and goes beyond my expectations. Help me to trust you, to hope in you fully in all circumstances.
In Jesus Christ’s name, amen.
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Pete Larson says:
God is loyal, consistent, steadfast. Its what I need as person who’s lost and looking for his identity in the world. I vacillate between worldly and timid seeker. My assurance of salvation, however, does not change. That is not based on me or my wanderings but on the faithfulness of my loving and gracious God.
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The feeling of “assurance” is very weak in me right now. I’m questioning everything. Since my dad passed away there’s the haunting question: “do I really believe he’s in heaven”?
My response is to accept the fact that God will keep his side of the pact no matter how my mind questions or wrestles. I need to ponder and dwell on that. I need to rest on the freedom to walk through this time without fear of condemnation.
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Man is weighed down by guilt and fear. It causes us to make decisions that are destructive. I, like many other men, try to find joy in my life through through other means. This hymn speaks of pure joy rising up out of the absolute assurance that “Jesus is mine”. Joy springs from the blessed assurance that we will spend eternity with God and we can claim that as absolute fact that will not change.
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I don’t really know at what point the state of “belief” sets in for a person. For some, it’s when they pray a prayer. For others, it comes on gradually and they just pass into a state of having thrown their lot behind Jesus’ saving work. Others reach that point through baptism. Whatever the means, God pursues us and makes his pact with us: “I will never leave you, not forsake you” and we, in turn, say we will do the same “with God’s help”. We will fail time and time again but God keeps his promise and his side of the pact holds true.
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God, you have given me assurance that I will spend eternity with you. You have given me assurance that you are with me now. Give me the grace to become more aware of that fact. Give me the joy that comes from knowing that you will continue to hold fast to your promise. Allow me to begin to become more aware of your presence. Help me to see you as I walk the streets and interact with others.
Thank you. Thank you for your faithfulness. Thank you for your mercy. Thank you for your grace. Thank you for making me your child. Thank you for accepting my weakness and ignorance.
Be my God and I recommit to following you.
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Geoffrey Belk says:
This teaches us that man is here on earth the praise God. HE made us do that we could praise Him , to love Him and also to share His love with others.
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The gospel is the loving word of God. It is the the story and direction of the fore taste of what is to come as well as the direction of how to get there. Loving Him and Hime loving us.
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I will try to see His love in all that He does for me and gives me. I will try to show His gracious love to others, family and friends,
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This teaches us that GOD us and will always be faithful and loving to us. His love is mine and my love is His.
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