“Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith…Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering” Hebrews 10:22-23
Fanny Crosby wrote the lyrics to over 8,000 hymns during her lifetime. When asked how she did it, she said she would sit and listen to the music and then speak the words as they came to her heart.
At six weeks old, she lost her eye sight after being given the wrong medication for an eye infection. She felt that being blind was a rare gift, because it allowed her to hear God’s voice more clearly. “I verily believe that God intended that I should live my days in physical darkness so that I might be better prepared to sing His praise and lead others from spiritual darkness into eternal light. With sight I would have been too distracted to have written thousands of hymns.”
The lyrics for Blessed Assurance were written by Crosby in 1873, while the music was written by her good friend, Phoebe P. Knapp who has over 500 hymns to her credit. Knapp had the music, but not the words, so she sat with her good friend and played the music for her. She asked Crosby to listen and think about what she heard the music saying to her. While listening Crosby knew that words were saying, “Blessed Assurance, Jesus is mine!” She went on to write one of history’s most popular hymns, Blessed Assurance.
Blessed Assurance
Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine!
O 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.
Reference links:
http://www.gospelpiano.com/articles/hymn-stories-19-blessed-assurance.htm
http://www.sermonaudio.com/hymn_details.asp?PID=blessedassurance
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