Blessed Assurance is a hymn by Fanny J. Crosby, the blind American hymn writer, written in 1873 to a melody by her friend Phoebe Palmer Knapp. It celebrates the believer's confidence of belonging to Christ: heir of salvation, born of His Spirit, washed in His blood. Its title comes from the language of Hebrews 10:22, "Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith," and its refrain, This is my story, this is my song, is a lifelong testimony.
Frances Jane Crosby (1820-1915) lost her sight as a baby after an illness was badly treated, and she grew up in New York memorizing large parts of the Bible, including, by her own account, most of the Psalms and the four Gospels. She became one of the most prolific hymn writers in history, with more than eight thousand hymns, many published under pen names so that hymnals would not be filled with her name. In 1873 her friend Phoebe Palmer Knapp, a musician and the wife of the founder of Metropolitan Life Insurance, played her a new tune at her home and asked what it said. Crosby is reported to have answered almost at once, Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine, and to have finished the words in minutes. Crosby never thought of her blindness as a tragedy. She said that the first face she would ever see would be the face of her Savior. That hope runs through the hymn: visions of rapture, angels descending, looking above. Blessed Assurance became a favorite of the revival meetings of D. L. Moody and Ira Sankey and is still one of the most sung hymns in America. Below are Crosby's three stanzas and the 12 KJV passages behind them.
Blessed Assurance: the words
Verse 1
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 Saviour all the day long;
This is my story, this is my song,
Praising my Saviour all the day long.
Verse 2
Perfect submission, perfect delight,
Visions of rapture now burst on my sight;
Angels descending, bring from above
Echoes of mercy, whispers of love.
Refrain:
This is my story, this is my song,
Praising my Saviour all the day long;
This is my story, this is my song,
Praising my Saviour all the day long.
Verse 3
Perfect submission, all is at rest,
I in my Saviour am happy and blest;
Watching and waiting, looking above,
Filled with His goodness, lost in His love.
Refrain:
This is my story, this is my song,
Praising my Saviour all the day long;
This is my story, this is my song,
Praising my Saviour all the day long.
Words: Fanny J. Crosby, 1873, written to a melody by Phoebe Palmer Knapp. Printed with Knapp's music in the July 1873 issue of Palmer's Guide to Holiness and Revival Miscellany (New York), page 36, the earliest known printing. Text as in The Army and Navy Hymnal (Wikisource), checked against the Wikipedia transcription; the Army and Navy printing reads purchased of God in stanza 1. Public domain. Tune: Assurance (Knapp, 1873).
Blessed assurance: heir of salvation, washed in His blood
1. Hebrews 10:22
"Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water."
Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine! Assurance means confidence that something is certain. Hebrews tells believers they can come near to God without fear because of what Christ has done: Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. Christian assurance is not pride or a guess. It rests on the finished work of Jesus. Crosby does not say I hope Jesus might accept me. She says Jesus is mine, because He has promised to receive all who come to Him (John 6:37).
2. Ephesians 1:14
"Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory."
O what a foretaste of glory divine! A foretaste is a small taste of a meal that is still to come. Paul calls the Holy Spirit the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory. The earnest is a down payment, money paid now to guarantee the full amount later. The joy and peace that the Spirit gives today are a foretaste of glory. The purchased possession is God's people, bought by Christ, which is where Crosby's phrase purchase of God comes from.
3. Titus 3:7
"That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life."
Heir of salvation. An heir receives an inheritance because of who they are, not because of work they have done. Paul writes: That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. A blind woman in the 1800s had very few rights and little expectation of an inheritance in this world. Crosby rejoiced that she was an heir of something far greater. In Christ, the poorest believer is a child of the King with a share in everything that is His (Romans 8:17).
4. 1 John 1:7
"But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin."
Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood. Crosby joins two pictures of salvation. Born of the Spirit comes from Jesus' words to Nicodemus (John 3:5). Washed in His blood comes from passages like this one: But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. New birth gives new life; the blood of Christ gives cleansing. Both are the work of God, and both are the ground of assurance.
This is my story, this is my song
5. Psalms 107:2
"Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy;"
This is my story. The refrain of the hymn is a testimony, and testimony is a biblical command: Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy. Psalm 107 goes on to tell the stories of wanderers, prisoners, the sick and sailors in storms, each rescued by God. Every believer has a story like that. It does not need to be dramatic to be worth telling. Crosby told hers in thousands of songs.
6. Psalms 40:3
"And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the LORD."
This is my song. David, lifted out of a horrible pit and set on a rock, wrote: And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the LORD. Notice who puts the song there: God. Notice also what it does: many shall see it, and trust in the LORD. A testimony of God's grace, sung or spoken, becomes an invitation to others. Crosby's songs have drawn countless people to faith for that reason.
7. Psalms 35:28
"And my tongue shall speak of thy righteousness and of thy praise all the day long."
Praising my Saviour all the day long. The refrain's last line comes close to David's promise: And my tongue shall speak of thy righteousness and of thy praise all the day long. Praise all the day long does not mean singing every minute. It means a life where gratitude is the background music, where the heart turns to God in the middle of ordinary tasks. Crosby, who often worked in New York's poorest missions, lived this way, and her friends said she was rarely without a song.
8. Genesis 28:12
"And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it."
Angels descending, bring from above echoes of mercy, whispers of love. Jacob, running from home after deceiving his brother, slept on a stone and dreamed: and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it. Heaven was not closed to a guilty man. Jesus later told Nathanael that He Himself is that ladder (John 1:51). Through Christ, mercy and love come down to us, and our prayers go up.
Perfect submission, all is at rest
9. Psalms 37:4
"Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart."
Perfect submission, perfect delight. These two words might seem opposed, but Crosby puts them side by side. David shows how they fit: Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. When we delight in God, our desires begin to change to match His, and submission is no longer a grim duty. It becomes the most natural thing in the world, the way a child rests in a loving parent's plan.
10. Psalms 37:7
"Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass."
Perfect submission, all is at rest. The third stanza is quieter than the first two. Crosby describes a soul at peace: Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself. Fret means to worry and stew. David wrote Psalm 37 for people tempted to be anxious when the wicked prosper. Crosby faced poverty, the death of her only child as an infant and the loss of her sight, yet she wrote of rest. That rest was not in her circumstances; it was in the LORD.
11. Philippians 3:20
"For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ:"
Watching and waiting, looking above. Paul reminds believers where their true home is: For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. In the KJV, conversation means citizenship or way of life. Crosby, who could not see the sky, looked above with the eyes of faith, waiting for the day when she would see her Savior face to face. Watching and waiting is not idle; it is the steady expectancy of people who know the King is coming.
12. Ephesians 3:19
"And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God."
Filled with His goodness, lost in His love. Paul prays that believers would know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. Love that passes knowledge is too big to measure or fully understand, and yet Paul prays that we would know it. To be lost in His love is to stop measuring and simply rest in it. The hymn ends there, not with an argument but with a picture of a heart overwhelmed by the goodness of God.
A short prayer
Lord Jesus, thank You for the blessed assurance that I am Yours. I am an heir of salvation, bought by You, born of Your Spirit and washed in Your blood. Give me a foretaste of glory today. Teach me perfect submission and perfect delight, so that I rest in You instead of fretting. Put a new song in my mouth, and let my life tell the story of Your grace, so that others may see and trust You. While I watch and wait for Your coming, fill me with Your goodness and let me be lost in Your love. Amen.
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Frequently asked questions
Who wrote Blessed Assurance?
Fanny J. Crosby (1820-1915), the blind American poet who wrote more than eight thousand hymns, wrote the words in 1873. The music was written the same year by her friend Phoebe Palmer Knapp (1839-1908). Knapp played the melody for Crosby and asked what it said, and Crosby responded with the opening line, Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine. Other Crosby hymns include To God Be the Glory and Pass Me Not, O Gentle Saviour.
Is Blessed Assurance in the public domain?
Yes. Crosby's words and Knapp's tune were published in 1873, so the traditional hymn is in the public domain in the United States. You may print and share the traditional words. Newer arrangements, including popular modern worship versions with added choruses, are under copyright, so check the source before printing them.
What Bible verse is Blessed Assurance based on?
The title comes from Hebrews 10:22, full assurance of faith. Other lines echo Ephesians 1:14 (the earnest of our inheritance and the purchased possession), Titus 3:7 (heirs of eternal life), 1 John 1:7 (the blood of Jesus cleanses), Psalm 107:2 (let the redeemed say so) and Genesis 28:12 (angels ascending and descending). The hymn is a patchwork of Scripture, as most of Crosby's hymns are.
What does a foretaste of glory divine mean?
A foretaste is a first taste of something you will enjoy fully later. Crosby means that the peace and joy a believer feels now are a small sample of heaven. The Bible calls the Holy Spirit the earnest of our inheritance (Ephesians 1:14), a down payment that guarantees the rest. For Crosby, who was blind from infancy, the hope of seeing glory was very personal.
Sources: All Scripture quotations are from the King James Version (KJV), public domain in the United States. References were checked against the KJV text from bible-api.com.
Related: Testimony · Eternal life · The blood of Jesus · Psalm 37 KJV · Amazing Grace · It Is Well With My Soul · Identity in Christ · Worship · My Hope Is Built on Nothing Less (lyrics)
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