Scripture Verse

Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith. Hebrews 10:21–22

Introduction

portrait
Phoebe P. Knapp
1839–1908

Words: Fan­ny Cros­by, 1873. My friend, Mrs. Jo­seph F. Knapp, com­posed a me­lo­dy and played it ov­er to me two or three times on the pi­a­no. She then asked what it said. I re­plied, Bless­ed as­sur­ance, Je­sus is mine!

This hymn was sung in the Aca­de­my Award win­ning mo­vies Plac­es in the Heart (1984) & Trip to Boun­ti­ful (1985). Based on the num­ber of hym­nals in which it ap­pears (ov­er 850), this song is one of Fan­ny’s most po­pu­lar works.

Music: As­sur­ance Pho­ebe P. Knapp (🔊 pdf nwc).

portrait
Fanny Crosby
1820–1915

Background

During the re­cent war in the Trans­vaal [South Af­ri­ca], said a gen­tle­man at my meet­ing in Ex­e­ter Hall, Lon­don, in 1900, when the sol­diers go­ing to the front were pass­ing an­o­ther bo­dy of sol­diers whom they rec­og­nized, their greet­ings used to be, Four-nine-four, boys; four-nine-four; and the sa­lute would in­var­i­a­bly be an­swered with Six fur­ther on, boys; six fur­ther on. The sig­ni­fi­cance of this was that, in ‘Sac­red Songs and So­los,’ a num­ber of co­pies of the small ed­i­tion of which had been sent to the front, num­ber 494 was, ‘God be with you till we meet again;’ and six fur­ther on than 494, or num­ber 500, was ‘Bless­ed As­sur­ance, Je­sus is mine.’

Sankey, p. 122

Lyrics

Blessèd 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.

Refrain