The tune is very simple to sing since if follows the same rhythmic pattern throughout, but be careful to establish the length of held notes after each phrase and keep that consistent throughout the hymn. The tune for this hymn, aptly entitled ASSURANCE, was actually written before the words. This is a stanza that reminds us that God is restoring this world and making all things new, and what a vision of beauty that will be. It is a testimony of faith in the New Heaven and New Earth where the deaf would hear and the blind receive sight. Thus, the line “visions of rapture now burst on my sight” speaks of things being right with the world.
Fanny Crosby was blind from a very young age. However, there could be a third, very powerful meaning to the verse. This offshoot of nineteenth-century Methodism emphasized “Christian perfection,” and a defining characteristic of this tradition was the ultimate conversion experience or the “total submission” of one’s self in an ecstatic encounter with God. It is more likely that Crosby is referring in this verse to her experiences within the Holiness Movement. Crosby would probably only have heard about dispensationalist thinking after her good friend Dwight Moody did, and he became a proponent of that belief only after Crosby had written the hymn. While the word “rapture” might immediately conjure up images of the end times and dispensationalist thinking, it is unlikely that this is what Crosby meant by the word. Visions of rapture now burst on my sight Second, some traditions have replaced Crosby’s original second verse which reads: I would argue the text speaks of comfort and hope, not smugness, and is a very fitting hymn in the face of trials. Paul Westermeyer writes that “some sing it with fervor, while others are offended by what they perceive as smug and self-assured inwardness” ( Let the People Sing, 306). We belong to Christ and his Kingdom – what an assurance this is!įor a hymn as well loved as this one, there is, oddly enough, some division about the text. We each play our own part in that “glorious foretaste” of what is still to come. In spite of all the trials that may come, we know that we serve a Savior who came to bring the Kingdom of God on earth, and as we serve Him, we participate in, and belong to, that Kingdom. “’During the recent war in the Transvaal,’ said a gentleman at my meeting in Exeter Hall, London, in 1900, ‘when the soldiers going to the front were passing another company 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’” ( My Life and Sacred Songs, 69).įrom the very day she wrote them, Crosby’s words have provided comfort for millions of Christians in the face of fear, persecution, sorrow, and doubt.
Ira Sankey, good friend of hymn author Fanny Crosby, once related this story about the comfort “Blessed Assurance” provides: Many occasions in worship and in daily life.
2), and for the joy of serving Jesus (st. 1), for the Spirit's work of sanctification (st. It is a fine testimonial hymn of praise to Christ for his work of redemption (st. It is simple, truly evangelical in spirit, and has an emotional appeal that comes from its rousing tune and from the personal experience described in the text. Post ( PHH 5) is substituted for Crosby's "rapture" stanza.īlessed Assurance" is a typical gospel hymn of the late nineteenth century. The Psalter Hymnal includes the original stanzas 1 and 3, but stanza 2 by Marie J. It is an immensely popular hymn in English-speaking Christendom. Sankey ( PHH 73) hymnals and was more recently featured in Billy Graham Crusades. The hymn was also published in both the American and British editions of the Ira D. I replied, "Blessed assurance." I felt while bringing the words and tones together that the air and the hymn were intended for each otherĬrosby's text and Knapp's tune were published in John R.
Joseph), so well-known as a writer and singer of most excellent music and as an aid and inspiration to all who knew her, had composed the tune and it seemed to me one of the sweetest I had heard for a long time. The hymn titled "Blessed Assurance" was made in this manner. Sometimes a tune is furnished me for which to write the words. She said the following about her writing of the text: This text and 'To God Be the Glory" (473) are probably the best known texts by Fanny J.
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