A hymn and its story
Blessed Assurance
Words by Fanny J. Crosby, 1873 · blind from infancy, wrote thousands of hymns
A woman who was blind nearly all her life wrote 'Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine,' and said she would not trade her blindness, because the first face she ever saw would be her Saviour's.
The story behind it
Fanny Crosby lost her sight as an infant and lived more than ninety years without it, yet she became one of the most prolific hymn writers in history, composing around eight thousand hymns. Far from bitter, she once said that if she could have her sight, she would not take it, because the first face she would ever see would be the face of her Saviour.
Blessed Assurance was born in 1873 from a friendship. The musician Phoebe Knapp played Crosby a new tune she had written and asked, 'What does it say?' Crosby, who often composed in her head, listened and answered almost at once: 'Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine.' The words are exactly what a life without sight but full of faith would sing, not 'I see,' but 'I know,' a settled confidence that does not depend on the eyes at all.
The words
O what a foretaste of glory divine!
Heir of salvation, purchase of God,
Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood.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.
The Scripture behind it
Why it still moves us
So much of faith is lived without seeing. Crosby could not see the world, and none of us can yet see the God we love, and this hymn is precisely for that condition. Its confidence is not 'I see' but 'I know': a full assurance grounded not in sight or feeling but in what Christ has done, 'purchase of God... washed in His blood.' From a woman in lifelong darkness, the refrain 'this is my story, this is my song' becomes a kind of defiance of joy, and an invitation to make it yours.
Sing it, and mean it
A hymn is a prayer you can carry in your chest. The people who wrote these did not write from a stage; they wrote from shipwreck and sickbeds, from ordinary faithful mornings, and handed us words for the days we cannot find our own. You do not have to sing well. You only have to lift it, and mean it, to the One it is about.
Meet the One these hymns are aboutWorship in The Living BreadBegin with assuranceRead Hebrews 10Jesus Christ is Lord.
Frequently asked questions
- Who wrote Blessed Assurance?
- Fanny J. Crosby wrote the words in 1873 to a tune by her friend Phoebe Knapp. Crosby was blind from infancy and wrote nearly eight thousand hymns over her long life.
- What is the story behind Blessed Assurance?
- Phoebe Knapp played Crosby a new melody and asked what it said. Crosby, blind and composing in her head, answered almost immediately, 'Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine.' The hymn expresses a confidence grounded not in sight but in Christ.
- What does 'blessed assurance' mean?
- It means a settled, joyful certainty of belonging to Christ, an assurance based not on feelings or sight but on what Jesus has done: 'purchase of God, born of His Spirit, washed in His blood' (see Hebrews 10:22).