Psalter Hymnal (Gray) ‎#490

490. Blessed Assurance: Jesus Is Mine

1 Blessed assurance: Jesus is mine!
Oh, 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.

[St. 2 copyrighted]

3 Perfect submission: all is at rest,
I in my Savior am happy and blest;
watching and waiting, looking above,
filled with his goodness, kept in his love. (Refrain)

Text Information

• First Line: Blessed assurance: Jesus is mine
• Title: Blessed Assurance: Jesus Is Mine
• Author (st. 1, 3): Fanny J. Crosby (1873)
• Author (st. 2): Marie J. Post (1985)
• Refrain First Line: This is my story, this is my song
• Meter: 9 10 9 9 with refrain
• Language: English
• Publication Date: 1987
• Scripture:
  2 Corinthians 5:1
  ;
  1 Peter 1:8
  ;
  1 John 3:1-3
  ;
  1 John 3:3
  ;
  1 Peter 1
  ;
  2 Corinthians 5
• Topic: Praise & Adoration; Redemption; Assurance; Walk with God
• Copyright: St. 2 © 1987, CRC Publications

Tune Information

• Name: ASSURANCE
• Composer: Phoebe P. Knapp (1873)
• Meter: 9 10 9 9 with refrain
• Key: D Major

Text Information:

Scripture References:
all st. = 1 Pet. 1:8, 1 John 3:1-3

This text and 'To God Be the Glory" (473) are probably the best known texts by Fanny J. Crosby (PHH 473). She said the following about her writing of the text:

Sometimes a tune is furnished me for which to write the words. The hymn titled "Blessed Assurance" was made in this manner. My dear friend Phoebe Palmer Knapp (Mrs. 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. She asked me what it said. I replied, "Blessed assurance." I felt while bringing the words and tones together that the air and the hymn were intended for each other
-from Fanny Crosby's Memories

Crosby's text and Knapp's tune were published in John R. Sweney's Gems of Praise in 1873. The hymn was also published in both the American and British editions of the Ira D. Sankey (PHH 73) hymnals and was more recently featured in Billy Graham Crusades. It is an immensely popular hymn in English-speaking Christendom. The Psalter Hymnal includes the original stanzas 1 and 3, but stanza 2 by Marie J. Post (PHH 5) is substituted for Crosby's "rapture" stanza.

Blessed Assurance" is a typical gospel hymn of the late nineteenth century. 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. It is a fine testimonial hymn of praise to Christ for his work of redemption (st. 1), for the Spirit's work of sanctification (st. 2), and for the joy of serving Jesus (st. 3).

Liturgical Use:
Many occasions in worship and in daily life.

--Psalter Hymnal Handbook

Tune Information:

The eight phrases of ASSURANCE use, with just one slight variation in the second phrase, the same rhythmic pattern throughout, sung over a static bass line. Sing in parts. Observe a moderate pace for the slow-moving harmony.

ASSURANCE is one of the several tunes composed for Crosby’s text by Phoebe Palmer Knapp (b. New York, NY, 1839; d. Poland Springs, ME, 1908). As a young girl Knapp displayed great musical talent; she composed and sang children’s song at an early age. The daughter of the Methodist evangelist Walter C. Palmer, she was married to John Fairfield Knapp at the age of sixteen. She was a founder of the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, and after her husband’s death shared her considerable inherited wealth with various charitable organizations. She composed over five hundred gospel songs, of which the tunes for “Blessed Assurance” and “Open the Gates of the Temple” are still popular today.

--Psalter Hymnal Handbook