Blessed Assurance
Text: Fanny J. Crosby, 1820-1915 Music: Phoebe P. Knapp, 1839-1908 Tune: ASSURANCE, Meter: 9 10.9 9 with Refrain
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 Savior all the day long;
this is my story, this is my song,
praising my Savior all the day long.
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)
3. 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) Links for downloading: MIDI
background story: Fanny Crosby (1820-1915) is heralded as one of the world’s most prolific and talented hymn composers. Blind from shortly after birth, Fanny nonetheless wrote 8,000 hymns. One day Fanny overheard her friend and fellow musician Phoebe Knapp playing a new composition on the organ. Phoebe told Fanny the tune was called Assurance. Fanny replied: ‘Blessed Assurance! Jesus is mine!’ And so began the collaboration that was to become one of Christendom’s most beloved hymns. Blessed Assurance was published in 1873
‘Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus | Louisa M. R. Stead, 1882
Scripture: Proverbs 30:5 Amplified Bible (AMP)
Refrain: Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him! How I’ve proved Him o’er and o’er; Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus! Oh, for grace to trust Him more!
5 Every word of God is tried and purified; He is a shield to those who trust and take refuge in Him.
_________________Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus
http://library.timelesstruths.org/music/Tis_So_Sweet_to_Trust_in_Jesus/midi/
’Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus, Just to take Him at His Word; Just to rest upon His promise, And to know, “Thus saith the Lord!”
_________________Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus
http://library.timelesstruths.org/music/Tis_So_Sweet_to_Trust_in_Jesus/midi/
’Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus, Just to take Him at His Word; Just to rest upon His promise, And to know, “Thus saith the Lord!”
Oh, how sweet to trust in Jesus, Just to trust His cleansing blood; And in simple faith to plunge me ’Neath the healing, cleansing flood!
Yes, ’tis sweet to trust in Jesus, Just from sin and self to cease; Just from Jesus simply taking Life and rest, and joy and peace.
I’m so glad I learned to trust Thee, Precious Jesus, Savior, Friend; And I know that Thou art with me, Wilt be with me to the end.
___________Background story
According to the story: It was a beautiful sunny day. Louisa M. Stead, her husband, and her daughter Lily, decided to go for a picnic. They went picnicking on Long Island Sound. While having their picnic, the Steads heard a scream. It was from a young boy. Mr. Stead ran to the rescue. Louisa Stead and young Lily watched helplessly as Mr. Stead and the boy drowned. Their troubles were not over yet, however, and without her husband, Mrs. Stead became very poor and destitute. Yet God never left her. He provided for her always and she and her daughter made it through. Louisa learned to trust God, and thus the words to the song ‘Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus.’ Shortly after this incident, Louisa and her daughter Lily moved to South Africa where they became missionaries.
__________________________
The words of Stead’s poem were put to music by famed musician William J. Kirkpatrick, and subsequently published in several hymnals. The tragedy that prompted the lyrics of Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus has resulted in bringing comfort to many souls, for close to 130 years.
