Blessed Assurance
....nevertheless I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that day. 2 Timothy 1:12
Frances Ridley Havergal and Frances (Fanny) Crosby never met, but they became dear pen pals -the two most famous women hymnists of their age, the former in England and the latter in America. Havergal once wrote a poem about her American counterpart:
Sweet, blind singer over the sea, /Tuneful and jubilant! How can it be, / That the songs of gladness, which float so far, / As if they fell from the evening star/ Are the notes of one who may never see/ 'Visible music' of flower and tree..../ Oh, her heart can see, her heart can see!/ And its sight is strong and swift and free....
Another of Fanny's dearest friends was Phoebe Knapp. While Fanny lived in the Manhattan slums and worked in rescue missions, Phoebe lived in the knapp Mansion, a palatial residence in Brooklyn, where she entertained lavishly. She was an extravagent dresser with a wardrobe full of elaborate gowns and diamond tiaras. Her music room contained one of the finest collections of instruments in the country, and Fanny was a frequent houseguest.
One day in 1873, while Fanny was staying at the Knapp Mansion, Phoebe said she had a tune she wanted to play. Going to the music room, she sat at the piano and played a new compostion of her own whild the blind hymnist listened. Fanny immediately clapped her hands and exclaimed, "Why that says 'Blessed Assurance!'" She quickly composed the words, and a great hymn was born.
Many years later, D.L. Moody was preaching in New York at the 23rd Street Dutch Reformed Church. The Moody/Sankey meetings had popularized Fanny Crosby's hymns around the world and had made the blind poetess a household name. But whenever she attended a Moody/Sankey meeting, she refused to be recognized, disavowing acclaim.
This day the church was so crowded she could find nowhere to sit. Moody's son, Will, seeing her,offered to find her a seat. To her bewilderment, he led her onto the platform just as the crowd was singing "Blessed Assurance." Moody, Sr., jumped to his feet, raised his hand, and interrupted the singing. "Praise the Lord!" he shouted. "Here comes the authoress!"
Fanny took her seat amid thunderous ovation, humbly thanking God for making her a blessing to so many.
Excerpt from "Then Sings My Soul" by Robert J. Morgan
Thomas Nelson Publishers
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Current Note:
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Bless-ed as-sur-ance Je-sus is mine! Oh, what a fore-taste of
glo-ry di-vine! Heir of sal-va-tion, pur-chase of God, Born
of His Spir-it, washed in His blood! This is my sto-ry, This
is my song, prais-ing my Sav-ior all the day long. This is my
sto-ry, this is my song, Prais-ing my Sav-ior all the day long.
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© 2006 DCK Music Group
All Rights Reserved
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