Happy Birthday Fanny Crosby March 24th
- Marshall Thrasher
- Mar 24
- 2 min read
Updated: Mar 27
Although Fanny Crosby passed away in 1915, many of her songs are still sung in churches and homes worldwide.
Her Story
Frances Jane Van Alstyne was born March 24, 1820, in a small town outside of New York City. At only six weeks old she lost her sight. When she was only 8 years of age she wrote her first poem. Her blindness was a challenge but not a handicap. When speaking about her situation rather than bitterness, she stated, "It seemed intended by the blessed providence of God that I should be blind all my life, and I thank him for the dispensation. If perfect earthly sight were offered me tomorrow I would not accept it. I might not have sung hymns to the praise of God if I had been distracted by the beautiful and interesting things about me."
She took that sentiment and wrote over 8000 hymns. A large portion that have withstood the test of time.
Blessed Assurance
Later we will talk about many of her hymns but for today I'd like to focus on one. Blessed Assurance was written in 1873. Crosby refers to the lyrics as a reflection of her walk of faith. Take a look at the lyrics.
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.
2 Perfect communion,
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 bless’d,
watching and waiting, looking above,
filled with his goodness, lost in his love. [Refrain]
As you see, her lyrics spoke of vision beyond what we who have sight can see. Once she said, "when I get to heaven, the first face that shall ever gladden my sight will be that of my Savior".
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