There’s something timeless about the great hymns of the Christian faith. Though many were written generations ago, their words continue to speak to the heart, proclaim the truth of Scripture, and lead us into worship. Hymn of the Week is for everyone who believes these beloved hymns should always have a place in modern worship. Each week, we’ll take a moment to revisit one of these enduring songs of faith and celebrate the message, story, and music that have helped generations of believers worship God.
This week’s Hymn of the Week is “Blessed Assurance,” given a heartfelt contemporary treatment by Third Day that brings the timeless confidence of this beloved hymn into modern worship.
Third Day – “Blessed Assurance”
Apple Music subscribers: Sign in above to hear the full song.
Few hymns have managed to remain as immediately recognizable across generations as “Blessed Assurance.” Written in 1873, the hymn brought together two remarkable women: blind hymn writer Fanny Crosby, who supplied the words, and composer Phoebe Palmer Knapp, who supplied the music. The story of their collaboration has become part of hymn history. Knapp played a newly composed melody for Crosby and asked what the music seemed to say. Crosby’s response was essentially the opening line of the hymn: “Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine!” From that musical prompt came one of the most enduring expressions of Christian confidence ever put into song.
The hymn was published remarkably quickly. In fact, “Blessed Assurance” appeared in three different publications during 1873, including John R. Sweney’s Gems of Praise No. 1, Guide to Holiness, and Bible School Songs. Its popularity accelerated in the following years, particularly through the gospel-song collections associated with evangelist Ira D. Sankey and the Moody-Sankey revival movement. By the late nineteenth century, it had crossed denominational boundaries and was becoming a standard part of Christian congregational singing.
And “standard” is hardly an exaggeration. Hymnary’s current database lists 1,290 hymnal appearances for the hymn. That number represents indexed hymnal instances rather than every edition, printing, translation, or church songbook in which the hymn has ever appeared, so the true historical footprint is considerably broader. It has appeared in Methodist, Baptist, Presbyterian, Disciples of Christ, African American, and other denominational hymnals, as well as general-purpose collections. It has also continued to appear in modern hymnals, including The United Methodist Hymnal, The Celebration Hymnal, The New Century Hymnal, and many others.
Part of the hymn’s enduring appeal is the way Crosby turns Christian assurance into a personal testimony. The first stanza celebrates salvation; the second moves into communion, joy, and the anticipation of heaven; and the third expresses a life of peaceful submission, watching and waiting for what lies ahead. Then comes the refrain: “This is my story, this is my song.” The hymn isn’t simply telling us what Christians believe—it invites the singer to claim that faith personally. That testimonial quality is one reason “Blessed Assurance” has worked so naturally in both traditional hymn singing and contemporary worship.
That brings us to Third Day and their live performance from Atlanta. Recorded in 2006 and released on Chronology, Volume Two: 2001–2006 in 2007, the performance takes this familiar hymn and places it firmly inside the musical vocabulary of a contemporary Christian rock band. The recording is just over four minutes long, and Third Day retains the familiar words and melody while surrounding them with a much more modern acoustic-rock treatment.
What is especially interesting about Third Day’s arrangement is the way it changes our perception of the meter. Phoebe Knapp’s original tune is written in triple meter, giving the hymn its characteristic gentle, lilting motion. Third Day doesn’t simply discard that underlying structure; instead, the band reshapes the rhythmic feel through its guitar-driven accompaniment, accents, phrasing, and performance energy. Some transcriptions of the live arrangement continue to identify it as 3/4, which suggests that what we hear as a more straightforward 4/4 rock feel is better understood as an arrangement and groove change rather than a literal rewriting of the meter.
And that’s an important distinction because it demonstrates exactly why an old hymn can still work so well in modern worship. Third Day didn’t need to rewrite Crosby’s words or replace Knapp’s melody to make “Blessed Assurance” sound contemporary. They changed the musical environment around it. The result is still unmistakably the hymn people have sung for more than 150 years, but it sounds like something a modern worship band could actually play on a concert stage—or in a church today.
There is also something fitting about Third Day being the group to give this particular hymn that treatment. The band has always occupied a space where rock music, contemporary Christian music, and traditional Christian themes could meet. Their Atlanta performance lets listeners who grew up singing “Blessed Assurance” hear it with fresh ears, while someone encountering the hymn for the first time can hear it without necessarily associating it with an old-fashioned hymnbook.
More than 150 years after Crosby heard Knapp’s melody and immediately heard the words “Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine,” the song is still doing exactly what a great hymn should do: giving believers words to express what they believe, while leaving enough musical room for every generation to make the song its own. Third Day’s performance is a wonderful example of that continuing life—a 19th-century hymn that hasn’t merely survived modern worship, but has found a new musical voice within it.
🐟