If you pay attention when you’re singing hymns, you
may recognize the name Phoebe P. Knapp as the composer
of the tune for Fanny Crosby’s Blessed Assurance! In
this offering, Mrs. Knapp contributes both words and
music:
1. O now I see the cleansing wave,
The fountain deep and wide:
Jesus, my Lord, mighty to save,
Points to His wounded side.
2. I rise to walk in heav’n’s own light
Above the world and sin,
With heart made pure and garments white,
...(+)
If you pay attention when you’re singing hymns, you
may recognize the name Phoebe P. Knapp as the composer
of the tune for Fanny Crosby’s Blessed Assurance! In
this offering, Mrs. Knapp contributes both words and
music:
1. O now I see the cleansing wave,
The fountain deep and wide:
Jesus, my Lord, mighty to save,
Points to His wounded side.
2. I rise to walk in heav’n’s own light
Above the world and sin,
With heart made pure and garments white,
And Christ enthroned within.
3. Amazing grace! tis heav’n below
To feel the blood applied,
And Jesus, only Jesus know—
My Jesus crucified.
Chorus: The cleansing stream I see, I see!
I plunge, and O it cleanseth me!
O praise the Lord, it cleanseth me!
It cleanseth me—yes, cleanseth me!
We can deduce from verse three that John Newton had
some influence on this work. More on Mrs. Knapp—she
was an American composer born in New York City in 1839.
An organist, she had her very own pipe organ, which
her husband had installed in their New York apartment!
She was the organist at the John Street Methodist
Episcopal Church, which is where Crosby went, which
explains the connection on Blessed Assurance.
This sheet music is part of the collection of crosby3145 :
Without a doubt, “It Is
Well with My Soul” is one of
the most famous hymns in the
English language, due to its
stirring words, its
heartwrenching melody, and the
famous story behind it—wait,
you’ve never heard the tale
of how it was written?
Well, let’s fix that!
Horatio Spafford was a famous
lawyer and hymnwriter in the
United States in the
nineteenth century. In the
early 1870s, he had three
tragedies strike him, all
around the same time. First,
his two-year-old son died of
scarlet fever. Second, he
invested in several buildings
in Chicago—and, as you might
know, the early 1870s saw the
Great Chicago Fire. Yes, it
got the buildings. Far worse
was what happened two years
later, when Spafford’s wife
and four daughters were
sailing across the Atlantic.
Their ship wrecked, and though
Spafford’s wife survived,
none of his daughters made it.
It was on his return to that
fateful spot that Spafford had
the idea for those famous
words... “When Peace like a
River…” In fact, that
very line is likely a
reference to Isaiah 48:17-18.
“Thus saith the Lord, thy
Redeemer, the Holy One of
Israel; I am the Lord thy God
which teacheth thee to profit,
which leadeth thee by the way
that thou shouldest go. O
that thou hadst hearkened to
my commandments! then had thy
peace been as a river, and thy
righteousness as the waves of
the sea.”
Well, Spafford was a believer,
yet he had these three
tragedies overtake him—and
still, he was able to write
these words? What was the
secret? It can be found in
Philippians 4:11: “Not that
I speak in respect of want:
for I have learned, in
whatsoever state I am,
therewith to be content.”
The Christian can be content,
for he has the Maker of the
Universe, the all-powerful God
Who loves us, on His
side…and though we might
face trials in this world, we
can take comfort in knowing
that there is more to life
than whatever circumstances
befall us. The same God that
let Satan bring all those
trials on Job restored twice
as much as Job had possessed
before, but this is but a dim
picture of the blessings he
will bestow on us when we all
get to Heaven!
This volume also contains
other such classics as “Have
Thine Own Way, Lord,” “No,
Never Alone,” and “I Know
Whom I Have Believed.” In
addition, there are several
hymns which have not become as
well-known, but all of which
have great tunes and great
words. Most of these were not
inspired by tragedies like the
ones Spafford went
through—and yet, were it not
for those tragedies, would It
Is Well with My Soul be the
classic it is today?