The eight phrases of ASSURANCE use, with just one slight variation in the second phrase, the same rhythmic pattern throughout, sung over a static bass line. Sing in parts. Observe a moderate pace for the slow-moving harmony.

ASSURANCE is one of the several tunes composed for Crosby’s text by Phoebe Palmer Knapp (b. New York, NY, 1839; d. Poland Springs, ME, 1908). As a young girl Knapp displayed great musical talent; she composed and sang children’s song at an early age. The daughter of the Methodist evangelist Walter C. Palmer, she was married to John Fairfield Knapp at the age of sixteen. She was a founder of the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, and after her husband’s death shared her considerable inherited wealth with various charitable organizations. She composed over five hundred gospel songs, of which the tunes for “Blessed Assurance” and “Open the Gates of the Temple” are still popular today.

--Psalter Hymnal Handbook