All this is come upon us; yet have we not forgotten thee, neither have we dealt falsely in thy covenant. Our heart is not turned back, neither have our steps declined from thy way; Though thou hast sore broken us in the place of dragons, and covered us with the shadow of death. Psalm: 44:17-19
It Is Well with My Soul
1. When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
when sorrows like sea billows roll;
whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say,
It is well, it is well with my soul.
Refrain:
It is well with my soul,
it is well, it is well with my soul.
2. Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
let this blest assurance control,
that Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
and hath shed his own blood for my soul.
(Refrain)
3. My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!
My sin, not in part but the whole,
is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!
(Refrain)
4. And, Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight,
the clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
the trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,
even so, it is well with my soul.
(Refrain)
“It Is Well with My Soul” is a hymn penned by hymnist Horatio Spafford and composed by Philip Bliss. The hymn was first published in Gospel Songs No. 2 by Sankey and Bliss (1876).
Spafford, a husband and father of four daughters was a successful attorney in Chicago. Spafford was also an active member of the Presbyterian Church, and a friend and supporter of D. L. Moody and other evangelical leaders of his day. This hymn was written after traumatic events in Spafford’s life.
Spafford held extensive real estate investments in the area of Chicago, which were extensively damaged by the 1871 Great Chicago Fire. His business interests were further hit by the economic downturn of 1873. When Moody and his music associate, Ira Sankey travelled to the United Kingdom to evangelise, Spafford decided to take a break with his family and travel to Europe on the SS Ville du Havre. In a late change of plan, he sent the family ahead while he was delayed on business concerning zoning problems following the Great Chicago Fire. While crossing the Atlantic, the ship with his family sank rapidly after a collision with a sea vessel, the Loch Earn, and all four of Spafford’s daughters – Tanetta, Maggie, Annie, and Bessie were among the 226 who drowned. His wife Anna survived and sent him the now famous telegram, “Saved alone …”. Shortly afterwards, as Spafford traveled to meet his grieving wife in Cardiff, Wales, he was inspired to write these words as his ship passed close to the spot where his daughters had died.
As Kenneth W. Osbeck wrote in Amazing Grace – Illustrated Stories of Favourite Hymns, “Inner peace through an implicit trust in the love of God is the real evidence of a mature Christian faith. Only with this kind of confidence in his heavenly Father could Horatio Spafford experience such heart-rending tragedies as he did and yet be able to say, ‘It is well with my soul.’”
In the midst of all your troubles and tribulations, are you able to say to God, like Spafford “It is well with my Soul”. Are you able to say like the Psalmist – “Our heart is not turned back, neither have our steps declined from thy way”. Are you able to say – “In thee O Lord I put my trust.”
Yes, it is well with every soul that puts their trust and faith in God our creator. St. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 4:16-18: Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things, which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.
And we have the assurance that “For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8: 38 – 39
Sing the hymn, “It is well with my soul!”, because it truly is.