It Is Well With My Soul (revisited)

Friday Classic Hymns
Written By Luke Powell

Horatio Spafford went through much tragedy. Still his soul was at peace, as he wrote in this classic hymn. Explore the story, a deep look at the words of all the verses, and sing along with me, in this episode.

Today on Friday Classic Hymns, we are featuring the famous "It Is Well with My Soul." I did this as the second Friday Classic I ever did, but back then I was just finding my feet with this series and I think I only looked at one or two of the verses, instead of doing what I now do, which is going through all the verses, no matter how many there are. I think it's nice to see the whole work of the authors, rather than just one or two verses.

I have done this one before, but I'm going to do it again, and I hope that you're going to be blessed by this video. Share in the comments what the song has meant to you, because I think this is possibly the most loved hymn - along with maybe "How Great Thou Art" and "Amazing Grace."

Very few hymns have had the impact that this one has had, so please share your thoughts below. Subscribe if you haven't already and share this with a friend who will enjoy it.

The Story Behind "It Is Well with My Soul"

Horatio Spafford was born in New York in 1828, and he became a successful lawyer and a Presbyterian church elder in Chicago. He was a clever businessman and had many properties in Chicago, and was quite good friends with several well-known Christian leaders like Dwight L. Moody and others from the Chicago area. But in the early 1870s, things started to go wrong for Spafford, and his life seems to be reminiscent of Job's as he went through some devastating losses.

His son died at four years old - firstly in 1870, when a sudden attack of scarlet fever took the poor boy's life. Then a year later, in October 1871, a great fire swept through Chicago and Spafford's properties were mostly destroyed. While he was rebuilding his life after these two tragedies, the worst of all hit, because in November 1873, Spafford and his family were supposed to go over to Great Britain, but due to some last-minute business arrangements, he himself had to stay behind. So he sent his wife and his four daughters on a ship, and he was going to meet them there later.

But tragedy struck, and the ship on which his family was sailing went down. Over 200 people were killed, including his four daughters, aged 12, seven, five and two. His wife was found unconscious, floating on a plank of wood and rescued, and when she made it to shore she sent him a message immediately - famously with just two words: "Saved alone."

Spafford immediately set sail so that he could come and be with his wife, and during the voyage the captain stopped the ship and told Spafford that this was the point where the other ship had gone down - where his daughters had died. Spafford describes it in a letter to his sister like this: "On Thursday last, we passed over the spot where she went down in mid-ocean, the water three miles deep. But I do not think of our dear ones there - they are safe, folded the dear limbs, and there, before very long, shall we be too."

Now some people believe that he wrote the hymn there and then on the boat. That's a popular story that's been shared. But Ira Sankey, who was D.L. Moody's great musician, disputes this and says that it was a few years later when Spafford was in Chicago with them all that he wrote those words. To complicate things even more, Spafford's wife claims that he wrote the song when he first heard the news, before even setting sail - so nobody quite knows. But the point was, he wrote it in his grief at losing his four daughters, after already having suffered so much.

The great Philip Bliss - also a wonderful hymn writer - wrote the music for this one. He also wrote "Man of Sorrows, What a Name" and quite a few others. He wrote this tune for the song and named it after the ship that sank that day. That same year, Bliss himself died in a train wreck. Mr. Spafford truly had a difficult time of things. The hymn appeared in 1876 for the first time and became immensely popular in D.L. Moody's revivals as Ira Sankey would play it.

The story behind it became quite well known - most people, in fact, know it. I'm sure that you've heard this story before. There is some controversy about what happened to Spafford afterwards. He was a Presbyterian elder at the time of all these tragedies, and at the time of writing the song. But later on, he seemed to drift away from orthodox theology, and it appears that he became a Unitarian, which teaches that there is no Trinity. This is, of course, standard Christian doctrine that he was rejecting, which makes some people reject the song altogether. I don't think we should - it's such a good song, and there's no bad theology in it. It seems that it was later that he moved away from orthodoxy, so I think the song is well worth singing. Spafford died in 1888 at the age of 59 of malaria, but his story is so well known and this beautiful song of his has touched so many lives.

What Do the Lyrics of "It Is Well with My Soul" Mean?

Verse 1

Many people know the song simply by its first words:

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.

He's saying, whether I'm peaceful and there are good things going on in my life, or whether there are storms and sea billows, whatever comes my way - good or bad - God has taught me that my soul can be at peace. That is just the most remarkable verse for somebody to write, especially having been through what he's gone through.

Is this your firm belief as a Christian - that whether there is peace like a river in your heart, or whether there is a storm and billows raging, your soul is well, because you find peace in Jesus Christ? That's the only way to deal with the ups and downs of life: to hang on to Christ.

Chorus

It is well, it is well, it is well with my soul.

This is the Jesus life. Our souls can be well, even if we're grieving, even if we're crying, even if we're struggling. Jesus said that He brings us peace and that He has overcome the world, so we don't need to be troubled.

Of course, this is not to say we're always happy all the time, but it means that as we grieve and struggle through the hardships, there is peace - if we have clung on to Jesus through them.

Verse 2

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ hath regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed His own blood for my soul.

"Buffet" here means Satan coming against you - not, as I first thought when I read it, Satan having a feast! If trials come, he says, let the assurance of Christ's love for me - proven by Him shedding His blood - be what controls me. That is going to be how I deal with these difficulties.

I love that line: Christ hath regarded my helpless estate. He knows himself feeling helpless and struggling, but he knows that Jesus cares. Jesus has seen him in his difficult state, and His blood is so powerful that it can lift him up and help him along. He is using the atonement of Christ as his anchor in life.

Verse 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!

He switches over now to the story of salvation - that Jesus takes our sin, not just part of it, but all of it, and it's nailed to the cross with Him, for the person whose faith is in Him. We don't have to bear it anymore.

He's going further now than just the pain of loss and difficulty in life, and he's saying the pain and burden of sin - which is a far greater, eternal pain - is taken away by Jesus on the cross. I don't bear it anymore. That burden has been lifted. Praise the Lord, O my soul!

Whatever trials and difficulties you're going through, you have the greatest news of all, if you're a Christian: your sins are forgiven. Whatever you're going through, that should still be an occasion to praise, knowing that you are forgiven by Christ on the cross and that your sin has been nailed to the cross with Him.

Verse 4

For me, be it Christ, be it Christ hence to live;
If Jordan above me shall roll,
No pang shall be mine, for in death as in life
Thou wilt whisper Thy peace to my soul.

This is an echo of Paul's words, "For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain," in Philippians 1. He's saying, if I live, it is to Christ - from now I will always be living to Christ, and whatever the future holds, Christ is the one I live for.

If Jordan above me shall roll - the crossing of the Jordan is the classic biblical metaphor for death, crossing over to heaven. He says there will be no pang of pain in my soul, but there will be peace, because I am His.

Can you say with Paul and with Spafford today, that whether I live or whether I die - that if Jordan comes before me as I cross over - I will not be in any pain, because my faith is so deeply in Him that I have peace? He'll whisper peace to my soul, living or dying. This is what Christians can rely on: the peace of Jesus Christ, whispered to them in death or in life. I love that image of the whisper. It's not a mighty shout, but a gentle whisper from the Saviour.

Verse 5

But, Lord, 'tis for Thee, for Thy coming we wait,
The sky, not the grave, is our goal;
Oh, trump of the angel! Oh, voice of the Lord!
Blessed hope, blessed rest of my soul!

That's striking, isn't it? When Jesus comes, it's not to bring us into the grave, but to take us into the sky and to the heavens with Him. He recognises that there is great hope on the other side of death, because Christ will be there in the air and we will meet Him there. Whether He comes while we're still here, or whether He takes us before that, we'll have peace and rest of the soul.

Verse 6

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.

That's a beautiful biblical picture. Now we only see things sort of murkily, because we don't have full sight as human beings. But what we have to have faith in today - without knowing completely - we will then see completely when we are there. Haste the day, he says: bring it quickly, when I can meet You, and my faith will be turned into sight.

The clouds be rolled back as a scroll - that's direct biblical language from Revelation 6. He's looking forward to the end, knowing that his soul will be at peace because he is a believer in Jesus.

Now, most churches only sing four of these verses, I think. Some of these are probably left out of the hymnal you have, or the times you sing this in church. What words spoke to you as you went through it? Please share below - and please share some good versions of the song too. There are many people who've sung this much better than I'm about to, so if you know a good version, share it in the comments so that we can all go and watch it.

Conclusion

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Share this with somebody who will enjoy it, and let's receive that peace of the soul that only Jesus can bring.

References

Luke Powell https://lukepowellministries.com
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O the Deep Deep Love of Jesus