It Is Well With My Soul
(Original lyrics)
[1]
When peace like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to
know,
a
It is well, it is well, with my soul.
Refrain:
It is well, (it is well),
With my soul, (with my soul)
It is well, it is well, with my soul.
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.
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!
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.
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.
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,
A song in the night, oh my soul!
b
a "know" (at the end of the third line) was changed to "say".
b "A song in the night, oh my soul" (last line)
was changed to "Even so, it is well with my soul".
This hymn was written after traumatic events
in Spafford’s life. The first was the
1871 Great Chicago Fire which ruined him financially (he had been a successful
lawyer
and had invested significantly in property in the area of Chicago which
was decimated by the great fire). His business interests were further
hit by the economic downturn of 1873 at which time he had planned to
travel to Europe with his family 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 sank rapidly after a collision with a sea vessel, the
Loch Earn,
and all four of Spafford's daughters died. His wife Anna survived and
sent him the now famous telegram, "Saved alone . . .". Shortly
afterwards, as Spafford traveled to meet his grieving wife, he was
inspired to write these words as his ship passed near where his
daughters had died.
[3]
Bliss called his tune
Ville du Havre, from the name of the stricken vessel.
[4]
The Spaffords later had three more children, one of whom, their only
son, Horatio Goertner Spafford, died at the age of four, of
scarlet fever in 1880. In 1881, the Spaffords, including baby Bertha and newborn Grace, set sail for
Israel. The Spaffords moved to
Jerusalem and helped found a group called the
American Colony; its mission was to serve the poor. The colony later became the subject of the
Nobel prize winning
Jerusalem, by
Swedish novelist Selma Lagerlöf.
[3]
Jan Bagwell
God Bless
This is one of my favorite songs . I heard it again today at my Aunt's funeral , but this time , I heard it with my heart .
