It Is Well

“It Is Well With My Soul”

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.

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.

This song was born out of great grief and loss, greater than most will ever be called to bear. The author, Horatio Spafford, had been a successful lawyer in the frontier town of Chicago. His accumulated wealth and property had kept him from a full surrender to the Lord until meeting D. L. Moody, but from then on he had committed himself, his family, and his goods to his Savior. His love for God was tested and purified when his only son died suddenly in a tragic accident.

And then—the great Chicago fire of 1871 occurred, in which his wealth turned to ashes. With the little he had left, he decided to move his family to England and start over. Last minute developments kept him in Chicago, but his wife and four precious daughters went on ahead.

Sailing from New York on the Ville de Havre, the family expected the father to follow them on the next ship and join them in London. Suddenly, at two o’clock in the morning, disaster struck. In mid-ocean, their passenger liner collided with the iron sailing vessel Lochearn and quickly sank. In all, 226 lives were lost, including the four Spafford daughters. Mrs. Spafford was pulled from the ocean, barely conscious, and taken with the other survivors to England. 

Mr. Spafford soon heard news reports of the tragedy, but knew nothing of his family’s fate. Nine days after the crash, she cabled this brief message, “Saved alone.”

Few of us will ever know how we would react under such circumstances. Mr. Spafford responded by penning the words which have become such a source of encouragement to many. Our confidence is in our Savior, and because of Him, “it is well with my soul.”

    Dr. John D. Morris, “How Firm a Foundation in Scripture and Song,” Master Books 1999, pp. 44-46