A Closer Walk
"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." This is the first stanza from the hymn "It Is Well With My Soul," by Horatio G. Spafford, 1828-1888. The story behind the song is compelling.
Mr. Spafford was a prominent American lawyer and senior partner in a law firm in Chicago. He and his wife Anna were supporters and friends of evangelist Dwight L. Moody, the founder of the Moody Bible Institute. In the spring of 1871 Spafford invested in real estate north of Chicago. In October 1871 the Great Chicago Fire reduced the city to ashes and destroyed most of his investment. In 1873 business demands kept Mr. Spafford from leaving with his wife and four daughters on a vacation to England where their friend Dwight L. Moody would be preaching. On November 22, 1873 the steamship Mrs. Spafford and their daughters were on was struck by an iron sailing vessel, sinking their ship and killing 226 people, including all four of Spafford's daughters. Mrs. Spafford was rescued and upon arriving in England sent her husband the now famous telegram, "Saved alone." During his subsequent crossing of the Atlantic to join his wife, Spafford penned "It Is Well With My Soul." Composer Phillip Bliss wrote the music for the hymn and named the tune after the ship, the Ville du Havre, upon which the Spafford daughters lost their lives.
"My sin, oh the bliss of this glorious thought! My sin, not in part but the whole, Is nailed to His cross, and I bear it no more, Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul." This third stanza states Mr. Spafford's confidence in the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Because of what Christ did for us, our sins were nailed to His cross and we bear them no more. Oh, what a glorious thought indeed! The last verse ends the hymn. “And Lord haste the day, when the 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.”
The refrain expresses the assurance and hope we have in the Lord God Almighty, and His Beloved Son. "It is well (it is well), with my soul (with my soul), It is well, it is well, with my soul." Regardless of what may befall us, or what may come at us, we can have faith in our God to provide for us and to comfort us in times of loss or suffering. In order that we also may say, "It is well, it is well, with my soul."
"...I pray that in all respects you may prosper and be in good health, just as your soul prospers," 3 John 1:1 NASB.