March 20, 2018
When Peace Like a River
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.
Refrain: It is well 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 hath regarded my helpless estate, and hath shed his own blood for my soul. (Refrain)
He lives—oh, the bliss of this glorious thought; my sin, not in part, but in whole,
Is nailed to his cross and I bear it no more. Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul! (Refrain)
Lord, hasten the day when our faith shall be sight, the clouds be rolled back as a scroll,
The trumpet shall sound and the Lord shall descend; even so it is well with my soul. (Refrain)
Text: Horatio G. Spafford, 1828-1888
In the fall, we attended a memorial service for parents of a dear friend whose parents had died just a couple of weeks apart. One service was held to honor them both. The choir sang this hymn toward the end of the service and I was “moved” by the words and the melody. It is a beautiful hymn and one that I had not heard in some time.
The hymn was written in 1873 by Horatio Spafford. He was a prominent Chicago lawyer and had suffered a huge financial loss just two years earlier during the Great Chicago Fire. Feeling that he and his family needed a bit of a holiday, he planned a trip to England. Due to some business dealings, Mr. Spafford was unable to leave Chicago at the same time as his wife and daughters. Somewhere in the mid-Atlantic, two ships collided and the ship his wife and daughters were on sunk within twelve minutes. His wife was found alive floating on a piece of wreckage. All four daughters had perished.
Mr. Spafford left Chicago aboard another ship to find his wife after she sent a telegram which read “Safe alone. What shall I do?” It is said that when his ship neared the location of the collision which took the lives of his daughters, he began to write the hymn. His friend Philip Bliss composed the music for his words at a later date.
The writer has given us all words of comfort and assurance in time of physical and spiritual crisis. In time of tragedy he turned to his strong faith in God and went on with life. He and his wife had more children and later moved to Jerusalem where they and other Christian friends engaged in philanthropic work and gained the trust of Muslim, Jewish, and Christian communities. He died of malaria just before his 60th birthday and is buried in Mount Zion Cemetery, Jerusalem.
I find the words of this hymn very comforting. No matter what may happen to me, God is always present and “all will be well with my soul.” AMEN.
Susan Martin
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