It Is Well with My Soul

I heard this song sung this morning on a TV church service. It reminded me of how God can bring peace to our hearts in the middle of really dark times. I remember singing this song when I was young ... at least younger ... and realize that time and age teaches us how true the message of this song really is.


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 has regarded my helpless estate,
and hath shed his own blood for my soul.
(Refrain)

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!
(Refrain)

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.
(Refrain)


Knowing Jesus gets us through the dark times ... He is what causes our soul to be alive in the middle of death ... so that we can say that it is well with my soul.

From Wikipedia via salguod's comments:

"It Is Well with My Soul" is a very influential hymn penned by hymnist Horatio Spafford and composed by Philip Bliss. This hymn was writ­ten af­ter two ma­jor trau­mas in Spaf­ford’s life. The first was the death of his only son, shortly followed by the great Chi­ca­go Fire of Oc­to­ber 1871, which ru­ined him fi­nan­cial­ly (he had been a weal­thy bus­i­ness­man). In 1873, while cross­ing the At­lan­tic, all four of Spaf­ford’s daugh­ters died in a col­li­sion with an­o­ther ship. Spaf­ford’s wife Anna sur­vived and sent him the now fa­mous tel­e­gram, “Saved alone.” Sev­er­al weeks lat­er, as Spaf­ford’s own ship passed near the spot where his daugh­ters died, the Ho­ly Spir­it in­spired these words. They speak to the eter­nal hope that all be­liev­ers have, no mat­ter what pain and grief be­fall them on earth."

7 comments:

  1. Hi, Kansas Bob.

    Brian Doerksen has All Is Well on his album, You Shine. When the worship team at my church performs it, they always seem to sing another song on that album immediately after All Is Well. The second song is Faithful One. The words are:

    ***

    Faithful one, so unchanging
    Ageless one, you're my rock of peace
    Lord of all I depend on you
    I call out to you, again and again
    I call out to you, again and again

    You are my rock in times of trouble
    You lift me up when I fall down
    All through the storm
    Your love is, the anchor
    My hope is in You alone

    ***

    I seem to sing these two songs together, too. They lift me up in times of trouble, and I remember that all is well with my soul. He is faithful.

    Robin

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  2. Thanks, KB! This is one of my favorite's - I was singing instead of reading :)

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  3. Kansas Bob,

    This is one of my favorite hymns.

    Do you know the history behind this hymn? It's amazing speaks to exactly what you're talking about.

    From Wikipedia:
    ""It Is Well with My Soul" is a very influential hymn penned by hymnist Horatio Spafford and composed by Philip Bliss. This hymn was writ­ten af­ter two ma­jor trau­mas in Spaf­ford’s life. The first was the death of his only son, shortly followed by the great Chi­ca­go Fire of Oc­to­ber 1871, which ru­ined him fi­nan­cial­ly (he had been a weal­thy bus­i­ness­man). In 1873, while cross­ing the At­lan­tic, all four of Spaf­ford’s daugh­ters died in a col­li­sion with an­o­ther ship. Spaf­ford’s wife Anna sur­vived and sent him the now fa­mous tel­e­gram, “Saved alone.” Sev­er­al weeks lat­er, as Spaf­ford’s own ship passed near the spot where his daugh­ters died, the Ho­ly Spir­it in­spired these words. They speak to the eter­nal hope that all be­liev­ers have, no mat­ter what pain and grief be­fall them on earth."

    ReplyDelete
  4. One of our favorites in a cappella land.

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  5. I did not grow up with this hymn but I agree it is a amazing one.

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  6. like danny said

    in a cappella it's so good for my soul

    ReplyDelete

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