Story of the Great Hymn "It Is Well With My Soul"

   
  
   When peace like a river, attendeth my way;
   When sorrows like sea billows roll,
   Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say
   It is well, it is well with my soul.

  Hymns are often sermons that may instruct, comfort and inspire.  Understanding  how and why a hymn or gospel song was written enriches the message we receive.  Among the songs we sang Sunday was "It Is Well With My Soul."  Written by a Presbyterian lawyer, Horace Spafford, and given music by Phillip Bliss, the song gives especial comfort to those enduring grief.  Sometime in 187l a fire devastated the city of Chicago and months before that Spafford had heavily invested in real estate.  The disaster wiped out his holdings.Before the fire Spafford had experienced the loss of his son.

Two years after the fire Spafford planned a trip to Europe for him, his wife and four daughters to rest, and also to assist Moody and Sankey in an evangelistic campaign.  Spafford had a last minute business transaction and had to send his family ahead, planning to follow in a few days.  Their ship was hit and sunk.  His wife was among the survivors but the four daughters were lost.  Spafford left to be with his wife and while on the ship wrote the words so descriptive of his personal grief --"When sorrows like sea billows roll."  The hymn "It Is Well With My Soul " was born.
He did not dwell on his personal sorrow. He focused in the third stanza on the redemptive work of  Christ, and  the fourth verse anticipates the second coming of Christ.