In worship, we are reminded through the hymns that our celebration of joy can sometimes be found in the midst of great pain. Some of the most endearing celebrations of joy have been in the presence of much pain, for the joy is not found in life’s circumstances but in the joy of the Lord. 

Horatio Spafford stands witness to this so powerfully. Spafford was born in 1828 and lived much of his life in Chicago as a successful lawyer and businessman. He was deeply religious and active in his church. 

Beginning in 1870, a series of tragic events tested his faith greatly. In 1873, a doctor advised the Spaffords to take a vacation for the family’s well being. Hearing that a dear friend, Dwight L. Moody, would be preaching in England, the Spaffords decided to leave for a vacation there. Spafford’s wife and their four daughters set sail, and Horatio would follow after completing some business. On November 22, 1873, while enroute, their ship sunk. Mrs. Spafford survived, but the four daughters were lost. When she arrived in Wales, she cabled her husband with the news: “Saved alone.” 

Receiving the news, Spafford left immediately to join his wife. He asked the captain of the ship to notify him when they approached the approximate location of where his daughters’ ship went down. Notified that the area was near, Spafford went down into his cabin and wrote this hymn, which today we know as “When Peace Like A River,” or better known as “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.” 

It is well with my soul. 

It is well, it is well with my soul. 

Though Satan should buffet, tho’ trials should come, 

Let this blest assurance control, 

That Christ has regarded my helpless estate, 

And hath shed His own blood for my soul. 

It is well with my soul. 

It is well, it is well with my soul. 

My sin . . . O, 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!

It is well with my soul. 

It is well, it is well with my soul. 

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. 

It is well with my soul. 

It is well, it is well with my soul.”
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Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,

Rev. Dr. Brent L Parrish