It Is Well With My SoulThe hymn has quite a story behind it. Perhaps by understanding some of the events surrounding it, the meaning will be clearer. Horatio Spafford was a lawyer in Chicago in 1871 when the Chicago Fire destroyed his lakeshore real estate and his finances along with it. Having already lost a son to premature death, He decided to take his wife and four daughters on a trip to England to join D.L. Moody on one of their campaigns and to get some much needed rest. Business forced him to delay his departure, so he had his family go on ahead, intending to join them as soon as he could. Soon Spafford received word that the ship had sunk. He waited anxiously for word of survivors and finally received a telegram from his wife that read "Saved alone." Spafford hastened to join her in England, and as he sailed past the spot where his four daughters had drowned, he wrote, "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.’"
Horatio Spafford
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.
Tho' Satan should buffet, tho' trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ hath regarded my helpless estate,
And has shed His own blood for my soul.
My sin - O the bliss of this glorious tho't -
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!
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.
Horatio Spafford knew God. It could only be an abiding relationship with the Almighty that would enable a man enduring such loss to say, "It is well with my soul." He echoes the words of Paul who says, "I have learned to be content." (Phil. 4:11-13)
What did Spafford know of God that held him in such peace? His second verse tells us. "Let this blest assurance control, that Christ hath regarded my helpless estate and has shed His own blood for my soul." To him, knowing that God loved him enough to die for him was enough. God had no requirement to do so, and the cost to Him was great - His own blood. What greater love could there be?
I think Mr. Spafford tied greater weight to his sin condition than most of us do today. He saw the forgiven state of the Christian as enough from God. His third verse dwells on the bliss of that thought. He saw forgiveness as glorious, and complete. He regarded God's pardon as the end of the question, with sin no longer a concern. "Not in part, but the whole." Paul says the same. We are crucified to sin. "Do not let sin reign." (Rom. 6:12) Praise the Lord, O my soul!
So many Christians today struggle with sin. They see their shortcomings - which are real - as an obstacle to their relationship with God. There is even a sort of superstition mixed in, as if God will curse us if we sin but bless us if we don't. They see God as turning away when they fail Him, and in some cases their large numbers of failures amass such a perceived wall between themselves and the Almighty that they give up and walk away hopeless. But sin - "not in part, but the whole" - has been nailed to the cross. We bear it no more. It is forgiven, past, present, and future. God sees us as clothed in the righteousness of Christ. He stands ready to commune with us at all times. We need merely to confess, for our benefit, our failure to obey, and we can continue the relationship. Would that we saw our sin condition and its collapse at the cross in the same light as this hymn does.
Like so many of the hymn writers of the past, Spafford looked forward to the coming of the Lord. He longed to be home. While many today aren't sure they want Christ to return just yet, he asked that God "haste the day." When all is said, it is there that peace is finally ours. It is in the knowledge of the transcendent God, the God who is holy and just, who is able to make all things right, the soon and coming King, that we can ultimately rest. His faithfulness is our repose. And His return is our hope. As the hymn alludes, "even so, come quickly." It is God's presence that brings final peace.
We, too, can enjoy this response to difficult circumstances. We can learn, with Paul, to be content in all situations. The truth is simple. If we know the God we serve, "who can be against us?" If God is God (and we are not), what more can we require? We can agree with Spafford and say, "Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say, it is well, it is well with my soul."
4 comments:
Tis a lovely hymn written in the midst of tragedy and, as such, remains a powerful testimony to the peace God brings.
Always loved the hymn myself. Never knew the backstory. Thanks for that.
I've done a lot of studying on a lot of hymns. The back stories are often interesting. I don't know that there is any more moving than this one.
That is one of my favorite hymn stories. I also love the deep meaning found in the slave spirituals - how they would use these songs as hymns of praise, but also to hide warnings and escape plans...
“Wade in the Water” is one of those spirituals that, for me, is haunting. It beckons. And the reason for it is the biblical reference to “wade in the water, wade in the water, children. God’s going to trouble the water.” In scripture, there is the pool of Bethesda. People would gather around the pool, and when an angel touched the pool with its finger, there would be ripples and those who were close by would jump in, because the first ones in would be cured of whatever physical or emotional illness they had.
Water has a strong tradition in scripture, but to wade in the water during the time of the Underground Railroad had a deeper meaning. It meant to follow the streams. Don’t limit yourself to the shores, get in the water, that’s a better protection. Chances are, you will leave no scent, no trace, no footprint of any kind for those who are trying to find you.
The spiritual, “The Gospel Train, the Gospel Train’s a coming,” is important to our understanding of the Underground Railroad, but it is also important to our historical studies of the African-American community in general. Why the train? The train replaces the chariot in the 19th Century, as in “Swing Lo’ Sweet Chariot, coming forth to carry me home.” Instead of a chariot, there is a train, and for the train to become the symbol for freedom is most appropriate. It’s a reference to passage. That was a way of saying, a conductor will be here to take you aboard, to help you to move to freedom.
Great stuff, knowing the stories behind the songs.
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