Monday, January 24, 2011

It Is Well With My Soul

This hymn was written after several traumatic events in Horatio Spafford’s life.
The first was the death of his only son in 1871 at the age of four, shortly followed by the great Chi­ca­go Fire of Oc­to­ber 1871, which ru­ined him fi­nan­cial­ly (he had been a weal­thy bus­i­ness­man). Short­ly af­ter, 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.

*****

Whatever life throws me....
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.

Refrain
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, 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

For me, be it Christ, be it Christ hence to live:
If Jordan above me shall roll,
No pang shall be mine, for in death as in life
Thou wilt whisper Thy peace to my soul.

Refrain

But, Lord, ‘tis for Thee, for Thy coming we wait,
The sky, not the grave, is our goal;
Oh trump of the angel! Oh voice of the Lord!
Blessèd hope, blessèd rest of 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

*****
We sang this song in church yesterday.  We sang it at the end of the service.  Long about the third refrain I kind of lost it. I got this huge knot in my throat and tears started flowing down my cheeks.  In a powerful way it occured to me just how well it is with my soul!

http://dayspring.com/

"Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day.  For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are  temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal."   2 Corinthians 4: 16-18

5 comments:

Sheila said...

Thank you Marie for sharing this beautiful post!
Bless you,
Sheila

Libbie said...

Hey Marie you ere on my mind today & I was just wondering how you were doing. I do love this song too...it just has a calming confirming sense that always makes me realize...yes, it is well!!! Loved reading about how it touched you too!!! It has brought me to tears many many times myself :) & now it will be in my head all day! & I am glad!

Take Care Marie!!!

Dorthe said...

Dear Marie, a very beautifull post,---
thankyou.
and thankyou sweet, for adding my giveaway on your sidebar.
Hugs,Dorthe

Ann said...

Beautiful post Marie, thanks so much for sharing

Ella said...

A beautiful reminder Marie ~