It is well with my soul

It is well with my soul is one of my favourite hymns, both for the truths it sets forth but also because it is a great rock when sufferings hit.

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 (it is well)With my soul (with my soul)
It is well, it is well with my soul

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come
Let this blessed assurance control
That Christ hath regarded my helpless estate
And hath shed His own blood for my soul

My sin, 0 the bliss of this glorious thought
My sin, not in part but in whole
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, 0 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

Spafford was a Chicago lawyer, but this great hymn was not written in the midst of ease and plenty but pain, grief and almost unimaginable personal tragedy. In 1870 their only son was killed by scarlet fever at the age of four. A year later, it was fire rather than fever that struck. Horatio had invested heavily in real estate on the shores of Lake Michigan. In 1871, every one of these holdings was wiped out by the great Chicago Fire.

Aware of the toll that these disasters had taken on the family, Horatio decided to take his wife and four daughters on a holiday to England. They needed the rest and their friend DL Moody needed the help as he was traveling around Britain on one of his evangelistic campaigns. They planned to join Moody in late 1873 and traveled to New York in November, from where they were to catch the French steamer 'Ville de Havre' across the Atlantic.

Just before they set sail, some last-minute business forced Horatio to delay. Not wanting to ruin the family holiday, Spafford persuaded his family to go as planned saying that he would follow on. Anna and her four daughters sailed to Europe while Spafford went back to Chicago. Just nine days later, Spafford received a telegram from his wife in Wales. It read: "Saved alone."

On November 2nd 1873, the 'Ville de Havre' had collided with 'The Lochearn', and sank in only 12 minutes, claiming the lives of 226 people. Anna Spafford had stood bravely on the deck, with her daughters Annie, Maggie, Bessie and Tanetta clinging desperately to her. Her last memory had been of her baby being torn violently from her arms by the force of the waters. Anna was only saved by a plank which floated beneath her unconscious body and propped her up. When the survivors of the wreck had been rescued, her first reaction was complete despair. Then she heard a voice speak to her, "You were spared for a purpose." And she immediately recalled the words of a friend, "It's easy to be grateful and good when you have so much, but take care that you are not a fair-weather friend to God."

Upon hearing the news, Horatio boarded the next ship out of New York to join his bereaved wife. Bertha Spafford (the fifth daughter of Horatio and Anna born later) explained that during her father's voyage, the captain of the ship had called him to the bridge. "A careful reckoning has been made", he said, "and I believe we are now passing the place where the de Havre was wrecked. The water is three miles deep." Horatio returned to his cabin and penned the lyrics of his great hymn.

The words Spafford wrote that day come from 2 Kings 4:26 and echo the response of the Shunammite woman to the sudden death of her only son. Though "her soul is vexed within her", she maintains that 'It is well." And Spafford's song reveals a man whose trust in the Lord is as unwavering as hers was.

His worship doesn't just depend on how he feels. "Whatever my lot", he says, come rain or shine, pleasure or pain, success or failure, joy or grief "Thou hast taught me to say / It is well, it is well with my soul".

Nor does his worship centre on himself rather he focuses on what God has already done at the cross (0 the bliss of this glorious thought / My sin ... is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more) and what God will do in the future ("Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight / The trump shall resound and the Lord shall descend").

In fact, Spafford's worship brings us back to the bottom line: at the end of the day, come hell or high-water, it is "this blessed assurance" that holds us fast.