It Is Well

“IT  IS  WELL  WITH  MY  SOUL”

II Kings 4:26

 

Horatio Gates Spafford (Writer of this Hymn/song)
Born: October 20, 1828, North Troy, New York.
Died: October 16, 1888, Jerusalem, Israel, of malaria.

HYMN HISTORY:

This hymn was written by a Chicago lawyer, Horatio G. Spafford.  The words, “When sorrows like sea billows roll … It is well with my soul”, were not written during the happiest period of Spafford’s life. But they really came from a man who had suffered much personal tragedy.
Horatio G. Spafford and his wife, Anna, were pretty well-known in 1860’s Chicago. And this was not just because of Horatio’s legal career and business. The Spaffords were also strong supporters and close friends of D.L. Moody, the famous preacher. In 1870, however, things started to go wrong. The Spaffords’ only son was killed by scarlet fever at the age of four. A year later, it was fire 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. And, not only did they need the rest — DL Moody needed the help. He was traveling around Britain on one of his great evangelistic campaigns. Horatio and Anna planned to join Moody in late 1873. And so, the Spaffords traveled to New York in November, from where they were to catch the French steamer ‘Ville de Havre’ across the Atlantic. Yet just before they set sail, a last-minute business development forced Horatio to delay. Not wanting to ruin the family holiday, Spafford persuaded his family to go as planned. He would follow on later. With this decided, Anna and her four daughters sailed East to Europe while Spafford returned West 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’, an English vessel. It 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 from the fate of her daughters by a plank which floated beneath her unconscious body and propped her up. When the survivors of the wreck had been rescued, Mrs. Spafford’s first reaction was one of 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 terrible news, Horatio Spafford 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 then returned to his cabin and penned the lyrics of his great hymn.
The words which Spafford wrote that day come from II Kings 4:26 … Run now, I pray thee, to meet her, and say unto her, Is it well with thee? is it well with thy husband? is it well with the child? And she answered, It is well.
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.
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.
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.
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!
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, it is well, with 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.
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

Psalms 146:1…  Praise ye the Lord. Praise the Lord, O my soul.

 

I. Just when things are going so well

  A) A son is born

  • Let us read verses 8-17…
  • Here is a story of a young woman with an old husband. This could be the reason why that having children was out of the question.
  • Her name is not mentioned.
  • The woman knew that Elisha was a man of God, and her situation was that of Sarah and Abraham.
  • In verse 17… And the woman conceived, and bare a son we see where grace had brought life where there was no life before.

  B) The son is dead

  • Read verses 18-20… he went out to his father to the reapers.
  • 19… And he said unto his father, My head, my head. The son goes out to his father working in the fields of harvest time complaining of a really bad headache.
  • 20… And when he had taken him, and brought him to his mother, he sat on her knees till noon, and then died.

  C) Is it well?

  • Now read 21-26…
  • She lays her dead son on the bed of Elisha (The man of God) and shuts the door to go look for him.
  • She finds Elisha in verse 25.
  • Look at what she tells the servant of Elisha after he asks… Is it well?
  • She answers him to say… “It is well”
  • How can it be well? She has just lost the son that she had prayed for, and God gave her!

II. No Matter My Lot

  A) Thou (God) has taught me to say

  • Look at the first verse in that song…

When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;

Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say,

  • In changing the verbiage of Bro. Spafford’s “Old English” language to the new English language of today it would probably read something like this…

Whether or not peace like a river would come to me

Or even the sorrows I have recently experienced on the sea

It really doesn’t matter Lord what your will is in my life, You have taught me,

It is okay, I am content (satisfied) deep in my soul

  • After reading the article of Bro. Spafford’s life and all he had lost, Then, I read our Bible of Job’s loss, then I read this story here of this woman who had lost her son. Yet, they found a way to honor God in all they had done and God rewarded them for their faithfulness to Him.
  • Note: I said “faithfulness” not “perfect living”, but continued faith no matter the situation.
  • Many times we do not understand the true meaning of faithful!
  • God is faithful to us to give us the desires of our heart but not always does He give us the desires of our heart because we may not deserve it or need it.
  • I would like to think that I am faithful to my job(work) Not always am I at 100% not am I always on time, nor am I always there, I may be sick or have some other reason for missing work. But for the most part of my employment I am there on time, work hard to be a laborer worthy of his hire.
  • God wants us to be faithful to Him, His service, and His people.

  B) It is Well

  • Can we truly say … “It is well with my soul?”
  • Are we satisfied with what God has done for us be it good or not so good.
  • Many times God allows terrible events in our life to happen in order to make our faith in Him stronger. But the sad thing is…many turn against God and blame Him for messing up their life.

 

 III. That Christ has regarded my helpless estate

  A) Christ has already done the work for me

  • Let us look at the words to the second verse…
  • Note the first stanza…Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
  • It means this… it doesn’t matter if Satan tries to hurt me through tests, and trouble in my life…
  • Let this blest assurance control, Means this… I already have the assurance (promise knowing) that God is in control.
  • That Christ has regarded my helpless estate, Means… that Christ has already done the work for me on the cross since I am helpless against the strength of Satan.
  • And hath shed His own blood for my soul. This line is the answer to the previous line in that Christ had performed the work on the cross (Shedding of perfect, innocent blood) for me.

  B) This is the secret to … “It is Well”

  • Knowing that Christ has already done the work… we should be satisfied with whatever happens in our life knowing that He is in control!
  • Now I ask you as the servant asked the woman… “Is it well, with you, your spouse, and your children?”

IV.  My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!

  A) Looking at “My sin” and the Cross

  • Let us look at this verse of song also…
  • My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought! Concerning my sins, I just had a glorious thought…
    My sin, not in part but the whole,     I am talking about all my sin, not just part of it. (You see many times we want to hang onto a sin and never really turn it over to God and that is where the devil wins a victory over us by allowing us to be discouraged or depressed.)
    Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,     (Here’s the glorious thought) My sin has already been nailed to the cross with Jesus who knew no sin, and became sin for me, so that I don’t have to carry the burden of sin any more.
    Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!     This glorious thought causes me to PRAISE THE LORD, PRAISE THE LORD, DEEP  WITHIN  MY  SOUL!
  • Doesn’t this want to make you sign big and sing out loud!

 

V. And Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight

  A) What is the day that Bro. Spafford is talking about?

  • Now let us examine the last verse…
  • And Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight, This verse implies that Bro. Spafford is asking the Lord to let time fly faster so that he can “see” the coming of His Lord.
  • The clouds be rolled back as a scroll; This, is Bro. Spafford’s idea of how Christwould come. With the clouds rolling back to make way for Christ’s appearance through the clouds in the same manner that the disciples had saw Him come to earth after His death burial and resurrection.
  • The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend, Obviously Bro. Spafford had read I Cor. 15:52 … In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
  • Even so, it is well with my soul. Even in death I can be satisfied saying…It is Well!

  B) The entire song summed up

  • No matter what happens to me in my life, It is well with my soul
  • If Satan tries to defeat me, Christ will take over for me in my weakest hour.
  • I will not meditate on my sin and let it overwhelm me causing destruction,
  • Because Christ has already taken care of my sins on the Cross
  • Just hurry your coming Lord I’m ready to go home because… It is well with my soul!

 

Can we truly say within our soul… “It is Well?”