It Is Well with My Soul

On Oct 14, 2018, I wrote this on our mission blog:

A highlight of watching General Conference last week was listening to the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square sing the hymn, "It Is Well with My Soul".  We had never heard the hymn before.   As we sat listening to it in the Belize City chapel, it was obvious that it is a beloved hymn of the Belizean saints as several in the congregation sang like angels along with the choir.  We have listened to the hymn several times this past week and, truly, "it is well, it is well, with my soul."   

Enjoy watching the ASL version of this song that was preformed in the April 2022 General Conference.

(Be sure to click the enlarge button in the bottom right hand corner as you watch it)

It Is Well with My Soul

Text:  Horatio Spafford/Music:  Philip Bliss   

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, 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 (it is well)

With my soul (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 (it is well)

With my soul (with my soul)

It is well, it is well with my soul

And Lord, haste the day when thy 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 (it is well)

With my soul (with my soul)

It is well, it is well with my soul

This afternoon a friend posted the song on her facebook page along with the background on why the song was written.  It brought back a tender memory as I saw her Facebook post.  As I was researching more about this song today, I found this video explaining the background as it is explained by Lloyd  Newell on the program, Music and the Spoken Word.  

The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square's YouTube page explains the background to the song:

Life can be so unpredictable—joys and sorrows, beautiful blessings and distressing difficulties, can come unexpectedly. Our life’s dreams and plans can change in an instant. We all know this to be true. So how can we find peace amid such turbulence? 

Horatio Spafford knew something about life’s unexpected challenges. He was a successful attorney and real estate investor who lost a fortune in the great Chicago fire of 1871. Around the same time, his beloved four-year-old son died of scarlet fever. 

Thinking a vacation would do his family some good, he sent his wife and four daughters on a ship to England, planning to join them after he finished some pressing business at home. However, while crossing the Atlantic Ocean, the ship was involved in a terrible collision and sunk. More than 200 people lost their lives, including all four of Horatio Spafford’s precious daughters. His wife, Anna, survived the tragedy. Upon arriving in England, she sent a telegram to her husband that began: “Saved alone. What shall I do?” 

Horatio immediately set sail for England. At one point during his voyage, the captain of the ship, aware of the tragedy that had struck the Spafford family, summoned Horatio to tell him that they were now passing over the spot where the shipwreck had occurred. 

As Horatio thought about his daughters, words of comfort and hope filled his heart and mind. He wrote them down, and they have since become a well-beloved hymn: 

When peace like a river, attendeth my way,

When sorrows like sea billows roll—

Whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to know

It is well, it is well with my soul.

Perhaps we cannot always say that everything is well in all aspects of our lives. There will always be storms to face, and sometimes there will be tragedies. But with faith in a loving God and with trust in His divine help, we can confidently say, “It is well, it is well with my soul.”

Episode 4580. Aired June 25, 2017.