It Is Well With My Soul: The Story Behind the Hymn

With a Subtitle: Horatio Spafford's hymn reveals how Biblical faith endures through devastating loss and grief.

A brief Excerpt: Born from one of the most heartbreaking tragedies in hymn history, "It Is Well With My Soul" anchors believers in the unshakable hope of the Gospel through every storm of life.

The Author is: Jeff Hilles

A Hymn Born From Unimaginable Sorrow

Horatio Gates Spafford was a successful Chicago lawyer, a devoted husband, father, and a faithful Christian. By the early 1870s, his life appeared blessed in every visible way. Yet within a few short years, this prominent businessman would lose nearly everything he held dear, and from that crucible of suffering would rise one of the most enduring hymns in church history.

The Tragedies That Preceded the Song

Spafford first lost his young son to scarlet fever. Soon after, the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 destroyed much of his real estate holdings along Lake Michigan, devastating him financially. Hoping to give his grieving family rest, he arranged a European trip in November 1873. Last-minute business detained him, so he sent his wife Anna and their four daughters, Annie, Maggie, Bessie, and Tanetta, ahead on the SS Ville du Havre.

Mid-Atlantic, the steamship collided with an iron sailing vessel and sank in twelve minutes. All four daughters drowned. Anna survived, clinging to wreckage. Upon reaching Wales, she cabled her husband two devastating words: “Saved alone.”

Writing the Words at Sea

Spafford immediately sailed to meet his wife. As his ship passed near the place where his daughters perished, he penned the words to “It Is Well With My Soul.” Composer Philip Bliss later set them to music, naming the tune “Ville du Havre” after the ill-fated ship. The hymn has since carried countless believers through grief, anchoring their hope not in changing circumstances but in the unchanging character of God.

The Lyrics and Their Biblical Meaning

Verse 1: Peace That Surpasses Understanding

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.

Refrain: It is well (it is well), with my soul (with my soul), it is well, it is well with my soul.

Spafford echoes Philippians 4:7, where the peace of God surpasses all understanding. True peace is not the absence of sorrow but the presence of Christ in the midst of it. Like Job, who blessed the Lord after losing his children (Job 1:21), Spafford confesses that God Himself taught him this posture.

Verse 2: Christ Bore Our Helpless Estate

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.

This verse leans on Romans 5:6, which declares that while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. Spafford’s confidence rests not in his own strength but in the atoning blood of Jesus, shed for sinners who could never save themselves.

Verse 3: Sin Nailed to the Cross

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!

Colossians 2:14 declares that God canceled the record of debt that stood against us by nailing it to the cross. Spafford rejoices that the believer’s sin, every bit of it, was fully borne by Christ. There is therefore no condemnation for those who are in Him (Romans 8:1).

Verse 4: The Blessed Hope of Christ’s Return

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.

The final verse fixes the believer’s gaze on 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 and Revelation 6:14. Earthly grief gives way to resurrection joy when Christ returns. Spafford’s daughters were not lost to him forever; they were waiting in the presence of the Savior.

A Legacy That Still Speaks

Spafford’s hymn endures because it preaches the Gospel. Sorrow is real, but it never has the final word for those who belong to Jesus.