Who wrote the hymn 'It Is Well with My Soul'?
Personal tragedy inspired Horatio Spafford to write the hymn 'It Is Well with My Soul'. After losing his fortune in the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 Spafford's wife and four daughters boarded the ill-fated SS Ville du Havre to England with the promise he would follow.
The ship then collided with another and rapidly sunk, taking Spafford's four daughters with it. His wife Anna survived and sent him the now famous telegram, "Saved alone …".
The hymn was set to music by composer Philip Bliss, who called his tune Ville du Havre, after the stricken vessel.
'It Is Well with My Soul' lyrics
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.
Refrain 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 blest assurance control, That Christ has regarded my helpless estate, And hath shed His own blood for 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!
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.
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! Blessed hope, blessed rest of my soul.
And Lord, haste the day when the faith shall be sight, The clouds be rolled back as a scroll; The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend, A song in the night, oh my soul!