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Another Song
By mstrohm | March 12, 2007
After going to see the movie Amazing Grace my wife purchased a CD which indluded Chris Tomlin’s song Amazing Grace and several other hymns sung by different present day artists. One of the songs included on this CD is It Is Well With My Soul. I was able to share with my daughter the remarkable story associated with the writing of this song. Here are the words from Then Sings My Soul, by Robert J. Morgan:
Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers him out of them all.
When the great Chicago Fire consumed the Windy City in 1871, Horatio G. Spafford, an attorney heavily invested in real estate, lost a fortune. About this time, his only son, age 4, succumbed to scarlet fever. Horatio drowned his grief in work, pouring himself into rebuilding the city and assisting the 100,00 who had been left homeless.
In November of 1873, he decided to take his wife and daughters to Europe. Horatio was close to D.L. Moody and Ira Sankey, and he wanted to visit their evangelistic meetings in England, then enjoy their vacation.
When an urgent matter detained Horatio in New York, he decided to send his wife, Anna and their 4 daughters, Maggie, Tanetta, Annie and Bessie on ahead. As he saw them settled into a cabin aboard the luxurious French Liner Ville du Havre, an unease filled his mind, and he moved them to a room closer to the bow of the ship. Then he said good-bye, promising to join them soon.
During the small hours of November 22, 1873, as the Ville du Havre glided over smooth seas, the passengers were jolted from their bunks. The ship collided with an iron sailing vessel, the water poured in like Niagara. The Ville du Havre tilted dangerously. Screams, prayers, and oaths merged into a nightmare of unmeasured terror. Passengers clung to posts, tumbled through darkness, and were swept away by powerful currents of icy ocean. Loved ones fell from each other’s grasp and disappeared into foaming darkness. Within two hours the mighty ship vanished beneath the waters. The 226 fatalities included Maggie, Tanetta, Annie and Bessie. Mrs. Spafford was found nearly unconscious, clinging to a piece of wreckage. When the 47 survivors landed in Cardiff, Wales, she cabled her husband: “Saved Alone.”
Horatio immediately booked passage to join his wife. En route, on a cold December night, the captain called him aside and said, “I believe we are now passing over the place where the Villa du Havre went down. Spafford went to his cabin but found it hard to sleep. He said to himself, “It is well; the will of God be done.”
Now read the remarkable words:
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 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, 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, it is well with my soul.
Lord, thank you for sheding your blood for my helpless estate! Though trials come, may I always be able to recognize the truth – it is well with my soul!
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May God’s grace and peace be with you,
Mark Strohm, Jr.
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