View source for It Is Well with My Soul

{{short description|Well-known Christian hymn penned by Horatio Spafford in the late 19th century.}}
{{Redirect|It Is Well|other uses|It Is Well (disambiguation)}}
{{Infobox musical composition
| name                = It Is Well With My Soul
| type                = 
| image               = Horatio_Spafford.jpg
| alt                 = 
| caption             = Horatio Spafford
| translation         = <!-- to English, if hymn name is a different language -->
| native_name         = <!-- if hymn name is the translation -->
| native_name_lang    = <!-- two-letter code -->
| composer            = [[Horatio Spafford]]
| genre               = [[Hymn]]
| occasion            = 
| text                =  
| language            = 
| written             = 1873
| based_on            = 
| meter               = 11.8.11.9 with refrain
| melody              = "Ville du Havre" by [[Philip Bliss]]
| composed            = <!-- {{Timeline-event|date={{Start date|YYYY|MM|DD|df=y}}|end_date={{End date|YYYY|MM|DD|df=y}}|location=}} -->
| published           = 
| misc                =  
}}

'''"It Is Well With My Soul"''', also known as '''"When Peace, Like A River"''', is a [[hymn]] penned by hymnist [[Horatio Spafford]] and composed by [[Philip Bliss]]. First published in ''Gospel Hymns No. 2'' by [[Ira Sankey]] and Bliss (1876), it is possibly the most influential and enduring in the Bliss repertoire and is often taken as a choral model, appearing in hymnals of a wide variety of Christian fellowships.{{efn|The presence of a [[refrain]] makes the item technically a [[gospel song]] versus a [[hymn]] in the strict sense.{{citation needed|date=November 2020}}}}

==Background==
This hymn was written after traumatic events in Spafford's life. The first was the [[Great Chicago Fire]] of 1871, which ruined him financially (Spafford had been a successful lawyer and had invested significantly in property in the area of Chicago that was extensively damaged by the great fire).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/americancolony/amcolony-family.html|title=Family Tragedy - The American Colony in Jerusalem |website=Library of Congress|date=January 12, 2005}}</ref> His business interests were further hit by the economic downturn of 1873, at which time Spafford had planned to travel to England with his family on the ''[[SS Ville du Havre]],'' to help with [[Dwight L. Moody]]'s upcoming evangelistic campaigns''.'' In a late change of plan, Spafford sent his wife, Anna, and their four daughters, Annie, Maggie, Bessie, and Tanetta, ahead while Spafford was delayed on business concerning zoning problems following the Great Chicago Fire. While crossing the [[Atlantic Ocean]], the ship sank rapidly after a collision with a sea vessel, the ''[[Loch Line|Loch Earn]]'', killing 226 people, including Annie, Maggie, Bessie, and Tanetta.<ref>{{cite av media |url= https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqrya00iY34  |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/iqrya00iY34 |archive-date=2021-12-21 |url-status=live|title= It is Well with My Soul: Historical Origins of the Hymn & the Tune |publisher=David Depp |date= October 27, 2015 |via=[[YouTube]] |access-date= November 1, 2020}}</ref> Anna survived and sent Spafford the now famous telegram, "Saved alone …". Shortly afterwards, as he traveled to England to meet his grieving wife, Spafford was inspired to write these words as his ship passed the spot near where his four daughters had died.<ref name=loc>{{cite web|title=The American Colony in Jerusalem, 1870-2006|url=http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/americancolony/timeline02.html|access-date=May 2, 2013}}</ref> Bliss called his tune ''Ville du Havre'', from the name of the stricken vessel.<ref>McCann, Forrest M. (1997). ''Hymns and History: An Annotated Survey of Sources''. [[Abilene, Texas]]: [http://www.acu.edu/campusoffices/acupress ACU Press] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080112053653/http://www.acu.edu/campusoffices/acupress |date=2008-01-12 }}. {{ISBN|0-89112-058-0}}, pp. 154, 327-328, 359-360, 520, 597.</ref>
[[File:The sinking of the Steamship Ville du Havre.jpg|thumb|The sinking of the steamship Ville du Havre]]
[[File:Ppblisscdv.jpg|thumb|upright=.8|Philip Bliss]]

== Original lyrics ==
[[File:It is Well with My Soul (1876).jpg|thumb|''It is Well with My Soul'', first print 1876]]
<poem>
When peace like a river, attends my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, You have taught me to know{{efn|"know" (at the end of the third line) was changed 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.

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
And has 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 His 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 You, for Your 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!{{efn|"A song in the night, oh my soul" (last line) was changed to "Even so, it is well with my soul".}}
</poem><ref>{{cite web|title=History|url=http://spaffordhymn.com/html/history.html|publisher=Kosinski Studio|access-date=March 26, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130311140635/http://spaffordhymn.com/html/history.html|archive-date=March 11, 2013}}</ref>

== 150th Anniversary ==
2023 marked the 150th anniversary of It Is Well with My Soul. There were commemoration services held to remember the actual day of the tragedy, November 22,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://thisisthe.news/2023/03/12/2023-is-the-150th-anniversary-of-it-is-well-with-my-soul|title=150th Anniversary of It Is Well with My Soul|website=www.thisisthe.news}}</ref> and a new edition of the book ''It Is Well with My Soul: from tragedy to trust'',<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://itiswellwithmysoul.com/2025/04/06/read-the-shocking-true-story/|title=new book edition It Is Well with My Soul 150th Anniversary of |website=www.itiswellwithmysoul.com}}</ref> was also published in the anniversary year.

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{wikisource|It Is Well with My Soul}}
* [https://www.loc.gov/item/mamcol.016/ Library of Congress item mamcol.016] High resolution images of the restored original manuscript (up to 22 MB) front AND back at the Library of Congress. (Includes an extra verse on the back, as well as notes from his prayer meetings)
* [http://spaffordhymn.com SpaffordHymn.com] The original Hymn manuscript
* [https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/americancolony/ The American Colony in Jerusalem (A Library of Congress Exhibition)]
* McCann, Forrest Mason (1997). ''Hymns & History: An Annotated Survey of Sources''. [[Abilene, Texas|Abilene]], Texas: [https://web.archive.org/web/20080112053653/http://www.acu.edu/campusoffices/acupress ACU Press], pp.&nbsp;327–328, 520, 597. {{ISBN|0-89112-058-0}}


{{Hillsong albums}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:It Is Well With My Soul}}
[[Category:American Christian hymns]]
[[Category:19th-century hymns]]
[[Category:Hillsong Worship songs]]
[[Category:Protestant hymns]]